Ramblings of a Tired Mama

2009-08-21T15:21:00.000-06:00

Cora just took her first steps! She took 2 steps toward me before she fell!

One Year

2009-08-08T10:42:00.003-06:00

I had every intention of writing at least this one on time, but it’s been a long week. The day before the twins’ birthday, all three kids woke up sick! Yesterday, Damon came home from work early because he’s sick too. I’m the last man standing! So far.

I can’t believe my last babies are no longer babies anymore. I almost cried when I noticed the Babycenter email said “My Toddler This Week.” As sad as it is, I am looking forward to this year. The second year is my favorite because they are little sponges. Everything is so new and exciting!

They had their one-year checkup on Thursday and both babies are doing great! Cora is 21lbs. 14oz. and 31.25 inches tall. Emma is 22lbs. 9oz. and 30 inches tall. So Emma’s still a little shorter and heavier, but not by much! She definitely feels more solid than Cora.

Neither girl is walking yet, but it won’t be long. Both girls can stand unsupported for minutes at a time, but Cora stands longer. She drops down carefully when she no longer wants to stand while Emma still falls on her tush. Cora also loves push toys right now. I remember when Abby first started using those, she couldn’t control her speed, so she’d fly across the room. Cora has already mastered it and can walk with it at her own pace. Emma would still rather play with the doodads in front of it instead of push it.

The twins are now completely off formula and bottles! The last of the formula was consumed the day before their birthday, and they’ve been fine with that. It was a slower transition than with Abby because they weren’t all that fond of milk at first. I think they didn’t like the cold rather than the taste. When we started mixing it with formula, thus making their bottles cold, they didn’t mind it.

They still eat pretty much anything, but Emma is much pickier than Cora. Cora has a hollow leg. She can eat as much as Abby sometimes! Emma’s least favorite is bananas, but she also only tolerates blueberries sometimes.

They both love to copy us now. When Cora stands on her own (she does it much more often than Emma), we all clap and say “yay!” Emma joins in cheers her on as well! It’s the cutest thing. Cora loves the attention, so she stands constantly just so she can get praised. And she claps for herself when she’s up too! She also still loves to play peekaboo. Emma puts her head to her shoulder when she wants to be cute. She also likes to shake her head no. It’s fun to get them to do these things by doing it first and having them imitate us. When they’re done eating, I always say “all done!” with my hands palms up. Yesterday, Cora copied me and said “a da!” Her first sentence!

Both girls are in a “MINE” stage right now. Whenever one has a toy, the other has to have it and tries to take it away. It doesn’t matter if she has her own toy, or if it’s the same toy. Cora is definitely the biggest culprit. Yesterday, she had a toy in each hand, but dropped on just so she could take Emma’s. When I gave Emma the toy Cora dropped, she did it again! Emma doesn’t let her get away with it either! This is the cause for most of the screams right now.

I can’t wait to watch them learn so many new things this year! Before we know it, they’ll be walking and talking constantly. It’ll be fun to watch them chase Abby around. They love their big sister so much! Nobody makes them laugh the way Abby can.

11 Months

2009-07-08T17:46:00.001-06:00

I’ve been lazy with the blog, so this will be a brain dump post. I need to get something up, though, because I’m tired of seeing my cancer update. Thank you all so much for the encouragement and well-wishes through that journey. I’m so glad it’s over and behind us now!

So the babies turned 11 months on Sunday. Their first year has flown by! It’s gone much quicker than Abby’s did. I can’t believe their birthday is right around the corner. I really need to start planning a party for them! Here’s what they’re into now:

--Cora is so quick to laugh. It takes more work to get Emma to laugh, but it’s hilarious when she does. It’s more of a cackle than a laugh.

--That doesn’t mean Emma’s more serious than Cora. On the contrary, they are both really happy babies. Emma is easily excitable and tries to fly away. When she’s happy, she sits and flaps her arms up and down like she’s trying to take off.

--Cora is doing more regular crawling than her belly-crawl now. She still goes back to belly-crawling when she is going a long distance, or wants to go faster. Emma never did belly-crawl; she went straight to regular crawling.

--Cora tends to do things first, but Emma does them “right” when she does. Once Emma learns to do something, Cora learns how to do it “right” by watching her. See: the crawling.

--Another example: Cora learned to pull herself to standing about a month before Emma did, but she fell on her butt pretty hard trying to get down the first time and it scared her. For a long time, I’d have to go in to their room and repeatedly help her down during naptimes because she’d stand and get stuck. We learned Emma’s fearless (or has a really tough butt!) when she started pulling up. She plops down on her butt without a second thought. Cora finally figured out how to get down after Emma did, but she’s still very careful and goes down to her knees first.

