Your support means so much!

Thank you to all of you for the phone calls, emails, notes on facebook, all of it!! It means so much. I think I am pretty foggy, and I am just not seeing things as clearly as I'd like to. The twins are still very young to be sleeping huge amounts, but I'm comparing to Declan, who slept 10+ straight hours by 7 weeks!

Last night was better. WAY better. We fed them for the last time around 9:30 or so and had them asleep and in their crib just before 10. They didn't wake to feed until 4:30!! That was absolutely wonderful. And then they made it again until 7am. I think I am going to start a 3 hour schedule during the day and allow a 6 hour time frame overnight, so feed at: 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm...4am. They are still only taking 4oz at a time and they still seem to need the slow flow nipples (Macey accepted a medium flow one today without issue but Madelyn got MADDDDDD!) so feedings still take SO LONG, but this schedule would work well for our family and I don't think it's ridiculous to expect them to be on SOME sort of schedule by now. They will be 4 months on Sunday. So we'll go with that. I had to sort of force the 10am bottle this morning but I don't think it will take long for them to get used to it.

Any experience with schedules like that? I can honestly say that I have never regimented myself with any of my other kids but then I've never had twins before either. I'm sure undecided what to do about overnights - like if they ate last at 10pm but are screaming by 2:30 should I just feed them and screw up the schedule? We'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the support. I do promise pics soon - I even have a new video of them and they are not screaming this time!

I kicked James out of bed again last night.

No worries about our relationship, but honestly we might have issues if these twins keep waking up at all hours of the night. It's driving us insane. I know babies are supposed to be unpredictable and all of that but dear lord, they are so inconsistent we might as well call them politicians.

So I kicked James upstairs to the bedroom to sleep in peace. Apparently I am able to snore through them screaming in stereo, so we deemed it most appropriate for me to remain in the same room with them. Things started off ok. We put them down around 7:00 and they were both asleep! And then it happened. It always does with them. They woke up. And they fussed and fretted, so finally at 8:30 we fed them again and put them down again. Macey fell asleep. Madelyn fussed until 9:30 when she finally fell asleep. And they were out for good. Which leads me to my first question - would you just let them cry at that earlier point until they fell asleep? They will be 4 months on Sunday.

And the night continues. At 2:30 they started crying. I'm not sure who woke up first, but they were both crying before I knew it. And I ignored it. And was able to sleep off and on for another hour. I know, you might think it's horrible but they were right next to me and no one was hurt. At 3:30 I got up and gave them pacifiers, which worked...for about 15 minutes. I finally succumbed and fed them at 4am. Success? Or failure? Again, what would you have done? They had already cried for over an hour at this point....

So yeah, they ate at 4 and I got Madelyn up to change her diaper as she was poopy. I know they were both wide awake at 4:30 when I went back to bed but I turned the light off and I did not hear from them, so I'm assuming they didn't cry too hard to go back to sleep after that. James fed Macey around 6:30 and Madelyn got a bottle around 7am. Not too bad but I'm just unsure of how to go about all of this. I'm serious, if you have advice (even if it's "you did this ALL wrong!") please let me have it. I've never done sleep training with a baby, let alone twins so I don't know how to do it best. I just can't decide if they are young enough that they need to be eating during the night like that or if I should let them cry it out (which I used to be totally against, now I just need my sanity) at various points during the night. Help!!!

Oooohh pictures...

They were not good. Not at all. The short version? Declan was COMPLETELY uncooperative and Madelyn wouldn't stop crying. It was terrible and hilarious all at the same time. Enjoy these pictures, they are doozies.

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbAccess.aspx?e=5477817

password: kids

Wow, just...wow.

Things are a tad crazy here. And by that I mean right now. Madelyn is SCREAMING in the crib next to a wide-awake Macey who is just looking around. We've resorted to letting Madelyn cry for the time being (tonight) because she is fed, changed, dry, burped, everything. I feel like I am somewhat losing it with this lack of schedule thing. If you know me at all you know I am not a highly scheduled person, but I do love knowing what to expect with my kids and when naps will happen and how many times I'm going to be up at night, and with these little girls it's all a crap shoot. NOTHING is the same from day to day and it's really HARD. The first few weeks/months I would swaddle them and put them down to sleep (in their carseats, which we don't do anymore, hmmmm) at around 1pn and they would sleep until 5pm, sometimes until 6. It was glorious. I thought I had wonder-babies who regulated themselves into a schedule. Ummmm, no. That has gone away and now it's anyone's guess who will sleep and for how long and how crabby they might be on the other side of it. I'm honestly tired (hahahaha) of it and it's hard of all of us. I am short with my older kids and all of that.

I'll try not to whine from here on out....some updates on our lives.

Caden. My big boy will be SEVEN years old tomorrow, Oct 24! I just cannot believe it. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished. He is excited about his birthday and says "happy song" a lot...I think that's what he wants to have sung but still won't let any of us actually sing it.

Avery is still really enjoying preschool and doing very well. She's also having a blast with ballet once a week and it's so cute to watch her do that!

Declan is walking. I'm sure I've mentioned that before but it begs repeating. He's such a precious boy toddling around and taking in everything around him. James took him tonight for a haircut because tomorrow we are finally taking all 5 kids to have their pics taken together in their Big Brother Big Sister Little Sister shirts. It's about time, no? I'll share those when we have a link.

It's 11pm

and I am sitting up with a still fussy Macey. This baby girl has decided that you must replace her pacifier every 10 minutes at bedtime and you must attend to her needs for several hours after her twin sister has already been asleep at night. It is getting QUITE frustrating. Madelyn has been asleep for 3 hours now and Macey is finally having another bottle which I hope will send her into sleep as well. She has also decided that she HATES to be swaddled so she wakes herself up during the night as well, again requiring that you replace the pacifier. James has been kind enough to take the 4-4:30 feeding while we are on vacation which I am so thankful for.

Speaking of thankful, I adore my husband. He let me sleep in until 11am this morning. I know some of you just spit out your coffee that a grown woman can sleep that long and others of you are all kinds of envious but yes, I slept in until 11am and enjoyed every second of it! I always say the best sleep happens after 5am. And I got a ton of it today!

Today has been pretty quiet. Caden and Declan have both been napping every day with grandma or grandpa. I think Caden is coming down with something and not feeling 100%. During naptime today I took all 3 of my girls and we drove around for a few hours while James, my dad and brother went to a casino. I found some neat shops that sell primitives that I must get back to before we leave as I couldn't go in anywhere, just drove and found out where they were. Did I mention that we forgot to bring any strollers whatsoever along with us? Brilliant move, for sure. Ugh. But I was able to go into Wal-Mart with the 3 girls. Do you even KNOW how many people say, "Oh, twins?" and I say, "yes", and they say (with 2 pink carseat covers), "boy and girl?" and I say, "no, girls" and they say, "are they identical?" and I say, "yes!" (sooooo thrilled that I know for sure!) and they say, "I always wanted twins."? And I honestly reply, "I never truly wanted twins, but now that I have them I couldn't imagine life without them!"

Does time truly change?

I mean, it has to. How can time move so quickly when you're on a vacation and so slowly when you're at home. Maybe it has to do with monotony. I'm not sure, but I can't believe Monday is drawing to a close already and we're looking Tuesday in the face!

Traveling to Galena was a dream. We never stopped one time except for James and me to use the bathrooms at a rest stop. We each took a turn and left the kids all in their car seats. My parents took Caden and Avery with them so we just had our 3 littlest so it was very quiet. Declan watched Dora's Puppy Power DVD (it's "Daa doo" = Dora to him) and the twins slept. The entire time. Not one peep! Granted, it's only just under 4 hours but still, we thought that was pretty amazing. I got to read some of the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" that I got from the library and I'm trying it out...more on that later.

Kristi, before I forget, the jumper is from Southpaw Enterprises that we got for Caden. I can give you more info on it once I get home.

So let's see. We arrived Saturday early afternoon and got settled in. My mom and I took Caden and went to get groceries and eat at Culver's while everyone else stayed in the hotel/condos and ordered pizza. Then it was bedtime - Caden, Avery and Declan are sleeping in with my parents and brother and we have the twins. They are fighting a nasty snotty/full nose so haven't been overly happy here. And then James came down with it last night and today has been taking Alka Seltzer left and right and is just downright miserable. Right now we just caught up on Amazing Race online and he is now snoring next to me.

Ok so sleeping. Um, it's not going the greatest. Mostly it's Macey who doesn't like to settle down and go to sleep without a lot of intervention. The book I'm reading asserts that you put them down after a brief (but consistent) period of soothing, whether or not they are asleep. No problem, that's what we've always done with all of our kids. However, twins are a different ballgame, especially when they are sharing a crib. Macey likes to cry her blessed little eyes out, while Madelyn looks around and then finally goes to sleep without usually any pacifier replacement at all. Last night it took nearly 2 hours to get Macey to finally fall into a deep sleep on her own in the pack n play, and this included MANNNNNNNNNNNY times putting the pacifier back into her mouth (which I'm not even sure is "allowed" according to this book honestly) and tonight it took over an hour. Progress? Sheesh, it's frustrating. But this book says children wake up early and wake up repeatedly during the night because they don't get enough sleep, and putting them to bed earlier will help. So we're trying that. And we're trying to let them cry a little longer (maybe 10 minutes is all I can handle of full-out crying). So far, I can't say I am impressed with the results, but we ARE on vacation and they ARE sick. So we'll see......

Caden and Avery have truly enjoyed the indoor pool. It's nice to see the changes in our kids. Today I was able to take Caden AND Avery to the pool by myself for an hour! Previously, that would have been impossible, and mostly due to Caden, but recently he's come around and is really showing that he can be more enjoyable with things like this, which is SO good for a mommy's heart. Declan got in yesterday, but we put him into his floatie and he SCREAMED so loud I thought the whole place would come running. He was terrified. It took him a long time to smile again, but he did stay in the floatie for a good, long time. I think we'll try again tomorrow when James can help again.

