Catch up

It has been awhile since I have posted so I have lots to catch up on. The twins had their 8 week check up about 3 weeks ago, and all was well. Thomas weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long while Elizabeth was 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. They each got four baby shots and didn't feel well for a couple of days. We found out that Thomas was staying yellow because of my breast milk but will grow out of it. The pediatrician had me take him off the breast for 48 hours in order to diagnose the cause, and he turned pink within those two days. No worries though. She told me to put him back on the breast, and he has remained pink.

Take a look at the pictures in the picture gallery. There are some of them in their razorback outfits they wore for the AR v. AL game. Too cute! Wooo Pig Soooiiee!

Uncle Jimmy arrived last night for a visit. We are having a great time! It is always so nice to have him here.

I am headed to AR to visit for a week and am so excited about it. Exact dates aren't nailed down yet, but we are working on that. There are several members of my family who have not gotten to see the twins yet. I have been homesick and figure I better go before I have to go back to work. My sister Jo is going to come get us and then driving us home. David is not really excited about being away from the babies for a week, but he recently purchased a web cam for my dad's office. He will get to see the twins through the computer while we are away.

Time for my daily rest with my babies!

Videos

I added a link to videos on the right side of the blog. I'll update this post as new videos are added.

The Gruntasaurus

A Girl Like You

Starring... Thomas

Ashley's Belly

New Thomas Video

Zoo 2

I had to post after David's post. Other than parking in the wrong place and the camera incident we had a good time. Most of the animals were out in spite of the heat, and the twins were so good. They slept most of the time though Thomas was awake for awhile following his meal :) I nursed (discreetly) in public for the first time and am no longer nervous to do it. The lactation center gave me a card to carry with me stating that according to the state law "A woman may breastfeed her child in any location where the mother and her child are authorized to be. Breastfeeding a child in a location where the mother is authorized to be must not be considered indecent exposure." I didn't have the card with me, but I feel more comfortable knowing there is a state law.

David says it was our last outing for awhile -- we will see about that:)

Zoo

The fertility clinic that helped us bring the twins into the world had a "baby reunion" at the zoo today. We had a very interesting trip and have decided that will be our last public outing for awhile... We parked on the other side of the world from where we were supposed to be so we made a long trek on foot and by stroller in some very hot weather. Along the way, the video camera fell out of the baby bag and hit the concrete. We were late for the lunch and then missed the group photo because it was time for the twins to eat. The twins don't wait for anything when it's eating time. :) Oh well, at least we got to see the elephants on the way out!

8 weeks old today!

Thomas and Elizabeth are 8 weeks old today! They had their first babysitter today who was not a family member. (Their first official babysitters were Gramps and Grandmother Jane) A friend offered to come over for a couple of hours this morning so I could run some errands. She has ten year old twins and has been dying to keep our twins. It was nice to get out. I treated myself to lunch. It was nice to get to eat a whole meal at one time :) I guess I was gone almost two hours and really enjoyed myself but was anxious to get back to our babies.

I can't believe they are 8 weeks old! They are waking up for only one night time feeding now which is geneally around 2 or 3 and then are up for the day around 6 or 6:30. They are stirring -- time to eat!

Another milestone

Thomas and Elizabeth have officially grown out of preemie diapers this week! They are both now wearing newborn swaddlers. I can't believe how fast they are growing. I can really tell when I lift them from the nursing pillow to my shoulder to burp them or when I am handing one of them to David to burp. Their little bellies are so round and full after eating. Last night Elizabeth looked like a Budha doll!

I took the twins to see their daddy at work and to meet his co-workers. It was a great trip. By the time we made our rounds around the plant David and I had just enough time to scarf down some lunch before I drove the babies home to feed them. I am going to try to take them to see David at least once a week between now and when I have to go back to work.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Go Hogs! Beat USC!
I am already working on teaching Thomas and Elizabeth how to call the Hogs -- much to David's dismay :)

Happy Birthday!

Thomas and Elizabeth are seven weeks old today! They went on their first stroller ride in the neighborhood last night and seemed to love it. They were awake for a little while and then both fell fast asleep. Last night was the first time I have exercised since February of this year! It felt good. If the weather permits we will go out again today.

My doctor's appointment

I have not had time to post about how my 6 weeks check-up went on Friday. I had a great check-up -- everything was fine. The doctor thought the twins were adorable and was very impressed that I am nursing them both successfully without supplementing with formula. He told me he never thought I would carry them as long as I did since my first hospital admission was at 16 weeks. He asked to be reminded about my infertility -- cause, etc. and warned me that he had seen lots of women with unexplained infertility get pregnant unassisted following a pregnancy resulting from fertility treatment. I told him if I got pregnant anytime soon it would send my husband over the edge :)

First Restaurant Trip...

We took the twins to Zaxby's with us today, they slept through it all :) Later today we're going to Target in search of a stroller.

Happy birthday!

Thomas and Elizabeth are six weeks old today! Let the outings begin (except for Wal-Mart)!

My outing experience from yesterday has taught me one big thing -- be prepared and aim to leave earlier than needed and plan ahead.

Yesterday's outing went very smoothly. I think I needed the trial run for tomorrow!