--Speaking of knees, Cora loves to sit with her feet by her tush and her knees in front. Does that make sense? When she’s in this position, she likes to rock up and down with her upper body/tush when excited. Damon thinks this is the funniest thing ever! Emma loves to dance any time there’s music on. I don’t know where she gets it from because Damon and I both have no rhythm whatsoever.

--While both girls are expert standers when there’s something to hold on to, only Emma has begun to let go. And stay upright for a few seconds before falling! I tell you she’s fearless! Cora loves it when I let go of her and catch her, but she rarely keeps her balance for any length of time.

--Cora says Mama, Dada/Daddy, and Abby/Abba/Adda/Addy consistently. By far, her most used word is Abby. Cutest thing ever! Mama only gets used by both girls when they’re upset.

--Emma says Mama (rarely), Hi, and da. Mostly, she just babbles.

--Both girls have learned to clap.

--Cora still loves peekaboo, and has learned to play on her own. She loves to find things to cover her face with. The funniest part is that she misses and gets it on her head, or it lands behind her, more often than not. She still thinks this is the best game and laughs hysterically every time!

--Another game Cora loves is to mimic us. If we make a noise, she’ll repeat it. She’s going to be speaking in sentences before we know it!

--When they were born, some people from Damon’s work gave us some of those no-sew taggy blankets. You know the ones with the knots and tags along the edges. They each have 2, a big one and a small one. Emma LOVES these blankets. If we put one on the floor for her, she’ll happily spend a good chunk of time rolling on it, chewing on the tags, and carrying it with her.

--Emma also loves to watch tv. She won’t sit through a whole show, but she’s fascinated by it. Of course, she’s mostly interested in Abby’s shows. Cora’s too busy to sit and watch. She’ll watch for a minute or two before moving on to something else.

--Emma has become a much better sleeper lately. She’ll even sleep through the night once or twice a week! Mostly, she’s up once around 4. Cora has become a pretty light sleeper, so she usually wakes up too. I’ve got my system down now so I’m back in bed within 10 minutes, so their one wake-up isn’t all that bad. We’ve talked about splitting them, but they get really upset if one wakes up first and isn’t in her crib when the other wakes up. Plus, splitting them would entail either moving Abby downstairs or bringing a crib into our room. We’re not willing to do either option right now, so we just deal with Emma waking up Cora.

--Emma likes to flirt. She’ll smile at anyone who will look at her. She likes to tilt her head to her shoulder to be extra cute. Cora still takes longer to warm up. She usually just stares at strangers with a look that says “You can look but don’t touch.”

I’m sure there’s a ton more I’m forgetting, but at least now there’s a proper post up!

Um, this was a month ago

2009-06-09T17:47:00.004-06:00

Cora just said Abby! She's sitting on my lap looking at pictures from earlier today, so I pointed at Abby and said her name. Cora immediately repeated it! It comes out as Adda/Addy/Abba and occasionally, Abby, but it's clear what she's saying.

**I just found this in my drafts. Oops! I never posted it a month ago. Better late than never!

I'm Healthy

2009-06-04T08:02:00.002-06:00

So my surgeon called yesterday. I will need no additional treatment! NO chemo or radiation! I have to have biannual mammograms and an annual chest x-ray for a couple years, but that's IT! I'm so incredibly lucky!

Apparently there's dermatofibrosarcoma and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. It's the second type, DFSP, that is the more rare of the two. That's the one I have. Thanks to that extra little word, the fear that it can possibly develop in my lungs is eliminated. That was the one thing we were originally going to have to watch for, hence the chest x-rays. Since there is no risk of this happening, instead of a lifetime of annual chest x-rays, I'll only have to deal with the 5-minute inconvenience for two years.

I don't feel like I had "real" cancer. I only had to deal with a couple incredibly stressful months, but now it's all over. I didn't lose a boob. I didn't have to suffer through radiation, or worse, chemo. I didn't lose my hair. I didn't have to have poison injected to my body on a regular basis. How can I possibly call myself a cancer survivor? Sure I have a 2-3 inch scar, but that's the only lasting reminder I'll have. My scar is in such a prominent place I'll forever be having to explain it to people. I feel guilty telling them the truth since everyone fears cancer. Cancer is such a scary thing to deal with, but it's not always a death sentence.