And if you said they were identical twins...

You were correct! They called with the results yesterday morning and they ARE identical twins!! We don't have the paperwork back yet with all the technical stuff, but they are monozygotic twin baby girls. I have to admit, I am THRILLED with this news. I mean, who ISN'T fascinated with identical twins?? It's just such a wonderful blessing from God. Remember when I posted when we found out it was twins and how upset I was? I am so glad I am over that! You probably are, too.

We have some other big news that is much more difficult to share. Friends of ours (Heidi and I have been in Bible studies together and were both leaders together last year) found out just yesterday that their 3 year old has leukemia. This was very difficult news to hear and just so hard to know what to do for them. Ross is a pastor and Heidi is his awesome wife - they have 3 children and live here in Pella. If you want to follow their story you can find out more about little Ian here: https://www.carepages.com/carepages/Ian_Davidson Please be in prayer for them whenever you think about it!!

Tomorrow morning we leave for Galena with my parents and brother. We'll be in touch! I can't leave the laptop at home so you might receive some updates from Illinois!

Some Declan cutes.

He is honestly at one of my favorite ages for little ones. The things he does are so very precious! Like right now, I am at the computer (duh, I know, shut up) and he keeps toddling up to me with mini pumpkins, saying "apple!" so proud of himself! I say, "pumpkin" and he tries it, then comes back with "APPLE!"

His other favorite things are hats. He says "hat" so precisely it makes me laugh. Avery has this big cowboy-style Gymboree straw hat and when he dons that and walks around saying "hat" it just melts me!

He's also in a big Elmo fan stage. Again, hearing him say Elmo with such precision just tickles me. And man, does he love that red little Elmo! Should make Christmas fun and easy!

Another one - "owie". Everything is owie. You change my diaper, it's owie. I put on a hat, it's owie. Which is often followed by whining/shrieking, but we are talking about the CUTE stuff in this post.

So there you have it! I think every mother should take the time to unabashedly brag about her children, and I thank you for indulging me!

Gotta have a little patience.

At least that's what God keeps telling me. Harder, though, to actually practice it at times.

Yesterday was supposed to be the day we got the results of the twins' DNA test. I finally called late into the afternoon (I have, admittedly, been calling there routinely "just to check" on the progress - they SAID it was ok!!!) and there was a problem with the exact machine/robot the twins' test was on. Of course. They were going to have to put it through another robot. Not sure how long it would take, maybe one more day? Maybe more?? Sigh. I want to know SO much. No, it doesn't matter but I just want to KNOW!!! Have patience, God whispers. Easy enough for YOU to say, God - YOU already KNOW if they are identical or fraternal!!

Ok so in other major news around here...Declan is walking!!! Yes, he's going, and he's going like he's been walking for months. Little turd! Friday when Grandma Jean was here she said she remembers he was taking more and more steps, but still crawling quite a bit. Yesterday when she was here he definitely walked more than crawled. It.is.so.flipping.cute to see him toddle all around, I can hardly stand it. PROUD of you little man! It only took 20 months! But who's counting??

For you, Valerie.

It encouraged me to know you have missed my blogging. I can't say that I have much exciting news to report, but I will make an effort to contribute here more. Just be prepared to be bored at times. :)

We do have some small victories going on around here lately. One, Avery has decided that she now likes the Dora Pirate Adventure movie. This is big success. If you know Avery, you know that she is terrified of most movies. Like freaking out, crying, terrified. It's fear of the unknown, we think - nothing has ever really scared her in any movie to our knowledge. But she has always been satisfied with The Donut Man and other children's singing videos, which bore Declan. He prefers the action and adventure of Dora and Diego, y'know? He's a boy! So we've decided we're not catering to her as much anymore and we put Dora on (this specific Pirate video) for the past several days for Declan and she has slowly warmed up to it, finally today REQUESTING it. Holy wow, that is huge. We've also discovered that HEARING the video is her issue. Grandma Jean gave her Tinkerbell for her birthday and we have put it in the laptop for her to watch without sound - THAT was fine, listening to it freaks her out. ????? Honestly, no idea.

Another victory is that Declan is taking more and more steps! Still nothing super consistent but he is choosing to toddle at times vs. getting down and crawling. Still HATES to take your finger(s) and walk with you; it has to be all his idea in his own time. Wonder where he gets that??

We're gearing up for a trip to Galena, Illinois in a few weeks with my parents. We're looking forward to it, though I can't believe "that trip we're going to take when the twins are still tiny" is now looking us in the face! There's a pool there, which excites Avery and I know will be a hit with Caden. Last time we went to a pool Declan wasn't a fan, but I think he might like it if it's just us, and my mom says it's usually quiet there. We'll see how it goes!

Not entirely sure what to say...

as not much has really happened, but I know it's been a while since I posted something new. The sleep thing is still not going well. I'm not sure what to attribute it to overall but did notice thrush in the twins' mouths Sunday morning. I called in this morning and we're back on Diflucan for the 3rd time (and they have been on Nystatin before that). Let's hope this knocks it out because it is just no fun. That's probably part of their problem...maybe a growth spurt is the other part of the problem? Honestly I'm not certain, but I do pray they start sleeping better. My parents kept them overnight on Friday night and we were able to get a good night's sleep which was wonderful.

We tried faster flow nipple this weekend which seemed to work wonderfully - for about 2 feedings. Then they were choking and gagging and retching so that apparently is out and we are back to slow flow nipples.

Perhaps I just needed to blog and complain.

Last night was way better! Granted, it took until 11:30 to get them to fall asleep and stay asleep (they went back into their carseats as Madelyn puked all over everything because she was laying on her back) but they made it until 4:30, took quick bottles and went back to sleep until almost 8am. And then they were awake, alert and happy nearly ALL morning! Heather comes over on Wed mornings to hang out and let me get stuff done (cleaning, organizing, today it was putting out my fall decor) while she watches the kids, and they seriously just chilled in bouncy seats and swings all morning. We brought Avery to school and then came home and I put all 3 littles down for nap and I haven't heard a peep in over an hour now. YAAAAAAAAY!

In other news, the DNA test came today. While Heather was here I roughed up the twins' mouths and then sent the tests back when I brought Avery to preschool. So hopefully we'll have results late next week! I just can't wait! I plan to add a poll to the side to see what you all think...and then we'll see what the test says for sure.

I'm about to get cranky.

The twins are already there. In cranky-ville, that is. I swear, they have totally forgotten how to sleep well and sleep for decent stretches of time. What the heck is going on? It's really starting to tick me off quite honestly.

Tonight, I have replaced the pacis dozens of times. They acted like they hated being swaddled a few nights ago so we stopped that, but I have swaddled them again tonight. Tonight, I removed the car seats from the crib (which they had been sleeping in every night up to now), swaddled them tight, placed them right next to each other in the crib and have walked away....only to return all those times to replace pacifiers. But now I've walked away and it's quiet. Wait no, someone is stirring again. Drat.

You can't let a twin cry when they share a sleeping room. Well, you can, but then you'll have 2 babies awake instead of just one. So hard.

Yep, one is awake again. I'll keep updating but we have waged war on this sleeping crap and I am determined to win.

DNA test is ordered!

It should be here any day. Just as I sat down to type this one of the twins started crying. Nights haven't been good lately, lots of night waking and just general fussiness from both of them (mostly Macey). Pray for us!!

Another twin mommy needs your prayers.

I met this mommy when I was pregnant with Macey and Madelyn. We met via the blogging world because we were both pregnant with twins and one of our twins each had a 2 vessel cord versus a typical 3 vessel cord. And THEN our twins were born exactly a week apart - my 2 girls on July 8 and her two boys on July 15 (a match made in Heaven perhaps? lol)! Boden and Potter are doing well, as are Macey and Madelyn. It's their momma who needs your prayers right now.

Kristen was having pains in her upper back and went to have a CT scan to rule out blood clots. It showed no blood clots but did show a 3 cm mass in her chest below her bronchial tubes which is in a suspect location for lung cancer. On Sept. 1 she had a test and the dr was "very concerned" as the mass is sizeable - it's either lung cancer or a fungus, and signs are pointing away from the fungus possibility. Basically, she's already had a lot of tests but she is STILL waiting to hear results. Her next test is scheduled for the 23rd when they will get a tissue sample that they are confident with give them a diagnosis.

Kristen is scared and she is a brand new mommy to 2 beautiful boys. She has a strong faith in God but we all know that doesn't make things perfect and easy. PLEASE pray for Kristen, her husband and her baby boys. Please pray that this is not cancer. Pray for her peace as she has two newborns and is already stressed and sleep-deprived, and now dealing with this on top of it all. Pray for a miracle - that God would remove the mass completely when she goes for her next appointment. Just pray, knowing that God is in control and that He is with her all the time. He is mighty to save.

A sick 5 year old and double the shots...

for the tiny princesses. Macey and Madelyn had their 2 month checkups today. Heather came and stayed with Avery and Declan while I took M&M. Macey is 20.5 inches and 9lbs 11.5oz. Madelyn is 20.5 inches and 10lbs 2oz, so still very close to each other. Macey checks out just perfectly all around. Madelyn has a left clogged tear duct, diastasis (tummy muscles stick out, same thing I have now that I had twins) and a small umbilical hernia. They did very well, even talked to the doctor some. He said we do need to keep in mind that they were born 3 weeks early, so things like them not smiling much at all yet don't concern him very much. They both drink 4oz of formula at a time and are still very drooly with it - they need burp cloths under their chins at all times! They are sleeping one 6 hour stretch at night, and then smaller sleeps after that 6 hour stretch. I joked on Facebook that the very next person to ask me how they are sleeping gets to take the next night shift...and I noticed that no one has asked me since! And yes, we immunize on time/schedule and they each had 3 pokes today. SO sad. Double the tears, and very hard for our loving nurse, she felt so bad! This afternoon they are restless for their naps, understandably so I am sure.

