It has been awhile.....

A lot has happened since I posted last. Things have been really busy up until now. Let's see, in mid October I took the twins to Arkansas for the first time, and we had a great time. They got to meet lots of family members who were anxiously awaiting their arrival. We stayed with my granparents and had lots of help from Franny (my grandmother) and all the nieces and nephew. The trip was too short. Following that trip my sister-in-law Amy, who lives in Austin, came for a visit. We had such a good time. Elizabeth and Thomas had great conversations with their Auntie, Amy cooked some wonderful dishes for us, and we laughed so much the entire time she was with us. On Amy's last night she was helping me burp the twins during one of their late night snacks. We laughed so much David had to shut his bedroom door :) Good times! We miss you Auntie!

I went back to work officially 10/26 though I started a few days early for a couple of hours to ease myself and the twins into our new surroundings -- me work, the twins daycare. I have a great caseload of sweet kids, and the other speech pathologists are great to work with. I think the school is a good fit for me. However, David and I never anticipated how hard going back to work would be with the twins. Getting everything ready for each day is such an ordeal -- washing bottles, fixing bottles, washing my breast pump pieces, getting them packed again for the next day, packing the diaper bag, etc....Have I mentioned sleep deprivation? Thomas and Elizabeth are not sleeping through the night yet so David and I haven't been getting much sleep. There have been many mornings that have started at 3 am for me. It is such an ordeal getting them up and ready to leave each morning. We always have to wake them up, and I hate that. The ladies in the baby room at the daycare have been wonderful. T and E are the only infants in the room, and they get SO MUCH attention from the entire staff. Elizabeth has had some feeding issues though in that she will not take my breast milk in a bottle consistently. Some days she is fine and others all she does is gag whenever the nipple is put into her mouth. T and E have been sick since they started going to daycare with stuffy noses, runny noses, and now they have coughs. After lots of thought David and I decided I should stay at home with the twins. I have resigned, and my last day will be Tuesday. I hate leaving the school in the middle of the year, but I need to do what is best for my family. It seems that since I went back to work we have had so much chaos. I'm not sure if chaos is the right word or not.... Thomas and Elizabeth have been sick, and David and I have been sick. I have really missed more days than I have worked so far. Anyway, my principal was very understanding and told me that if I had the opportunity to stay home with my children I should do it. He also said whenever I am ready he will hire me back :)

My last full week at work has been an intersting one. Monday evening I was nursing the twins, and I felt something bite me. I asked David to take a look (it was on the outer thigh on my right leg), and he said it was an ant. No big deal, right? Tuesday morning the bite was about the size of a quarter. It bothered me all day at work, and by the time I got home it was the size of the top of a Coke can. Wednesday morning it was the size of an orange, and it was extremely red and hot. I decided to let the school nurse take a look. She took one look and said, "Honey, that is not an ant bite. That is a spider bite!" She told me to go to the doctor right away. So I left work and went to Urgent Care -- we don't have a primary care physician yet because neither one of us has had to go to the doctor. The doctor wasn't certain what type of bite it was but wrote me a prescription for some strong antibiotics. Daddy wasn't satisfied with that so he called me in some dapsone which is a drug specifically for brown recluse spider bites. It stops the tissue destruction caused by spider venom. Needless to say, I can't breastfeed the twins while I am on these meds. So, they are getting formula, and I am pumping and throwing my milk out. I have to pump so that my milk won't dry up. The pharmacist told me it would take three to four days after my last pill before the meds would be out of my system so it looks like I will be pumping and dumping for ten days. We are on day three. I sure hope the twins will go back to the breast after this ordeal is over with. I hope I still have milk for them to drink!

On a more positive note, Thomas and Elizabeth had their four month well visit today. Elizabeth is 23 1/4 inches long and weighs 10lbs 11oz. Thomas is 23 1/2 inches long and weighs 11lbs 1.5 oz. I had lots of questions, and the pediatrician was wonderful and answered them all. T and E continue wanting to eat every 3 to 3 1/2 hours. The doctor said that was normal for them because their weight is comparable to that of a two month old. She said it would be awhile before they start sleeping through the night because of their weight. I do get to start giving T and E cereal, and I am excited about that. Each little milestone thrills me. I am going to wait until Sunday evening to start the cereal because the drastic change from breastmilk to formula has both babies constipated :( Once I get there bowel issues resolved we will try the cereal. Thomas and Elizabeth each got four shots- the pneumococcal vaccine, DTaP, Hib vaccine, and polio. They were so mad after getting their shots. They screamed and cried and were not easily consoled. I was by myself and tried to hold them both, but they are getting so big that it was hard to do. Maybe David can go with me next time.

I will try to do better about posting.

I'm off to the breast pump!