Peekaboo

2009-06-01T21:36:00.003-06:00

Want to see the cutest thing? Cora has become the "easy to please" baby. She loves to play games and is quick to laugh hysterically. She has 3 favorite games: the "near and far" game where we move her toward us and away, the "up high" game where we lift her up high, and peekaboo. Here's peekaboo. You can also hear her say "pepepepe" after I say peekaboo! Emma also makes a bonus appearance at the end!

Success!

2009-05-27T15:42:00.002-06:00

I feel awful. I've been sitting on this news for days, but haven't gotten around to posting it here. I did update on Twitter and Facebook, so if you follow me there, you'll already know. I'm sorry!

Anyway, my surgery was a success! My surgeon called when she received the pathology report to let me know she removed all of the cancer! There's still a possibility I'll need radiation as a preventive measure, but I'll know more Tuesday. Apparently, there's some review board consisting of oncologists, breast specialists, and surgeons that meets every Tuesday. They'll look over my file and decide whether or not I need radiation. They didn't meet yesterday because of the holiday, so I have to wait until next Tuesday. Oh well. The worst is definitely over! I'll be monitored closely for at least a couple years to make sure it doesn't come back, but that's a small price to pay for a clean bill of health.

P.S. If you're in the Colorado Springs area, and are ever in need of a breast care surgeon (I hope not!), I highly recommend Dr. Ingrid Sharon. She was fantastic! On our first consult with her, we brought all the kids because Damon had questions too. Well, they didn't make it through the appointment, so he took them to the lobby while I went over everything with her. When we were done, she went to the lobby and spoke with Damon herself, despite it already being after-hours by then, and took her time answering his questions and re-hashing everything she'd already told me. After my surgery, she called to tell me everything we'd already gone over in the recovery room (a conversation I have absolutely no recollection of!), and put a nice hand-written card in with my release paperwork. Finally, she called me herself on Saturday (a holiday weekend no less!) with my results because she didn't want me to have to wait until Tuesday! I don't think I've ever been better taken care of by a doctor before!

Surgery's Over!

2009-05-21T21:07:00.002-06:00

My lumpectomy was yesterday. I'm so glad it's finally over! I'm feeling better than I thought I would, but I'm still pretty sore. Especially my throat. The surgeon apparently spoke with me afterward, but I have no recollection of it at all. She called shortly after I got home, and repeated what she'd initially told me. She took a good-sized chunk out, did a chest x-ray, then took some more just to be on safe side. My whole boobage area is wrapped in an Ace bandage. I'm not allowed to remove it until Saturday. This means no showers until then! If you come near me, be sure not to get downwind of me! I have a follow-up appointment next Thursday, the 28th, so hopefully she'll have the pathology results then. She said she'd call if the results came in sooner, but not to hold our breath because they'll likely need a second opinion since my cancer's so rare.

Emma sat up!

2009-05-17T19:25:00.002-06:00

Emma just sat up from a crawl position all by herself for the first time! Both girls have been able to get up to where they're resting on one arm, but this was the first time either of them has been able to get to a full sit position. Cora's also pulling herself up to standing on any raised surface every chance she gets.

Both girls have the sniffles this weekend. Their little noses are so congested and runny they're having trouble sleeping. Poor things!

Mother's Day, Twin-style

2009-05-11T09:05:00.002-06:00

Mother's Day started off wonderfully. When the babies woke at 6-ish, I woke up Damon and told him I was going back to sleep since it was my day. He was great about it and took care of all the kids while I slept in. Bliss! Then he made breakfast (eggs) after naptime!

Later, things got interesting.

We decided to go to Red Robin for a late lunch since it's become somewhat of a Mother's Day tradition for us. Cora was absolutely perfect while we were there. She never made so much as a peep, and was perfectly content eating Veggie Puffs and french fries. Emma was a whole different child altogether! She wasn't grouchy, just really, really loud. No matter what we did, she'd let out a "pay attention" squak every few minutes. She constantly dropped her puffs on the floor, and tried to grab at anything and everything. She definitely kept Damon on his toes! When our food arrived, we tried to bribe her with french fries.

They worked great until the inevitable happened.

She put too much in her mouth, gagged, and threw up all over! It happens often enough we have to watch her closely every time she eats. It's never just a little spit-up either. We're talking projectile vomit all over if we're not quick enough. Thankfully, we saw it happening an instant before it did, so Damon managed to get his napkin under her mouth and caught the worst of it. Her top still managed to get covered in puke, though. I'm glad the family next to us was already done eating! Of course the ONE thing I keep forgetting to put back in my diaper bag is a couple changes of clothes for them! Once she was cleaned up as best as could be, she got really upset because she wanted another fry. No way that was going to happen, so we got our check and left before she went into a full-blown meltdown. At least we managed to eat half our meal before it was time to go!