Avery. She told me this morning she wasn't feeling well, said her throat hurt and asked me to take her temperature. I did, no fever. So we went about our day, she stayed home with Heather and did tell H that her side hurt, but other than that nothing strange. We went for a drive over the lunch hour since someone was here spraying the house for bugs (crickets galore in here, driving me batty) and she was fine again. I dropped her off at preschool at 12:30, and when I went to kiss her forehead she felt HOTTTTT. I tried to take her temp at preschool with the under tongue thermometer they have there but she panicked (she's used to the ear thermometer at home) and said she wanted to go home. So home we went. She is now asleep on the couch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need to use that many exclamation marks because she never, and I mean NEV-AH falls asleep during the day, hasn't since she was 2. So I know there's something up for sure.

Haven't ordered the DNA kit yet. I wanted to research which company gets you results back quicker. Which is downright hilarious now considering I probably could have had results back from BOTH places in the time I am wasting doing my research. Always want the most bang for my buck, you know! Or in this case, the most bang for someone else's buck. Either way, I am way too bargain-shoppery for these kinds of things apparently.

OH! And how could I forget? The twins' baptism is this Sunday at 11:00am. All are welcome! If you don't know where we attend church just email me and I'll let you know. My mom made the baptismal gowns and oh my goodness they are GORGEOUS. Smocking, people, there is lots of smocking!!

Some people are truly generous.

We just got a check in the mail from a dear friend. The memo said this: "FIND OUT!" So my friends, we are finding out if Macey and Madelyn are identical or fraternal! I am ordering the kit, like, NOW!!!

Thank you, friend, from the bottom of my heart. It means so much to me and I am SO excited!! You will be the first to know. :)

Lots of questions about the identical thing!

Let me see if I can clear this up. When I was pregnant with the twins, the perinatologist told me he thought the girls were identical twins. This was because they shared one placenta, were both the same gender and had a very thin membrane dividing them instead of a thicker one like you might see with fraternal twins. Remember, we had no early ultrasounds with these girls, which is when it's easier to see if they are close together in a more shared sac or further apart in 2 obviously different sacs. It is VERY rare and extremely dangerous for twins to share one sac completely as their umbilical cords can get tangled in one another and lead to possible death. Our girls didn't share a sac, we know that for sure (I would have been on big time bedrest and would have delivered much earlier) but the separating tissue between the sacs was thin, almost transparent. Which again, led the perinatologist to believe they were identical twins. And we believed him and said they were, because what do WE know compared to him, right??

Fast forward to the letter we got after the twins were born that detailed the pathology of the placenta. Turns out, the placenta MAY have been 2 separate placentas that eventually fused into one placenta. Again, we had no early ultrasounds to show if there were 2 placentas to begin with, so when we saw the ultrasounds it looked like one shared placenta. If there is just one placenta then we could be 100% certain they are identical twins. If it WAS 2 placentas that fused into one bigger placenta that leads away from identical twins and more toward fraternal twins. However, there are exceptions to every rule, as we're finding out with twins.

The pathology report used terms like "fused twin placenta", "a central membrane divides the two placentas", and "sections of the rolled central membrane confirms a diamnionic, dichorionic architechture". Now again, that doesn't mean jack squat because diamniotic/dichorionic (di/di) twins can be EITHER identical OR fraternal, lol! 25% of identical twins are di/di twins:

[edit] Dichorionic-Diamniotic
Normally, twins have two separate (di- being a numerical prefix for two) chorions and amniotic sacs, termed Dichorionic-Diamniotic or "DiDi". It occurs in almost all cases of dizygotic (fraternal) twins (except in very rare cases of fusion between their blastocysts[22] ), in 99.7% of all pregnancies,[23] and in 18–36%[24] (or around 25%[22]) of monozygotic (identical) twins. Dichorionic-Diamniotic twins form when splitting takes place after the third day after fertilization.[22]DiDi twins have the lowest mortality risk at about 9 percent, although that is still significantly higher than that of singletons. [25]

Most of this has to do with when the egg actually splits, on which day after fertilization (that is, of course, if the egg did split and they are identical). If you're interested, there's more information here.

So DNA testing is really the only way we can know for sure, with a set-up like our little princesses have. Does it really matter? No, it really doesn't. But I want to know what happened inside me! Did I produce 2 eggs? Will I start the process of twins "running in the family"? Or did my fertilized egg split? Plus it's the #1 question we get asked - are they identical? And it really stinks to have to say, "We have no idea!"

I think everyone should be able to see these...

here are some recent pictures of the twins together and some of them separate. They are becoming so alert and awake, which is lots of fun!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35763&id=1383216710&l=ebd9f86805

The silence is deafening.

I'm sitting here sipping my Mt. Dew and eating a Hershey's bar dipped in peanut butter (shut up, you know you want to), and it's completely quiet (save for the rattle-trap refrigerator, on its last leg). That is nearly unheard of around here, especially at 1:30 in the afternoon. Caden is off to Kindergarten of course, same as every day. Declan and the twins are down for nap and sleeping. And miss Avery is off to preschool! Normally she would be sitting here, hounding me for something to dooooooooooooo as she dislikes tv/movies and can't entertain herself worth a toot. Which is precisely why I chose afternoon preschool MWF so she'll be outta here during naptime and I can do whatever I want (provided everyone else naps, of course). Yahooooey! She's at the same Christian preschool she attended last year. She'll go this year and be all ready for Kindergarten next fall. I can hardly believe it! Avery also started dance class last night and will go every Tuesday. It was so stinkin' cute I could hardly stand myself. Cuteness overload...a bunch of 3-5 year olds in pink tights, shoes and leotards with their little hands over their heads and all of it. She LOVED it, said her favorite part was "being a butterfly!!"

Happy 2 month birthday yesterday to the twins, can't believe that either!

In other news, I now feel like a total donkey for asking for money in a previous post because a) no one has sent anything and b) we now need at least 2 new tires on our van and probably a good deal of front end work to correct the problem that's making our tires go bad and giving the steering wheel a good shudder. AND we need new carseats for the kids so that we can fit 3 kids across the back of the van - it's not currently working well, but we can't drive the van all the way to Des Moines with the tires as bad as they are in order to test what carseats will work back there. Yes I know, whineeeeee but I must be honest. So it's priorities, people, and the DNA testing will have to wait. Heather says they're identical. I say they look like little old men. One of us is right. Maybe both of us.

If you've ever wondered what it's like when BOTH twins cry at the same time...

here ya go. It's just too cute not to take some video of!!! Macey on the left, Madelyn on the right (as per usual):

I have no shame

AND a great thought just occurred to me. I can't be the only one who wants to know for sure, without a doubt, whether or not Macey and Madelyn are identical or fraternal twins, right? The only way to know for sure is to do a DNA test via cheek swab. There are several reputable companies to get your at-home kit from (we know from other twin parents) but there's a catch - it's anywhere from $150-200 for the whole shebang. Now, I don't know about you but that's a TON of cash for us to come up with. So, here's my shameless plea and "great idea" all rolled into one - if you want to know and you feel inclined to help, would you please send us some funds via paypal at verhoef@wildbluepella.org (send it as personal/gift, because it is!) and we'll see how quickly we can reach our goal and get the kit? I'm serious. James would be throwing a FIT right now, hahahaha! But honestly, I'm serious. If you can send $1, great. If you can send $100, great. If you can't send anything, great. If you don't WANT to send anything, great (we'll still let you know when/if we ever find out though, lest you think I am vindictive). Let's do this! Amaze us people!!!

Avery's test went super!

Have I mentioned before that she was a super star? She was a super star again. FLOORED me. She didn't even blink when the catheter went in and wasn't in the least freaked about it either. We had talked a lot about it and I had explained very completely what all would happen so there would be no surprises. She did whimper a little when she had to move with the catheter inserted, said it hurt. And she said that it did hurt when it was removed. But no tears!! The last part of the test requires the patient to pee all over the xray table and she tried but she just couldn't. I think we tried for 30-45 minutes and nothing. So they let her go on the potty and then jump back on the table for a few more xrays. They told us that the age range of 4-7 often has a hard time letting go of their bladder like that on a table when they have been so trained to go on the potty. (I had asked Avery to practice the other day on a towel and while she thought it was immensely hilarious, she didn't have success then, either.) Results came back - normal! So now we just try to do a better job of wiping, hand washing, etc. I admit, it's easy to be lax about that when I am feeding a baby and don't have the time to run in there and make sure she wiped correctly and washed well, kwim? So we'll try to do better and hope that she has no more UTIs. She hasn't complained today about anything hurting and she hasn't gone as often as the other day either. I think maybe it was nerves...

Still on the Avery topic, she basically went from the VCUG test over to the clinic for her 5 year well-child check. Since I had promised her no more ouchies for the day we waited on the shots until she starts Kindergarten next fall. She is 40 inches tall (16th %) and 36lbs (24th %) - she's a peanut! She wears 3/3T clothing still, with some generous 2T that still works fine. She passed with flying colors. We did talk some about her propensity to complain about her tummy hurting. After a complete physical and also xrays of her mid-section during the VCUG, our dr is pretty convinced it's an anxiety thing. I would concur.

Some milestones: Declan stood today completely by himself in the middle of the floor without anything helping him to his feet! He's been standing, letting go of stuff, etc, but never up from the floor completely on his own. He also took about 6-7 shuffle steps tonight to get to the Cozy Coupe car outside (mommy's garage sale find last Friday, woot!). I think September is going to be his month.

Macey smiled now as well. Heather was the first to have seen it while she had the twins and Declan during all of Avery's ordeals yesterday (have I told you how much I love you, Heather??). I haven't seen it yet and I tend to say it doesn't count until it's at mommy, but Heather swears it was the real deal. So just a few days apart from each other they smile. Awwwww!

Life never grows dull around here...

We are one day past the last day of Avery's medication for her UTI and guess what? She has peed very frequently this evening and tells me that her bottom hurts when she goes, after I prodded her for the information. UGH! She's supposed to have the VCUG tomorrow morning and I don't know if they'll do it if she's got another active UTI. I hope they do so we can get it over with (she knows it's coming and we'd ALL like to just be done with it) but I'm not sure what will happen. I'll update after tomorrow...