First official outing yesterday

My first official outing with Thomas and Elizabeth was not supposed to be until tomorrow when I go for my six weeks checkup. However, yesterday morning I called the pediatrician's office with some concerns. The twins have been congested since we brought them home -- really congested. So much so that Elizabeth has often had to sleep on mine or David's chest so that she can breathe more comfortably. At their two weeks checkup we were told to use baby saline drops and give it time for the congestion to go away -- about one week. It hadn't gone away as of yesterday. The spitting up has increased as well -- both frequency and amount. So, I took the twins in around 11 yesterday to see the doctor. She said they mostly likely have reflux that is causing their congestion and increased fussiness. Reflux is highly common in preemies and I have a family history of it. The doctor prescribed liquid Zantac and Reglan (spelling) for each baby. I am to give them the medicine for two weeks at which time we will go back to the doctor for their eight weeks checkup. If the medicine has not helped improve the spit up then they don't have reflux, and we will have to have other tests run to further investigate their diagnosis.

I wasn't that shocked with their diagnosis, but I was blown away when I picked up the medicine and had to pay for it! It is ridiculously expensive, and I'm talking about my copay. I can't imagine how much it would cost without insurance! I guess growing up with a doctor for a dad has sheltered me in terms of healthcare and medicine costs. Wow!

Five weeks old today!

Thomas and Elizabeth are five weeks old today! We celebrated by having their first day on the back porch. I fed them and put them in their bouncey seats and took them outside. It is warm outside, but with a wonderful breeze. Too bad they fell asleep before I got them out there :(
We stayed out about 30 minutes, and I brought them back in so I could pump. I took some pics and will see if David will post them.

The babies are growing!

David took the day off today, and we had a wonderful outing. We went to Columbia to the Lactation Center at the hospital to return the hospital grade breast pump I rented and to buy a breast pump for me to keep. They will weigh your babies for free, and we decided to take advantage of this during our appointment. Thomas now weighs 6 lbs, and Elizabeth weighs 5 lbs. 11 oz! I was so relieved after finding this out. I have been wondering if they are getting enough to eat with just my breast milk. They also seem to spit up quite a bit. They have both gained about 1 pound in three weeks which seems great to me. I guess the next time they will be weighed will be at their 8 week appointment with the pediatrician.

It has been awhile...

It has been awhile since I posted last for obvious reasons, but I have been keeping up with everybody's comments. Things are getting better and better with the twins. They are growing so fast! I can't believe they will be four weeks old tomorrow. David and I have had two days by ourselves, and they have been great. We definitely appreciate all the help we have received so far from our family members but were discussing how we need to figure things out for when the help is no longer coming. I have started nursing the twins at the same time thanks to a wonderful gift from my Aunt Peggy. She sent us a HUGE boppy type contraction that allows me to position both babies for nursing at the same time. This has helped tremendously in terms of time management and sleep. I told David yesterday he could not help me get them ready and positioned for nursing. I figured I needed to see if I could do it myself. All went well, and I did it successfully! I have since nursed them several times by myself. This should help David get more rest at night and boosts my self confidence in terms of mastering care for the twins! The next step will be taking them to my 6th week check-up next Friday. I have started pumping again today so that I can have a reserve supply in the freezer in case David needs to feed them while I am out. Not that I plan on leaving them anytime soon, but it would be nice to get a hair cut or a brow wax.

A Girl Like You

Elizabeth is proud to present her first video, "A Girl Like You." Filmed on location in her bedroom...

Pee-pee Teepee

Yes, you read it right! The Pee-pee Teepees have arrived! The package says "The Pee-pee Teepee for the sprinkling wee-wee" Instructions on the back say "Place on weewee during diaper changes." Duh.

Three Weeks Old

Hard to believe the twins are three weeks old!

Both of them have had colds for a about a week but are otherwise doing great. Thomas got his cold first (from Daddy) and then passed it on to Elizabeth.

Ashley is a trooper and is constantly feeding them, changing diapers, cleaning bottles, and such. Nana Judy is here visiting and is helping with the duties as well. She's been making dinner for us too which is really helpful.

The weekend is almost upon us which means more sleep!

Photo Gallery

I've added dozens of photos to the photo gallery. You can always get to it by using the link on the right side of the page, the url is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/twinchronicles/. I'm using the website Flickr, and there is a ton of different things you can do. The photos are grouped into sets, you can click on the word "sets" at the top to see them all. You can do slideshows, add comments, etc. You can click on "tags" at the top and select a tag to see just those photos. For example, click on the tag "Elizabeth" if you want to filter out her photos. All of the photos I uploaded to Flickr are the original 5 megapixel size from my camera which is 2592 x 1944 pixels. You can download them to your computer if you like at that resolution or select smaller resolutions if you're on a slower internet connection. They are plenty big enough to have prints made if you like, I've tried up to 5x7 but you can probably print a 8x10 with no problems. You can also order them through Flickr in the mail or take them to any of the stores that process digital prints, which is just about everywhere now. Flickr is free and you don't have to register or enter any information to see any of the photos. However if you do decide to register there are a few extra things you can do like leaving personalized comments and a few other things. E-mail me if you have any questions, it's really a great way to share photos.

Weekend Snoozing

Elizabeth 7/29/2006

Thomas 7/29/06