Once we'd gone a couple blocks from Red Robin, I happened to remember our leftovers. I remember Damon bringing them to the car, but I didn't see them anywhere and couldn't smell them.

He'd left them on top of the van!

We happened to remember about a minute before we saw the box go flying out the back! So much for finishing our lunch when we got home. I felt so bad for the car behind us swerving to miss the take-out box. Then I spilled some of my free Cold Stone ice cream all over my jeans and the seat on the way home. On the bright side, what I did get to eat was really, really good!

My Friends Let Me Play Photographer

2009-05-07T07:11:00.003-06:00

I had the best day yesterday! Three friends had mentioned they'd love to have some "boudoir" type photos of themselves to give to their husbands for Father's Day, but they were uncomfortable going to a stranger to have them taken. One thing led to another and I ended up having my first paid photo shoots yesterday! I'm still flabbergasted that anyone would want to pay me to shoot them!

My friend, Kim, is an amazing professionalmakeup artist, so she came over and made everyone flawless first. I'm sorry I didn't get more pics of you, Kim! We each had a margarita for a little liquid courage before we got down to business. The shoot itself was so much fun! I must've been running on adrenaline the entire time because I crashed so hard once everyone left! I could've easily taken a nice, long nap, but Cora was up playing with me while my other girls slept.

Most of the pictures are too risque to post online, but I did edit a few G-rated shots last night to give me friends a little teaser. I'm so proud of these shots! They are both incredibly gorgeous women, so it was easy to get some amazing shots of them.

This is Heather. She's still trying to tell me she's not at all photogenic! Whatever Heather!

Melanie was a blast to shoot! She had some terrific ideas and was not the least bit shy.

Surgery

2009-05-04T15:01:00.002-06:00

They finally called to schedule my surgery. The big day will be the 20th. I'm to go to the office tomorrow to go over paperwork and talk about when I'll need to be there. When I met with the surgeon, she said to plan on everything taking a good 2/3 of my day. I go to the breast care center first where they'll stick a needle in my boob to mark the spot since it's too small to feel. They'll then wheel me down the hall to the surgical center, knock me out, and take out the tumor. The surgery itself should only take about an hour. Once I wake up, they'll do x-rays to make sure they got all the tumor and a wide margin. Then we wait. Again. We should get the results in about a week. She warned us it might take a little longer because my cancer's so rare. They'll most likely get a second opinion at the lab to make sure everything is right. That's why I had to wait a couple extra days to get the biopsy results.

The Only One

2009-05-02T03:31:00.007-06:00

I am completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we've received from all of you! I can't begin to tell you how much it means to my family and me. Thank you so much for being here during this completely unexpected, and unwanted, journey.

In real life, I'm a numbers girl. I'm much more comfortable with numbers than with words. In high school, I used to create algebra problems to help me sleep. In my defense, I was also a cheerleader, so I wasn't the kid eating glue in the back of class. I just like numbers. It helps me to be able to break something down to the lowest common denominator. When dealing with cancer, it's impossible not to come across many statistics. I found them fascinating, particularly since my cancer's so rare, that I had to share them here.

1. There are 2 different groups of sarcomas: soft-tissue sarcomas, and bone cancer.
2. Within these 2 groups, there are about a dozen different types of sarcomas.
3. All sarcomas combined only make up about 1% of all cancers.
4. Only about 11,000 people will be diagnosed with sarcoma this year.
5. Of those 11,000, about 7,800 will have a type of soft-tissue sarcoma (what mine falls under).
6. Of those 7,800, a whopping ONE percent will be my sarcoma: dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP)
7. That means approximately 78 people will develop DFSP this year!
8. Of the approx. 78 new cases of DFSP this year, 43% will be women (34).
9. Of the 78, it will develop somewhere on the trunk in 50% of them.
10. That means of the 34 women who will get DFSP this year, it will arise in the trunks of 17 of us.
11. Of this 50%, it will mostly appear on the back or adomen. Sadly, I couldn't find a percentage for this one.

Basically, that means I may be the only person in this country to get dermatofibrosarcoma on my boob this year. Ok, there may be a handful of us, but I'm sure my odds of winning the lottery would've been greater. I think it's time to go buy a ticket!

Three Words I Never Thought I'd Say

2009-04-30T19:17:00.002-06:00

I have cancer.