Caden seems to be doing just fine in school! He has breakfast as school as well so it's a big day for him!

Declan is soooo close to walking. Tonight I came home after having been gone for several hours and he was excited to see me, so excited he allllmost walked to me, but then nope, decided crawling was better. Silly boy!

Madelyn hasn't smiled again. James said Macey smiled at him tonight but I don't believe him.

And that is just about it!

Madelyn smiled!

Today is a big day - Madelyn smiled at mommy! It was quick, it was brief, but it was oh so adorable. The girls are becoming more and more tuned in to faces and watching you while you talk, and today as I was getting Madelyn ready for her afternoon nap she smiled! The right corner of her mouth goes up when she smiles. We've also noticed that Madelyn has a dimple in her left cheek, down low but just precious.

Keep Avery in your thoughts. On Wednesday morning she has to have a VCUG test (catheter, ultrasound, not fun) done and she is not looking forward to it. She's had 2 UTIs within the past month and the dr wants to make sure she's not refluxing urine. So please pray that it goes smoothly and that she is as cooperative as usual.

Happy 5th Birthday Avery Sue!!!

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the first time we met our little girl. Today has been a good day, filled with doing everything she wanted to do and getting to choose everything, etc. We've had a great day together as a family!

School went well I hear!

The note that came home with Caden said he was happy and had a good day. He also peed through his shorts - cute little plaid orange, white and brown shorts. Like a space cadet I decided I didn't need to send extra clothes already on the very first day, so of course he had to wear something from the office. I guess the best they could find was a pair of red shorts, which looked smashing with his orange polo shirt. Woo hoo! Leave it to me to give a crap, Gymbo fanatic that I am.

So yeah, it went well. I'm somewhat apathetic about the entire thing, but when your child is doing Kindergarten for the 2nd time you sort of feel like you're entitled to be snobbish. Or maybe that just comes naturally and I'm just now admitting it. HA!

I am sitting here on the bed willing Macey and Madelyn to go to sleep and stop the paci spitting out tricks. I hear one of them starting up again. James is apparently very tired (what's new?) and just rather grumpily tossed his head down on the mattress and his pillow over his head. Babies too noisy much? It was much more fun making these babies than getting woken up by them, that much we agree upon.

It was Macey bellering again. I think that's because she was James' baby tonight. We have this bizarre thing...maybe it's common for twin parents? Which ever baby each one of us has becomes "our baby" for the night. Like tonight at bedtime (I had them for most of the night after the other kids' bedtime because James ran out on a formula run) James swaddled Macey and got her snuggled into her carseat and I swaddled Madelyn and got her into her carseat. So therefore when one starts crying we'll ask "which one?" and the person who can see the babies will say "yours" or "mine". Apparently that is easier than saying their names?? I'm not sure why we started that. Probably to harrass the other person about their obvious lack of baby skills. Such as James' swaddling job tonight. She's crying again, and she isn't swaddled worth a toot. James' baby. 'Nuff said.

Alright, so I just stuck what was left of her bottle back in her mouth and she is taking that. Hopefully she'll be off to dreamland in a matter of minutes like her little sister Madelyn is already.

We could use a few prayers if I'm to be perfectly honest and I always think that is the best policy. James has been a little slower at work (economy, we think, but it's hard to tell for sure) and things are pretty tight for us. We aren't scared and we aren't hungry, but things are tighter than they've ever been for us and it's somewhat unsettling. We feel like it's a good lesson for tightening things up and perhaps forcing us to believe that we are finally done having kids (hahahahaha) but prayers for peace are always welcome.

My life is not my own.

This is not a new realization to me, especially as a Christian (and what a comfort it is as a Christian to know I am not in this life alone!) but it is somewhat of a stark realization when you have twins. I feel very much like I have no time to myself for much of anything. Even in the quiet moments, I'm always waiting for one to start crying. When do they self-entertain, even for just a little bit?? When do they let you eat a meal without hollering to be held? When do they...wait, I realize I am asking for them to grow up and that's truly not what I want, but I would like a little bit of a life back.

Quickly, because one is crying again...Caden went to meet his teacher today and what a sweetheart she seems to be! I think it's going to go well for him. He was thrilled to see so many familiar faces and he got lots of "Hi Caden!"'s in the hallways.

And now they are both crying. Bye!

Two days until school starts!

I know. You're tempted to think I must be a horrible mother if I am THIS excited about school starting. You're WAY wanting to laugh if you remember me saying I wanted to homeschool my brood. But the fact is Caden is bored. And I am bored of trying to come up with new, exciting voices for "Caden, go to time out!" It is such a good thing I take good meds. Serious.

Not much new to report. Sleep is going the same - 10pm-4am typically, then bottles for each and back to sleep until around 8. When school begins on Thursday I'm actually going to have to step it up and get out of bed before that 8am time. Not so much looking forward to that (if you know me at all you know I dislike mornings...greatly) but the routine of it all will be refreshing. It's funny - both of our older two kids are doing exactly what they did (school-wise) last year. It's like we're stuck, but yet they have grown so much. Avery (will be 5 on Sunday!!) will be doing preschool again in the regular program (there's also a step up program for older kids but her birthday is late enough that we chose the regular program once again) and Caden is repeating Kindergarten with a new teacher. I think we are going to see very different kids at the end of this school year, kids ready for Kindergarten and 1st grade!

Now I'm sad. Why do I always jump ahead of myself like that???

Declan took 3 steps!

I don't think he realized what he was doing and after the steps were done he was NOT interested in trying any more, but yesterday at the campground he took 3 steps while holding on to a book and trying to get to the walker/toy! I was so excited. We think that he is so close, he just lacks confidence. He went all over with his walker while camping, walking very long distances, so the stamina is there.

We really had a great time camping. It was fun to catch up with cousins and family. Even though we live close we never seem to take (or make, perhaps) time to really connect and talk so it was great to spend some time with everyone. The cousins had a really fun time playing together as well which was fun to see.

School starts on Thursday for Caden! Bring it on!!!

Six weeks old and how they've grown!

I took the girls today for weight checks as yesterday marked their 6 week birthday. Macey is now 7lbs 12oz and Madelyn is 7lbs 15oz! More than 2 pounds each of growth since birth. It's hard to believe. They are still fitting nicely into preemie clothing so I didn't figure they would be so close to 8lbs but they certainly are. I guess Similac agrees with them. :)

No smiles from the twins yet, but they seem so close. I said that last week, didn't I? Tonight James was holding Madelyn and I got into her line of sight. She locked eyes with mine and reacted so obviously and so strongly with pleasure, it was so precious and so good for my heart! Their sleeping is still about the same, though last night they went from 10pm - 4:30am and that was a very long stretch for them. Typically they wake between 2am - 4am for their feeding, but just once a night at 6 weeks old is better than I ever imagined for twins. Daytime is still pretty rough, admittedly. They don't seem to settle unless they are being held. It's honestly like a light switch - pick them up and they are quiet. Do you think they are playing us? I remember Declan at this age and he would be content to sit in his swing for hours. NOT M&M. They like to be held and that is that.

We're headed out camping again this weekend. We'll be going with James' folks and his sister and family. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend, complete with overnight weather well-suited to campfires. Looking forward to it! I'm already more comfortable with everything this time around than I was camping just 3 weekends ago. Things are settling in.

Having twins means you can't get anything done.

I just said that to James, though it's not entirely true. I was trying to tackle some laundry and Macey just wouldn't be persuaded to be quiet and calm! Madelyn is sleeping soundly but Macey is fussy. James came home early (we have dental appointments for Caden and Avery in Des Moines this afternoon) and I was telling him that it's just so hard to get things done! Now that he's home I am able to blog and the laundry is still sitting there. Ha!

I have found that these girls do not sleep well unless they are swaddled. I think I am going to start swaddling them for naps in the morning and afternoon instead of just at night, otherwise I can't get much accomplished. Speaking of at night, last night was horrid. I thought I would try to swaddle them but put them down in the crib. Apparently they like sleeping in their car seats better, holy poo! I was up and down for most of the night. Even after putting them into their car seats in the middle of the night they didn't settle into a good sleep. I put some miles on my legs during the night, and they sleep in the same room with us. It was a jack-in-the-box kinda night for me.

So let's see. The Open House was great, it was wonderful to see so many people we haven't seen in a while and to share conversation and food with them! We also made it to church and saw people there on Sunday morning, but if it weren't for a family member's baptism that morning we wouldn't have gone - things went haywire as we were trying to get ready! (No, not the twins' baptism yet, that's coming soon.)

My rash has spread to my arms mostly but is starting also on my back and tummy. It's mostly gone from my face but has left my face horribly dry and itchy. Oh the joys never end!

Forgot to add - Happy 19months today Declan! May your walking come SOON!!!

Holy house blitz!

Days like today are truly humbling. These are the kinds of days when you know you love your family and friends, but you don't realize how blessed you really are. To make a long story very short, we had TONS of help over here today to blitz the house, both inside and out, and we are simply stunned at how everything is coming together! Dirt has been hauled in the blistering heat, windows have been washed that haven't been touched in YEARS up in dormers, floors have been vacuumed, porch ceilings have been painted and all the while babies were fed and rocked while older kids had a blast with cousins. We're really excited for this Open House tomorrow! James and I have several things to do still in the morning but then at 1pm we'll throw our doors as wide open as we can without air conditioning the outside and welcome our dear ones in to see what we've worked so hard at! But we truly can't thank all of those who've worked so hard all the while, today and all days previous.

Twins are doing great. Madelyn is pukey today but her thrush is also back, so we're back on Diflucan. I don't think I gave it for enough days last time, oops! Hopefully this kicks it for good. Last night Macey tried to wake up at 2am, I offered the paci, she tried again at 2:20am, I wouldn't be deterred and offered the paci again and they both made it until nearly 5! That was nice.

OK, I must work on a possible picture slideshow for tomorrow's festivities. Ni-night!

Happy 5 weeks Macey and Madelyn!

I just hopped on here to update quick and of course one of the girls has started screaming....more later.

Yesterday morning I woke up and guess what was back? The PUPPS rash of pregnancy. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was on my face and through the day it started spreading, so I called and yes, it can come back and yes, he would give me steroids. I started those already and my face is slightly better this morning but now it has spread to my ear and fingers. I HATED this rash with the twins and never thought it would come back after pregnancy, but here it is. I look just lovely, ugh. Plus it's really itchy and it's just making me grumpy.

In other news, the girls are 5 weeks today. I can hardly believe it but a calendar never lies (unless you're really sleep deprived or you're 4 years old and insist you're always right). I'm not certain if they adjust age for being born at 37 weeks but when you think that they should only be 2 weeks after their due date they are doing so so so so so well. No smiles as of yet but they are starting to really lock eyes with you when you hold them and it looks like they are SO close to smiling! They have different personalities, but neither one is SUPER strong in one direction. I would have been able to tell you in utero and it's holding true now - Macey (baby A) is more laid back and easy going (cries softer, cries less) and Madelyn (baby B, the one hogging all the room always) is more demanding (cries louder, more often, needs to be held). They both have amazing head control. Madelyn really likes to be held under her armpits, looking into your eyes and just hang down, sometimes not even resting in you in any way, just hanging loose. I tried Macey in the sling last night and that was a BIG hit! She came outside with me and James while we cleaned up toys out there and just looked around, loved it. Madelyn was wide awake on the changing table that whole time (it has sides all around it and they love to lay there and look at our ceiling fan). Sleeping is going very well. They go down for the night around 10pm and normally don't wake until 4am, so 6 hours. Then they eat quickly (we actually prop their bottles and go back to bed and rest/sleep...when they're done they spit them out! Easy peasy!) and we're all back asleep for another 3 hours or so. At this point they are regularly taking 3oz bottles and sometimes moving toward 4oz, just depending. We haven't done a super great job of working to schedule them together but they are somewhat doing it on their own. Daytime isn't as scheduled but I am certainly not a scheduled person so we're all doing just fine with that. I don't know what they weigh but preemie clothes are still fitting them just fine.

So that is that! My FIL is here this week working to finish up our front porch which will be wonderful to have done before the open house. I worked like mad yesterday with the help of Grandma Jean (our respite provider for Caden) to clean this place and am happy with the work I got done. I have to be ok with the fact it's not going to be perfect, but I doubt ANYONE expects this place to be perfect with our family dynamics, right??

Totally fun weekend!

James and I have had a blast this weekend, and truly we haven't done much of anything! We have finally found a couple friendship and we are all smitten, LOL! Heather and I have known of each other for years, but it wasn't until Facebook brought us back together that we really started talking about one year ago. That was surfacy until early this past winter when we actually started hanging out some. And truly, the rest is history. We call, we text, we shop, we eat, we hang, we watch kids, we are sisters by heart, best friends by choice. And then we realized that our husbands are a LOT alike. So we hung out as the 4 of us a few times. And our husbands hit it off! So this weekend, we have been together a ridiculous amount of time and it just makes our days go by so fast with newborn twins. I was very concerned about being "stuck at home" with no one to talk to and all of that, but having a true best friend and just being so comfortable with another young family is truly an amazing gift from God. I have never had a super close friend as a married mom and I never realized what I was missing out on! And we never had couple friends save for our sibs and their spouses...I don't mean to go on and on but truly, my heart is lighter, my days are shorter, the sun shines brighter and I feel so blessed that I just have to share it. And the icing? Dan and Heather have a 5 year old with special needs. You know you "click" when you have that commonality.

And again, my parents took the twins overnight on Friday night for us! It is always a huge gift to us to have that continuous sleep. They went down for the night around 10 and woke up just after 3am, then they were pretty restless for the rest of the early morning for them. I know it wasn't a wonderful night of sleep for you guys but THANK YOU from the bottoms of our hearts for that!

Last night the twins FINALLY got it together. And for those of you insinuating that I am complaining about their sleep, I am NOT, I am simply trying to keep a running tab on how they were sleeping at each time in their life. That kind of stuff intruiges me and I didn't keep a record with any other child. I want to with them! Last night they slept from 10pm-5am straight, BOTH of them!! That's 7 hours. We were so impressed at how smart they obviously are, LOL!

This week we'll be gearing up for an Open House we're having out here on Saturday. If you think I'm insane for having an Open House with 5 week old twins and 4 other kids you're somewhat correct, but we wanted a way for people to come meet the twins (we haven't made it to church yet, imagine that?) and to see our house in its (mostly) finished state. Over 4 years ago we started a rennovation project to our existing tiny house and now it is quite a big house that we are proud of and have done a lot of work to - with the help of MANY dedicated family members (mainly my FIL) and friends. So now, we want to let people see the house and snuggle a baby or two. Oh, and friends from church are doing all the food for it so again, I'm not entirely off my rocker! You are all SO welcome to come, and how I wish I could gather everyone who reads together to have a chat fest. But seriously, if you read this and you want to come you probably know where we live or you can contact me and I'll see if I want to give you directions. HA!

Caden's registered for school again!

I went this morning to register Caden for Kindergarten. Yes, he's already done K but he's repeating it because the goals and skills he's working toward are very K appropriate. His teacher is brand new to the school this year, though she has taught K for 5 years already. He will have the same wonderful 1:1 associate he had last year and that is a big relief for me. I worry some about a teacher who might not know him, etc, but I'm sure things will work out. I know he'll have a great time no matter WHAT the rest of us do/say/think!

Declan will go in an hour to have his lala checked out. I have a feeling we'll be going to an antibiotic for it. My guess? Cephalexin. Will update once I know.

Avery and I are working on her bedroom lately. She got new bedsheets thanks to Grandma Sue and she loves them...but last night was the first night she would have slept in them and she decided she wanted to sleep on the top bunk instead. Figures. Also last night she slept with 8 little braids all over her head and today has (frizzy) wavy hair! She likes it. The jury's still out for me.

The twins did well last night, and they weren't overly cranky all evening for once! It seems the hours between 6-10pm are prime fussy time and boy it's a workout to have them then. Last night wasn't nearly as bad that way. They finally went down to sleep at 11pm and then both woke at 4am and again around 7:30am. I can't complain!

Hooray for more independence - Declan!

No, not walking yet, but he JUST went DOWN our front porch steps all by himself! Maybe it's one less thing where I'll have to carry him!

And now Madelyn proves to us she can also do it.

Sleep a super long stretch, that is. She went from 9:30pm - 5am, so 7.5 hours! Why is it that they never do it together? Macey was more fitful all night, just not totally settling in. She went from 10pm - 2:30, then again around 7am. Someday, I'm not even going to remember this, right?

Today my oldest 2 are shipped out to random places. Caden is with Charon, his awesome 1:1 aide from school! She called and offered to take him and I of course said yes so he was picked up at 10 and won't be home until 6pm! Avery is at her friend Gretchen's house for the day. Gretchen and Avery are only 4 days apart and will both be 5 years old at the end of this month! I'm sure they will have loads of fun. Gretchen was going to introduce Avery to the world of Polly Pockets - big fun! I'm always looking for things that Avery can self-entertain with as she is VERY poor at that. She is always wanting to hang around me or have me entertain her in some way and I get VERY tired of it, especially with 2 newborns in the mix.

Avery's test results -

all normal! Thank you God!

Last night was a more decent night of sleep. Macey and Madelyn went from 11pm-4am, so a 5 hour stretch they did together, which was nice. Then they went again until nearly 7am.

A big thank you today goes out to Leslie and her sister for the huge respite for me - they watched all 5 of my kids plus Leslie's own 3 month old for several hours while I did a whole lot of nothing at Wal-Mart and Goodwill. It was so fun and SO needed, so thank you!!

All taken today - enjoy!

A few days have passed...

because there's really not that much to say. It's been a lot of the same thing. The sleeping is going the same pretty much - we get 4-5 hour stretches but not necessarily at the same time and never from the same baby two nights in a row! It's actually kind of hilarious. They'll take turns sleeping well it seems. We were waking the sleeping baby to feed her when the first baby woke up, but we're not always doing that anymore since they've proved to be able to do up to 8 hour stretches...in other words, if Madelyn is screaming for a bottle and it's been 4 hours and Macey is sleeping peacefully, we'll leave Macey alone until she wakes on her own. Sometimes it makes for an extra time we wake up, but typically it works out. We started the "shift" routine a few nights ago - I take the bedtime - 3:00am shift and James takes from 3:01 on, meaning that I have them again by 6:30, but I can usually sleep until around 8am with this schedule, off and on of course.

Declan's bottom seems to be better. We switched to Lotrimin instead of Nystatin and it seems better. So far, no drs visits for it.

Avery's bladder and kidney ultrasound went super today, she was so cooperative and did so well. We don't have results from that back yet but her repeat pee-in-a-cup test was negative, so at the very least we know the antibiotics did their thing.

Camping is over...we survived!

But very glad to be home. The weather was UNNNNNNNNNNNNbelieveable. I've never seen such mild temps in July and August. Loved that!

Last night I was the only one who got up with Macey and Madelyn (James is getting cranky over how often he has to get up, and it is admittedly more often than I get up...but that's a rant for another day by me) and they aren't doing so well. It's back to every 3-4 hours again. Madelyn actually did much better than Macey Friday night but last night neither one did super. I'm hoping that being at home will do them good.

Their thrush is nearly all gone however! Yay for Diflucan!

Declan's la-la is very very sore again. I have a feeling we'll be seeing the dr in the morning sometime. Also, Avery's UTI results came back. She needs to have an ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder on Tuesday at 11:30. It's more just as a precaution rather than there being something "really wrong", but it's always tough to juggle all these appointments with so many kids!

We're on to a better medicine for thrush!