Saying it out loud the first time is the hardest, but it gets easier after that. Six months ago, at my post-partum pap, my obgyn did a breast exam and thought he felt cysts. Since I was nursing at the time, I couldn't have a mammogram so he sent me in for an ultrasound. They did find cysts, but said they were too small for him to have felt. He most likely felt milk ducts. Because they did find regular nothing-to-worry-about cysts, he wanted me to go back in 6 months for a mammogram (or another ultrasound if I was still nursing) to make sure they weren't growing.

I had my first ever mammogram on the 10th.

The mammogram itself wasn't that bad. They did, however, find something. The radiologist said it didn't appear to have any "alarming characteristics," so they thought it was probably another cyst. An ultrasound was scheduled for the following Tuesday to be sure it was just a cyst. After doing the ultrasound, the tech went to show the radiologist (totally normal, they did the same thing the first time). When she came back with the radiologist, I started to worry. He told me they still thought it was a cyst, but it appeared to be a "complex" cyst because it had a thick wall around it. Still nothing to worry about, but the chance of it being malignant went up a bit. He ordered a biopsy just to be on the safe side.

I went back, for a third time in as many weeks, last week for the biopsy. They were still talking cyst, and weren't too concerned about it. I was to come back again Monday for the results, something routine in this office no matter the results. On Monday, they called and told me to come back yesterday instead because they didn't have my results yet.

The constant waiting is the worst! And now they wanted me to wait a couple more days! All of us went back yesterday to hopefully get good news and be done with all of this. It didn't turn out that way.

I have cancer.

This is probably the scariest news I've ever been given about myself. No one ever wants to hear the "C" word. Once we got over the initial shock and fear, however, we discovered it's not a death sentence. I don't have breast cancer; it just happens to be in my breast. I have a very rare form of cancer, and it was caught extremely early.

I met with the surgeon today to discuss my lumpectomy. My type of cancer, dermatofibrosarcoma, is a slow-growing type and will not spread to other parts of my body. It does tend to be difficult to get it all, though, because she said it has little "tendrils" that make it necessary to take out a very wide margin around the lump. If they don't get all of the "tendrils," I'll need radiation because it will come back. Since mine is so small, she's very optimistic she'll get it all and I won't need to go there. She's planning on taking a chunk a good couple inches in diameter out of my boob. Thankfully, I have big boobs, so she was confident it wouldn't affect me too much, cosmetically. Besides the big scar I'll have right in my cleavage.

Dermatofibrosarcoma is so rare it often goes undetected for years before any action is taken. The surgeon said she was very worried for me when she heard what it was because at best, she's had to take a good quarter of boob. At worst, she's had to do a full mastectomy, including removing a good portion of chest muscle. She said my sarcoma was the smallest she's ever seen in her 25 years of being a surgeon! I'm so fortunate my obgyn mistook my milk ducts for cysts! It would've been at least 5 years before my first mammogram otherwise.

Someone from the surgeon's office will be calling me in the morning to schedule my lumpectomy. In the meantime, I have a mole on my boob that will be coming off Tuesday. Yes, same boob (I can't catch a break!). She wants me to go ahead with that, and we'll schedule the surgery for a couple weeks later, after I've healed.

Once the surgery is over, we'll get the pathology results in about a week. She did warn us that because it's so rare, pathology will most likely get a second opinion and it may take longer than a week for the results. That's exactly what happened with my biopsy. If I get the all-clear, I'll be going in for mammograms and ultrasounds every 6 months for 2-3 years. If not, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I have cancer. But I'll be fine.

Cora's Teeth

2009-04-28T15:54:00.002-06:00

Both babies have caught Abby's cold, and I'm starting to feel it as well. Cora's still teething on top of being congested and having a very wet cough. Neither baby is letting their illnesses slow them down, though!

See Cora's top teeth! Well, 3 out of the 4 coming in.

I was FINALLY able to get some happy Cora pictures! Usually, she gets very serious as soon as she sees the camera.

Life Just Got More Interesting

2009-04-27T08:29:00.002-06:00

Both babies are now mobile! Cora still doesn't lift her torso up to crawl in the conventional way, but she's been crawling her own way for a long time now. Emma used to be so content to sit and have toys handed to her, but she recently decided that wasn't good enough anymore. She would get so frustrated, though, because she could only go backwards or roll around and it wouldn't get her where she wanted to go. It's hard watching your sister crawl circles around you and get the toy you wanted! Now, she's finally figured out how to schooch forward! She doesn't get all around the room like Cora yet, but it's coming. She could only go about a foot or two before it's time to take a break. Something seems to have clicked this morning because she's finally getting some speed and distance! Once she figures out how to move her legs with the rest of her body we're going to be in big trouble.