I called our dr. and specifically asked for Diflucan. Gave them each their first dose last night and last night's sleep was much better. Madelyn actually had a 6 hour stretch! Macey didn't do as well but James also didn't swaddle her. We stayed home last night but plan to go out tonight again camping for the weekend!

A very happy anniversary today to my in-laws!!! Not sure how many years but it's been lots of years and I think it's so neat that both of our sets of parents are still married after all these years!

We got cocky.

What can we say? We thought we were "all that", able to camp and everything like that with newborns. Last night didn't go so well. At all. James finally just up and left the campground completely at 4:30am - nice!! At that point he wasn't so much deserting us as he was planning to just stay awake to get to work on time. Macey and Madelyn were fussy ALL night, never really having a nice stretch of time where they slept well. Their thrush is really awful, especially Madelyn. I have called the dr about it and I think we'll need to move on to something else for them because the Nystatin is not clearing it up and I think they are grouchy because of the thrush.

So no 8 hour stretches, lol. I don't know if we'll spend the night out there or not tonight. I think I'd prefer not to.

Happy due date Macey and Madelyn!

Today is the day we were all anticipating...July 29. When I first found out I was pregnant I was sure I would be still pregnant today and would probably even deliver in August. Little did I know then it was twins and they'd be evicted at 37 weeks! So today marks M&Ms 3 week birthday and their official due date. Thrilled they are here and doing so well!

Those of you who know us know we love to camp. James' cousin Greg and his wife Melissa had a baby last weekend and Greg's brother Jer and his wife Jaci came from NW Iowa to see them (and us, of course!). They love to camp as well so we decided to pull our camper to the campground last night and set up next to their pop-up. We all 7 stayed overnight last night and it truly didn't go horrible! Macey didn't have anywhere close to an 8 hour stretch again (I should have knocked on some wood) but she did a 4 hour stretch and Madelyn did a 5 hour stretch, so we're getting there! We'll see what tonight holds. I think M&M got cold last night - it's been weirdly cool for July, but we'll take it!

Macey gets the gold star for sleeping!!

This girl seems to have figured it out! Last night she did an 8 hour stretch - 10pm to 6am! It makes SUCH a difference to get all that sleep!! Madelyn is a different story, but we're working her through it!

The sleeping continues to go well!

I should knock on some wood, but instead I'm praising God! Last night little Macey slept for 6 straight hours. And of course, Madelyn did a 5.5 hour stretch, but it wasn't at the same time. We have been trying to keep them on the same eating schedule but Macey has been slowly working up to sleeping longer and longer stretches so no way am I going to wake her up to feed her if she'll sleep 6 hours! They are swaddled, in their carseats, in the crib...it's working, and we aren't touching it! Hoping for as much success tonight!

And guess what? Madelyn has thrush now! So all THREE of my little girls are on medication!! Which totally reminds me that I forgot to give Avery her meds before bed. I am really awful about remembering meds. Anyone have any good tips for remembering that??

All's fair in love and....babies?

I haven't blogged in a few days. Mostly that's due to the fact that last evening I was home alone with all 5 kids and M&M screamed and fussed for 3+ solid hours. It was NOT pretty. But let me backtrack a bit so I can remember what I wanted to blog about...

Friday night my mom volunteered to keep the twins overnight. YAHOOOOO!!! So we willingly dropped them off Friday evening and went home to put our older 3 to bed and fall blissfully asleep ourselves. We slept through the night (yay for us!) and the twins did really well, too! My mom swaddled them and put them in their carseats and then went from 10:45-3:15! She then fed them and they made it until 6 again, so they did really well. In the morning I went in to my parents' house and picked them up, then brought them to a family from our church who was willing to keep the twins for the day while I went shopping with my mom. It was such a wonderful break from the ordinary and we found some great deals. James kept the older 3 during this time, and when I got home it was James' turn to go out...

James left at 6:30 to go to the races with some friends from work. I thought it was important that he go and I know he was looking forward to it. The twins started fussing about the time he left and by 7pm they were screaming, sometimes taking turns, other times wailing in unison. I got the older 3 to bed and from 7pm-10pm I basically did nothing except walk babies, pat babies, feed bottles, prop bottles, burp, give gas drops, lay them on their tummies, lay them on their backs. It never ended! I think they both had tummy troubles and they were just miserable. Finally at 10pm I fed the last bottle to each of them, swaddled them tightly and put them in their carseats in the crib...and they made it until 3:15! So just over 5 hours! Oh man, that was awesome. Let's hope it's a continuing trend!

So now I am outside and I have 4 kids with me, the oldest 2 and the youngest 2. Only one is fussy, so I suppose I am doing well! I am letting James nap while Declan naps. I hope they are able to get a few good winks in.

A better night - hallelujah!

So last night we tried a few things. First off, James put in earplugs. Turns out I can sleep through a lot more noise than James can which actually I find ironic because he was always able to sleep through the older 3 crying. Hmmm. Anyway, he put in earplugs and in James fashion was asleep within 2-3 minutes (I do not kid). At 11pm, just 20 minutes or so after we had all laid down, they both started taking turns fussing. After trying the pacifiers multiple times I finally said "screw it" and gave them both 2 oz bottles, burped them, swaddled them up tight and turned out the light.

At around 1:30 Madelyn started fussing. I've been telling James we need to let her fuss a bit or at the very least offer the pacifier so she's not getting so used to the 2.5 hour schedule. I hauled her into our bed (I know) and offered the pacifier several times. It must have worked...the next time I was awoken was 3:15! Which means that little Macey went from the 11:00 bottle until 3:15 swaddled in her crib, yay! So they both ate at 3:15 and then not again until the 6:00 hour. That's great progress.

You probably don't care how often they're getting up or any of that, but I really want to remember this years from now so hopefully blogspot will still be around. :)

Edit: We also had to bring Avery in this morning because we thought she might have a UTI. Turns out she does. Another 10 days of medicine for one of my girls!

Weight checks and thrush - oh my!

Today my sister in law had my older 3 kids - thank you! That was a welcome respite and they had a blast as well. During that time I took the twins to the drs office for weight checks. At our last check (1 week after birth) Macey was 5#6oz and Madelyn was 5#8oz. Today Macey finally gained! She was 5#14oz and Madelyn was 6#1oz. They're doing great at the eating thing!

While there, I noticed Macey's mouth was FULL of white spots so I asked the float nurse doing the weight checks if it looked like thrush to her. Sure did, so she found the PA who came in and verified it was thrush and ordered the Nystatin for us. She's supposed to have it 4 times a day for 10 days. Notice I said "supposed to" - crazy insane medicine schedule!!! But after stopping by my friend Heather's house for a few hours I picked up the prescription and boiled all the bottle nipples and such. I'm trying really hard to be good about it and help her to get over her fussiness and gas with it - poor baby!

Picture posting help for blogspot please!

Those of you who blog here and are familiar with how it all runs...what is the easiest way to post pictures fast on here? I'd love to share more pictures with all of you but it always seems to take me forever to get them uploaded and stuff. What's your sure-fire way to get pics up??

I wish I had blogged more when Declan was little.

I wish I knew how long he was sleeping at this point and things like that. As a friend just posted in my comment who had twin girls exactly one week before M&M were born - "did you know they'd be this much work?" and the answer is a resounding HECK NO. I never imagined.

At first, the first few days home, I told someone it was "easy". HA! Omgoodness there is nothing easy about it. And with the work of them comes the guilt over not spending good time with the older 3. The worry about them being upset at being sent to someone else's house (not Caden, he'd go to ANYONE'S house, but Avery will quite often be upset over having to leave and I know Declan doesn't nap as well...the list goes on). My new mantra is this: This TWO shall pass, this TWO shall pass...

Macey and Madelyn have given me a run for my money this afternoon. I think the feeding takes up a lot of our time and that is amplified by the fact that someone usually requires just one or 1/2 extra little ounces about 45min - 1hr after a regular feeding. Which is TERRIBLY hard when you're trying to get them both on the same schedule, because if Madelyn (who's chunking up quite nicely, we had to finally cut off her hospital ID ankelet Sunday night because it was TOO tight!) wants that extra ounce an hour after she's fed then she is satisfied longer than Macey who wants a regular full feeding (which is 2 ounces for each of them right now) about one hour after Madelyn's extra ounce. Make sense? I know, hardly, and it's very hard to keep track of who ate what and when and how much and ugh. I am honestly very tempted to make 2 little paper plate clocks, labeled with their names...and set the hands to the last time they ate so that at 4am when we're totally bleary-eyed because we've been up multiple times already we can remember when they ate and see if a pacifier might do the trick. But honestly, you cannot stop a hungry baby from crying because they need to EAT, no matter if it's been 1 hour or 4 hours since they last ate.

So some stats: They will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. Macey's cord fell off sometime during the night on Sunday night into Monday morning. Madelyn followed suit (in typical fashion, baby A first, then baby B) and lost hers Monday late afternoon. They are each eating just shy of 2 ounces at each feeding and eating every 2 hours...sometimes that is stretched to 3 hours but that is very rare. They very much like to have an extra 1/2 to 1 oz about an hour after they ate to drift them off into a deeper sleep. (Hateful, lol.) They have more head control and are stronger than any of our other babies have ever DREAMED of being...could it be possible they'll walk at or before 12 months of age? I can't fathom.

Thanks for the support!

I am not quite so tearful, but I would pay a good price for tons of sleep. Honestly, I got up 100% with my older three, James never did. I never expected him to. He was working full-time and I nursed Caden and Avery, so it didn't even make sense for him to get up. But this time (it must be the c-section) I don't even hear the girls when they start to stir. James often has one completely fed before I am even aware that anyone was up. (They are in a crib in our bedroom, so it isn't like they are far away and hard to hear.) I feel really bad about that but I am so thankful for his help! We just talked tonight about how to get better sleep...do we both just get up every time and make it quick? Do we take shifts - I would take 9pm - 2am and he'd take 2am - wake up time? We're not quite sure what the most sure-fire way to go would be.