A Cute First

2009-04-20T14:09:00.003-06:00

I put everyone down for a nap a half hour ago, but I've been listening to the babies babble ever since. I just went in to check on them, and they were both on their stomachs facing each other and talking to each other! Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I Couldn't Leave Emma Out

2009-04-16T17:21:00.001-06:00

First Cookie

2009-04-15T17:55:00.002-06:00

We're really enjoying giving the babies bits of "real" food now. Yesterday, we wentto my favorite Mexican place where they tried rice, beans, and guacamole. All three were big hits! Cora especially like the guacamole! She woke up from their last nap first today, so I brought her down and gave her a teething cookie for the first time.

So Behind

2009-04-11T13:13:00.005-06:00

Warning! Very picture-heavy post. I keep waiting to upload pictures to flickr until I get time to edit them, but I've gotten a month behind! I ended up just posting all my March pictures straight out of the camera. There are FIVE pages of new pictures, so go see! Some of my favorites:

Cora

Emma

Both together!

Abby

Telling a car two streets over to STOP!

Damon's parents came to visit a few weeks ago.

The girls first time sitting in restaurant high chairs. A month ago.

The Joys of Twindom

2009-04-07T14:18:00.002-06:00

For now, they don't mind sharing their toys. Even if it means creating a new way to play. Emma was in the Exersaucer when Cora decided to climb in. I managed to shoot a couple pictures before Emma started started bouncing in her seat.

How I've Missed You, Sleep

2009-03-28T08:45:00.003-06:00

I'm so tempting the sleep gods by posting this, but I had to make of record of this. I put the babies to bed at 6:30 last night, Emma woke at 11, then they both slept until 6. We fed them and put them back down hoping they'd go back to sleep, but not really expecting to. They slept until EIGHT!

Emma's been sleeping better now. She typically wakes twice a night around 12 and 5, but Cora has been waking around 6:15, so that 5am wake-up has been tough on both of us since I get her up too. I can let her sleep an extra half hour without it messing up our schedule, but they'll be up at different times throughout the day if I let her go longer than that. Some nights, she'll wake around 2 instead then they both wake at the same time in the morning. I'll take it! It's so much better than the every hour waking she was doing a few weeks ago.

Tired of Winter

2009-03-08T08:12:00.001-06:00

Abby has been wearing dresses and bathing suits around the house all week. She is so ready for warm weather!

7 Months

2009-03-05T21:11:00.003-07:00

Picture-heavy to distract you! Today was a big day for the babies. Cora finally decided to sit for minutes at a time, and Emma rolled halfway across the room! Usually, it's the other way around: Cora's typically army crawling every where, and Emma's content to sit. I'll be back with a proper 7-month update (if I remember), but here are some of my favorite recent pictures in case you don't see the pictures I've uploaded to flickr (check the badge in the left sidebar periodically).

Cora Sitting. I got the shirt at The Children's Place outlet for $1 last summer. I would've like to get it for Abby, but they only had one in the babies' future size. It cracks me up to see Cora in it! It doesn't take much to make me laugh apparently. It's hard to see the whole shirt, but it says "I heart being a BIG sister."

Emma sitting

What they usually look like

Emma in the cart cover

Why we call her Cheeks! They're so smoochable

Cora's gotten much better moving around since

Can't leave the biggest sister out. I love this one. Abby's clearly enjoying herself so much!

Way Back When-sday

2009-02-25T11:28:00.003-07:00

And a comparison shot. Emma's sitting up pretty well now. She still tips over, but it takes longer and she's learned to correct herself. Mostly. Cora's much more interested in CRAWLING! She's still not crawling in the traditional sense, but she scoots and rolls everywhere she wants to go. Why sit, she says, when she can move!

For Way Back When-esday, first there's Emma sitting in Abby's old outfit. It's not "way back," but it is from a few days ago!

Date Taken: February 21, 2009
Age: 6.5 months

Abby about a month younger, just learning to sit. Wearing the same outfit.

Date Taken: June 5, 2005
Age: 5.5 months

As always, visit Cheryl at Twinfatuation for more!

2009-02-19T22:12:00.002-07:00

The girls had their 6-month checkup on Friday. Sure enough, they've both outgrown their infant carseats. Barely. Emma is 26 in. long & Cora's 26.5; the height limit is 26 inches. Emma's also finally passed Cora in weight! She's 17lbs. and Cora's 16lbs. 7oz. I'll have to dig up the paperwork to get their percentiles.