This week I'll be starting to lift my older kids more. My dr asked me to not lift anything heavier than one baby for 2 weeks, and that will be Wednesday. After that I think that I'll be starting more and more to be on my own. James will be home on Monday, our awesome respite provider will be here most of the day on Tuesday, my mom is coming on Wednesday to help and then we'll start going for it. I am planning to ship out my oldest 2 for sure during naptime, and all 3 of them whenever possible for a good chunk of the day.

So, that is that. I'm trying to plan ahead. Trying to set up as many volunteers as possible for help with the older 3, specifically the oldest. I can't leave him alone in a room with the twins. I can't leave him near them - he tries to pick them up, hugs them SUUUUUUUUUUUPER tight, is just untrustable with them though he loves them SO much. I'm waiting for the new baby novelty to wear off for them, mainly for Caden. I must admit though, they are so cute they are hard to resist!

Soooooooooooo

The teary-ness has set in. James comes home and gloriously takes care of the older 3 but often that means leaving the house to go outside or whatnot and I am just here with the girls yet again. I cry over anything...the 2-2.5 hour stretches of sleep don't help at all, plus recovering from a c-section just blows. Madelyn is now screaming after just having been fed so I must go!

Staples are OUTTA here! And 18mo well-child for Declan.

And I couldn't be happier. I was scheduled to see my surgeon on Thursday to have the staples removed and check things over but I just couldn't stand it - they were poking into me and just generally uncomfortable. So I called them this morning and they said to come in today at 3:30 instead, which was perfect because Declan was due to see our dr in the same building at 3:15 today for his 18 month well-child check up.

My mom stayed with the other 4 while James and I brought Declan to the hospital/clinic. I went upstairs for my appointment and James stayed for Declan's appointment. The staples came out quickly for me and it didn't hurt, like I so feared. He said the incision looked great and to just keep on doing what I was doing. All done there. They did joke with me..."See you in 18 months or so?" Haaaaaaaaaa.

Declan's appointment went well. He is 27 pounds some odd ounces and 31 inches I think? I have it written down but I don't have it here with me. He's short. And he's heavy. His BMI is a little on the high side, so we're watching that but we think when he starts walking he'll trim down. He's a pretty sedentary boy save for the crawling so I'm sure that makes a difference.

My mom is here and is staying overnight. She is going to take the twins with her into Avery's bedroom for the night, woo hoo!! Avery is patiently waiting on the top bunk for grandma and the twins to come in...time will tell if she actually falls asleep or not but she has assured me that she will wait for grandma to come in before falling asleep. :)

Today's late update brought to you courtesy of...

James! Apparently he doesn't realize that bringing the laptop upstairs means that I cannot have any computer time. You know, since I have so MUCH time now available to me and all.

Things still going well here. M&M are perfectly adorable and perfectly on schedule with each other (for the most part) and it's just going good. This morning we had their home visit with the nurse. Madelyn passed Macey up, weighing 5lbs7oz to Macey's 5lb6oz. Their color looked good, temps were good, all over good! I've got some drainage from my incision so the nurse said to shower twice a day and let it air dry for 30 minutes or so (lay on the bed and just let it dry). You know, I really like that nurse, and so I didn't want to be rude, but that was hilarious. Twice a day? I think she meant to say twice a week or something, there's just no way twice a day is going to be possible. I'm still laughing.

What else do I want to remember? I'm not that sleep deprived, thanks to my awesome, amazing, wonderful, treasured husband who puts up with my "you've got a set of pipes, babe" snoring due to having had surgery and taking good pain meds. Apparently he gets up several times that I don't even know about during the night. God bless you James.

Tomorrow James is headed back to work and my mom is going to come for a few days. Yes, she lives near us anyway but she is still going to essentially move in for a few days which will be fun! After that we'll see what/when James is going to take off - I know I can't wait for the go-ahead to lift more weight and do more stuff around here, but I still have quite a bit of pain in my incision and I can't overdo it.

Night one at home - successful!

No, the tiniest two and the biggest two did not sleep through the night, but the other 3 did and it truly wasn't that bad. I have to give kudos to James for his willingness and helpfulness with all of this. The nurses kept reminding me I am recovering from major abdominal surgery and will need to rely heavily on others. I am not supposed to lift anything heavier than one baby for at least until I see the surgeon again at the end of this week, then we'll see what he says.

We got home around noon yesterday and my mom was here with the other 3 kids. We came in and Caden and Avery were so obsessed with the twins. It is a good thing there are two newborns to go around, but sir Caden is going to be a challenge. He ended up going to my parents' house for the day - he's just too rough and too loud and too...lots. He had fun with my parents and even napped there for a bit. Then they went to Wal-Mart and got a haul of practical and fun stuff for the house here, bringing supper with them. Grandma and Avery painted fingernails when they got back, complete with nail stickers! That was a hit.

Back at home, we had lots of visitors and when that waned I went down for a 2 hour nap while Declan napped. James had all 3 of his little girls for that time and Avery is SUCH a good baby holder (she is particularly fond of Macey, but in time I think it won't matter so much...my gut tells me it is because we have differentiated Macey and Madelyn's stuff with pink for Macey and purple for Madelyn and Avery is VERY partial to pink, therefore, she loves Macey...makes sense in a 4yo way). I got a good nap as well.

At bedtime the twins ate around 9pm and then we swaddled them and put them down in the crib in our bedroom together. They woke just after midnight to eat again and did very well. After 1 they woke again, but this time we (I should say James) searched for their pacifiers and offered those, which gave us until after 5am before they woke again! Very nice girls!! We then all slept until nearly 8:30 and they ate again at 9am.

It's 10:40 and Avery is hounded me to hold Macey again. I must go!

Laptops are fun!

It's so much fun to sit in the hospital and blog away on our laptop. It makes me think of those commercials where the person is sitting at some random place using their wireless internet service instead of doing what they're supposed to be doing there...only we are allowed to use this internet service so I suppose it's not nearly as funny. I digress.

Macey and Madelyn are doing so well. They are just peaceful little buggers who've barely cried or needed much besides feedings and diaper changes. My nurse last night has identical twin girls at home who are 20 months old and she gave me some good tips and advice - it was so fun to talk with her! People come in to visit and can pick them up and hold them, put them back down and just unneccessarily manhandle them and they don't wake up or anything. You can tell they are used to being bumped and jostled by each other which will serve them VERY well in a family with 3 young children who want to poke and prod at them. We've also noticed that the girls prefer to be near each other in the same tiny basinette and will turn their heads toward each other every time they are near each other. It's very precious!

Macey had a 2 vessel umbilical cord, which was noted from a very early ultrasound. Usually, this means nothing but our doctor ordered an ultrasound on her kidneys which was done this morning already. We don't have any news from that but hope to hear in the next several days what the results of that are.

The ultrasound technician who was the person to tell me I was having twins and has followed them every month since that Feb 4th day just came in to see them and held Madelyn for a bit. It has been so fun to share this pregnancy with her and she is so excited to meet them on the outside! We love you Donna.

I'm doing ok. Somewhat overwhelmed, but mostly I feel that's due to the c-section recovery more than anything else. While I don't have a lot of constant pain, I am very uncomfy when I stand up straight and it's just tough to move around like I would like to. I know I am going to need quite a bit of help when I go home and that's tough for me because I am so ready to feel well and do the stuff I wasn't able to do because I was "too pregnant" to do them before. I'm going to try to remember what a gifted nurse up here told me this morning - newborns won't know they're wet or poopy, but your older kids will know if they're being left out. Make it a point to nurture them well right now and don't stress about the bitty baby stuff. I find that so helpful, because I think it could be very easy right now to think overwhelmed thoughts about how to care for the babies when instead I can be focusing on how to reconnect with my olders who have missed their momma when I was hugely pregnant and missed me personally while in the hospital. I just want to recover fully, and I know in order to do that I HAVE TO take good care of myself. That is my most important goal right now. Everything else? Baby steps.

The twins have arrived...

God is so good! They are just two tiny bundles of adorable. I will post more later, but wanted to put a few pics up here to tide you over. I went via c-section yesterday morning (7.8.09) and all is going very well. Macey Johanna weighed 5lbs 11oz and was born at 7:50am. Madelyn Corinne was slightly more stubborn but they yanked her out at 7:53am weighing 5lbs 10oz. No, I cannot believe I had all that baby inside me either!

Still here...

I know. You go for a few days without posting anything and people start to wonder. But yes, I am still here, still hugely pregnant, still waiting. We actually made it to church this morning and a lot of people were suprised to see me there, but we figure this is our last chance to go in oh, 2 months? So we did it and the kids are out of control nuts lately so it wasn't exactly good but we were there.

I also had to go to OB this afternoon for a pre-OP teaching thing...basically an early check-in so everything is not so hectic on Wed morning. I can't believe they'll be here in just a few days!!!!

36 weeks today - a big milestone

I believe 36 weeks is considered term for twins. I FEEL term. I know I've mentioned the measurements before and how they measure you just like you're carrying a single baby - the "biggest" being 40cm because you're 40 weeks pregnant, kwim? Well, I measured 49 today. HAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I just find that ridiculously funny.

So yes. The appt today went well, blood pressure is excellent, I have lots of swelling in my legs and feet and face and fingers and everywhere, but I am upright and walking and I really don't have much to complain about. I did get some prednisone for the intense itching of PUPPP. Let's hope that alleviates it somewhat. The rash should start to go away within 1-2 weeks after delivery. I was hoping it'd be 1-2 days but knowing there's an end in sight helps (a little).

I have a non-stress test again tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. After that it's just a waiting game to see if my body actually ever WILL go into labor on its own or if, like all of my kids, these girls need to also be evicted from their cushy water home. I am a fingertip dilated for those of you who care...basically that means nothing is happening. He did however say he could feel a prominent head down there, which is our sweet baby A who has been pushed to the netherregions of my uterus but is still staking her claim at FIRSTBORN! Will keep you posted - thank you for the support and prayers!

It's an adventure a day with twins!

Last night was one of those bizarre sleeping nights. I have PUPPP - a pregnancy rash that is super itchy and uncomfortable. I thought that was what was keeping me awake, and then your mind starts to wander...have I felt baby A move recently? How long has it been? And I realized that it's been a while, but I could feel baby B moving like crazy. So I got maybe 1 hour total sleep during the night and the kids were awake by 6:15...they day began.

I decided to call my dr at 8am. When they called back they said I should get to OB to have a non-stress test immediately. Immediately was over an hour because I had to wait until our wonderful Grandma Jean arrived, but I went straight to OB. Found baby B's heartbeat with no problems but baby A (the one I was concerned about) - couldn't find it. A couple of different nurses tried and at this point you start to panic a bit. Finally they brought in an ultrasound machine. It felt like it took forever for them to get there with it. Started the ultrasound and of course the sonographer can't tell you anything. At one point I even asked, "Did you find her heartbeat?" and the answer was very non-committal. Finally the radiologist who was also in the room calls our dr and tells him, "We have one heartbeat at 133 and one at 153" - THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good fetal movement. Baby B is just squishing the heck out of baby A and not giving her much room, pushing her way back into my back where it's hard to feel movement or find that elusive heartbeat.

That was scary. I thank my mom for being there with me when James couldn't. I thank our dr for caring so much and being so adamant we get the care we needed. I thank the nurses who were so professional and didn't let on how worried they were. But mostly I thank God for giving peace and calm and helping us through, and for keeping them both growing strong and healthy!

Tomorrow I see my dr again, and Thursday I am probably going to have another non-stress test (incidentally, it was a very HIGH stress test, but I get the whole true meaning of it). I will be 36 weeks tomorrow and at 36 weeks we've said I can deliver here in Pella so this is a very big milestone! I am currently set up for an induction/probable c-section (because of their positions inside) on Wed the 8th at 7:30am. I got my wish without even having to be pushy - the date of 07/08/09!

Please pray that the itching subsides some for me. I am pretty miserable with it. Also pray that babies might decide to both be head down (vertex) so we can go for a natural delivery versus the c-section.

Today is our 11 year wedding anniversary!

Those of you who were there, remember hot stinkin hot it was? It's like that again today. Blistering. But we are enjoying getting a few projects done around here and hanging with Declan. Then tonight we are going to go out while Declan stays with James' parents overnight (bless them, no kids for us at all tonight!) - we'll pick up some last minute baby stuff and go out to eat at Spaghetti Works, my favorite!!

Today my friend Joy is marrying her best friend Rob - so happy for them!!!! God's blessings to you guys, wish I felt like I could be outside for that long.

Please pray for safe travels for many people. My BFF Heather and family are traveling to Michigan as I type. My parents and kids will be traveling HOME from Michigan this afternoon and tomorrow morning. Several of my RTS mommy blogging friends are together in Florida relaxing, but will be traveling back to their homes soon (some year, I will be coming along, mark my words!). Prayers for all of you.

A bit more about this week for you all

I haven't blogged about it. Maybe I've been too overwhelmed and emotional about it. This week has been VERY different from most weeks in our home. On Saturday morning at 6am, my parents came over and picked up Caden and Avery. They left for Michigan, yes, MI, 8 hours away from us here. I cried when they left, though in total honesty it wasn't because I was going to miss them so much, it was mostly just because I am that emotional and it's just different. Caden signed "mommy cry" a few times and Avery gave me a look that said, "Don't start this, this is NOT my first day of Kindergarten or something." But off they went.

And they are still gone and it is Thursday. And they won't be back until Sunday sometime!

I do miss them, but again, not all that much, LOL! That probably sounds horrible, but it is so unbelieveable to just have Declan to care for. He is simple. He doesn't require a certain drink and a certain number of scoops of Ovaltine into his milk and he doesn't argue about which seat he gets to sit in at dinner and he doesn't yell "moooooooooooommy!" from the bathroom and wherever you put him he can only crawl away from there, not get up and run away. I have spent mucho time with good friends and reconnected there. I have followed up on a Craigslist ad and found a gal with tons of totes of twin girl clothes near us and bought some more clothing for M&M. I was able to spend time with another twin mommy and they are letting us use their twins' carseats and double stroller and all of that, so I now have those ducks in a row. (pause here for scratching my face, glory BE it itches!) And as much as I wanted to get done around the house here, I have spent a LOT of time on my butt and in bed, napping while Declan naps (more scratching, sorry) and simply enjoying not being at everyones' beck and call.

But mostly, the point of this post is to say thank you mom and dad. Thank you for the break. Thank you for understanding that while we love them dearly, we love them even more when we don't have to care for them 24/7. Thank you for sacrificing things you could be doing so that you could have our kids along with you. Much love.

35 week appointments - God is good!!

It's been a busy few days. Yesterday I had my regular appt with my dr. Things are looking good as far as he's concerned. I did cry about how much pressure I'm feeling and how uncomfortable I am - he was sympathetic but said there truly isn't much we can do for right now, which I understand. I measured 46 weeks and we found both heartbeats easily.

This morning I had my ultrasound to check the twins' growth and then I was able to talk with the perinatologist about delivery plans and all of that since this will be the last time I see him before they arrive (Lord willing). Today, baby A was head down - she always has been, good girl! However, baby B was breech, which is weird because at every single ultrasound she is in a different position!! She is going to be a challenge. With this kind of positioning and delivering at a small, local hospital, our more likely outcome is a c-section. However, if I come in in labor they will scan me again and if baby B is head down, we'll go for vaginal delivery.

The biggest surprise was their weights. A month ago they were both within an ounce of each other at 3lbs7oz and 3lbs6oz. I didn't expect them to be over 5lbs. HA! Baby A is (estimated at) 5lbs13oz and baby B at 6lbs0oz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder I'm so uncomfortable!! My dr and the peri were super happy with this and I am still just so shocked! They are growing in perfect unison honestly, and we feel very blessed.

I have a horrid, itchy rash all over my face and neck. Peri said it was likely PUPPS and wouldn't get better until after I delivered. That, combined with how big they already are, has him saying I can be induced or sectioned at 37 weeks, which is just 2 weeks from today (and incidentally, is 07/08/09, the date I've been wanting for months now!). I can't believe they will be here within 2 weeks!!!!

33 weeks today, another appointment

By calendar weeks I'm 33 weeks pregnant. According to how big my belly is I'm 44 weeks pregnant. Is that even possible?? It feels like it isn't, trust me. Everything sounded good in there (strong heartbeats at 160 - baby B and at 152 - baby A) and everything as far as I'm concerned looked good as well. He told me to eat more. I guess I can handle that, but nothing sounds good and I get full pretty fast. I am now off the procardia for contractions and we'll see how it goes. He basically put me on it so James and I could take our trip and not worry about contractions. I did take one this morning but now I'm fully out so we'll just wait and see! If I make it to 36 weeks (July 1) I can deliver here which would be awesome. If I go before that and they can't stop labor I have to go to Des Moines which I'd like to avoid, what with 3 other kids to look after around here! My dr mentioned something about "talking after 38 weeks" and I think the death glare I gave him was good enough to make him understand I hoped NOT to be pregnant anymore by then......

This week is Vacation Bible School at our church and I've been busy with that. It's harder than I imagined to be upright for that long. I have employed our sweet 10yo neighbor girl for 2 afternoons a week watching Caden and Avery while mommy and Declan nap. That is very nice! I'm trying to take it easy as much as possible.

James and I did go on our 4 day camping "adventure" together and it was truly a blast. We did nothing honestly. We shopped (a very little, but he was kind enough to go to a couple of consignment stores with me and actually feigned interest!) and we ate out a couple of times, but mostly we roasted marshmallows and talked and ate and laughed and read some of The Love Dare book (from the movie FireProof) and we were responsible for NO ONE other than ourselves. We found it VERY easy to get used to doing nothing, surprisingly easy in fact. James was an absolute sweetheart to me (as usual) and I rarely had to get myself anything. He even did all the cooking and roasting marshmallows! I assembled the smores with the twins' help - my tummy is so out there I just stacked them on top of each other right on my belly! We are very excited about our baby girls to come. It seems so surreal but yet we know they're coming and overall everyone is doing well. We were able to talk openly about how much work it's going to be and how much we're going to need each other and our friends and family, but I know he's in it for the long haul and that feels great.

These twins are excited to meet their family!

I must sound like a lot of fun on the outside, because last night we had to stop some pre-term labor!

I was in Wal-Mart around 4pm yesterday and started feeling crampy. I can get that sometimes while walking so I didn't think much of it. By the time I got done I was in pain, but of course I didn't ask anyone for help, I lugged all the milk gallons and juice and all of my bags to the van, returned the cart to the cart corrall (huge pet peeve, lol), came back to my van, sat down and started having to breathe hard through the pain. I decided I better call my drs office (it was a few minutes until 5pm) when the contractions went away, and then came back every couple of minutes pretty regularly.

Long story short, I got in there and they were 1 minute apart. Not hugely painful, but definitely contractions. I got a shot of terbutaline and they started an IV with fluids...things settled down and when the first bag of fluids was almost gone the contractions started up again. So then over the course of the next 3 hours I had 5 pills of procardia and more fluid. I was super uncomfy but I think that had more to do with the way I was laying on the exam table and all of that. I am NOT dilated and my dr took some fibronectin test which came back negative (meaning I'm NOT likely to go into labor soon, very good news). I was glad to get home, for sure. I have to take one pill of the procardia every 8 hours (probably until I deliver) but our dr gave us the go-ahead for our 4 day weekend without kids so I am thrilled about that for tomorrow! Since getting up this morning I have had one mild contraction but nothing huge. I guess being pregnant with twins really IS that different! I've never had issues like this before at all.

My dr thinks it had more to do with the fact I'd had diarrhea all day yesterday (sorry if TMI, but I like full disclosure) - it started everything cramping and then I over-did it and all of that. I think this was my wake-up call, however, that I cannot be doing as much as I used to. I'd like to think I can still do it all and keep the house clean and all of that, but I think that's a no.