I ended up buying the Itzy Ritzy shopping cart cover, and used it for the first time today. It worked great! My only issue with it is that it comes with a clear plastic zipped bag to keep it in, but it's so small I had a ton of trouble getting it out when it came in the mail. There's no way I'll be able to get it back in! I ended up ripping off one of the toy holder loops trying to get it out and they responded quickly and offered to have me send it back for free to get it fixed or replaced, or pay seamstress fees to have it fixed myself. Haven't done either yet since it's such a small thing to fix.

Anyway, I used it for the first time today at the grocery store. I later found out my store has a new policy where the bag person goes out with the people using the racecars so they can get them back in the store right away. Because of this, there were none to be found outside. I ended up carrying both girls in, but couldn't figure out how to attach the cover while holding both. While I struggled, a kind woman asked if I needed help so I handed her Emma while I got it on and Cora in. Next time, I'll sling one and hold the other since I'm not comfortable wearing both.

The babies did really well sitting up together while Abby rode in the racecar part up front. Having them both together in the 2-person part was nice because they were able to lean on each other. I brought a blanket with me in case they needed some extra support, but they didn't at all. There wasn't much room left up there anyway. They also loved the different view! Sadly, I didn't get a picture since I'd planned on taking one when we left. I'd already made the bag boy who came out with me wait while I bought Girl Scout cookies, so I didn't want him to have to wait while the crazy mom took pictures. We got many looks and questions while we shopped. The typical "Are they twins?" "Are they identical?" Abby always gets asked if she's a good big sister/does she like being a big sister too.

Completely off-topic, but I once had a woman argue with me about them being fraternal. I told her they weren't, and she asked "Are you sure?" as she looked at both. She clearly didn't believe me even when I told her they look nothing alike. All it takes is one good look to see that!

Rough Weekend

2009-02-16T07:50:00.003-07:00

Every one of us is sick! It started with the babies and it's worked its way toall of us. No one is getting any sleep around here! The babies are looking better, at least, so hopefully Cora will go back to sleeping 12 hours again very soon. Between the three kids waking, we're not getting more than an hour at a time. I really miss sleep.

Way Back When-sday

2009-02-11T16:32:00.004-07:00

This was right before we moved from Spokane. Back when she hated being anywhere near grass.

Abby
Date: March 4, 2006
Age: 14.5 months

I couldn't resist adding a couple more.

Date: August 31, 2005
Age: 8.5 months

Pretty much the same spot in our old backyard as the second picture, just a different time of year.

Date: December 5, 2005
Age: Just a couple weeks shy of a year

Be sure to visit Cheryl at Twinfatuation to see more Way Back When-sday participants!

6 Months Old

2009-02-05T13:55:00.002-07:00

Already! I feel like I blinked and 6 months passed. My pregnancy, up until the end, felt like an eternity, but these 6 months have flown by. I can't believe the first half of their first year is already over!

Both girls have changed so much recently. They're both on the verge of sitting up unsupported. Just a little more! Cora's also ready to start crawling! She gets up on her elbows and knees and rocks back and forth whenever she's on her stomach. She's getting really good at throwing herself forward to reach things too.

We started solids right after they turned 4 months old at the advice of their pediatrician in the hopes of reducing Cora's reflux. She's doing so much better now! She's down to regular baby spit-up instead of the constant projectile vomiting she'd do before. I'm not having to change her clothes nearly as often any more! Both girls took to eating solids really well. The first time we fed them something other than cereal (sweet potatoes), they ended up eating an entire jar each! The last week or so, Emma has decided she no longer wants to eat, so it's been a struggle. Cora, on the other hand, will gladly eat her jar and whatever Emma leaves! We've gone through all the Level 1 foods now. Both girls love orange veggies--carrots, sweet potatoes, squash--and hate green veggies (peas, green beans). Of course, they both love all the fruit.

What else? Cora's still a terrific sleeper, and Emma's hit or miss. We never know if she's going to wake up once at night or 2 or 3 times. Cora has decided 6-6:30 is the perfect time to wake up, so it's really tough when Emma's last wake-up is at 5. They're both still on the same schedule, so when Cora wakes up we get Emma up too. They take 3 naps total, but they may be transitioning down to 2. Now, their first nap lasts about 1.5 hours some days, and their second lasts about 2. When they take a third nap, it's still only about 30-45 minutes. Typically, they take a third nap when they take a short first nap now. Abby still takes a nap in the afternoons, so I always coincide it with their second nap.

They're currently wearing 6-9 (or 6-12 depending on the manufacturer) month clothes and size 3 diapers. Going up in diapers was a little sad because that means they're no longer wearing Pampers Swaddlers. They've graduated to Pampers Cruisers. Sniff!

We'll get their official stats next week (Friday). We're so curious to see how much they've grown!

Question for those with multiples

2009-02-03T21:15:00.002-07:00

When the babies go for their 6 month checkup next week, they will surely have outgrown their infant carriers. Abby outgrew hers at 4 months, so she was nowhere near sitting up unsupported in grocery carts. I solved my problem by buying a Buggy Bagg (HIGHLY recommend them if you have a singleton!), which was great because it was well-padded and came with a detachable pillow. That pillow was what sold me on the Buggy Bagg and was perfect for helping her sit up in the carts.

Now, we're in a similar situation with the babies. They are very close to sitting up unsupported, but they're not quite there yet. Since I won't have the infant carriers to load up one cart at Target any more, I have 3 options.

1. Use the Buggy Bagg in a single cart for one baby & sling the other while Abby walks next to me. The only problem is that we don't use the sling very often, so they're not used to it. Until they're comfortable in it, we'll have to keep these trips short.

2. Push the babies in the double stroller while pull a cart. Not only has it been a big pain when I have to shop by myself and have to use 2 grocery carts, but taking the stroller would limit space in the minivan. We've had to get creative when we forget to take the stroller out before going to the grocery store.

3. Do the bulk of my shopping at the grocery store with the race car up front and room for the babies in the back. Since they're not quite sitting unsupported yet, they'll need some padding to help them. I was hoping Buggy Bagg would make a double cart cover thing with pillows, but no such luck. I have found several cute ones that say they can be used in the big double carts, but they don't come with pillows so they don't really help me. Plus, they only have 2 leg holes, so each baby sits inside one leg hole and has no fabric or padding between their legs. This isn't a dealbreaker for me, but I haven't found one that comes with a pillow. Honestly, I do love some of the patterns I've found, particularly the Itzy Ritzy ones, but how would I support them into a sitting position? Is it padded enough to help? The Buggy Bagg wasn't. They are very close to sitting on their own, so it would really only be for 2 or 3 weeks, tops.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or experiences you may have with grocery cart covers. Thanks!

Random Picture Saturday

2009-01-31T19:35:00.002-07:00

From Britany at 4 Little Men & Girly Twins

Find the 44th picture from November 2007

Mine are all on an external harddrive, so I went to flickr and counted the November pictures to get to the 44th one.

We went to Iowa to visit family for Thanksgiving and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Abby's birthday with everyone since we wouldn't be back in December. Abby STILL talks about that Dora cake!

Teeth

2009-01-31T10:49:00.001-07:00

Way Back When-sday

2009-01-28T12:32:00.003-07:00

Date: May 18, 2005
Age: Abby, Exactly 5 months old

This is pretty much exactly what Emma looks like when I try and change her these days. If she's not reaching for her feet, and trying to get them in her mouth, she's pushing her butt up in the air. Cora just loves to kick so hard she knocks everything off. Fun times.

Thanks to Cheryl at Twinfatuation for starting Way Back When-sdays!

Jumperoo videos

2009-01-27T11:15:00.002-07:00

I just taped the girls in the Jumperoo. Here you go:

Cora

Emma. She's not doing much in this one, but Abby's hilarious in the background!

Emma again, this time jumping.

Bonus Abby singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Quick Baby Update

2009-01-26T10:50:00.004-07:00

The very early morning wakeups from Cora must've been tooth-related. After a few days, she's now back to waking up around 6:30-7. If that's the only teething issue we'll have, I'll take it! Emma's also back to waking up once a night, typically between 3-5, and going back to sleep until 7. This morning, Emma actually woke up first around 7:15! Emma still doesn't have any teeth, but Cora's two are about a third out. They still have a little ways to go.

Both girls are also on the verge of sitting up unassisted. They can sit with just a minimum of support now, and if we position them just right, they'll stay by themselves for a few seconds before falling. Cora LOVES it when we try sitting her on our bed and let her fall instead of catching her. That's one of her favorite games.

Both girls can roll both ways now. When they want to. They rarely do, but we've seen them both do it on occasion. Cora's also getting up on her elbows and knees and rocking already! It won't be long before she starts crawling. Scary! She's figured out how to work herself like a froggy to get a toy out of reach. She brings her arms and legs in under her, then "swims" out. The best way I can explain it is that she looks like a frog trying to move from one spot to the next. I'll have to dig out the video camera and film it.

8 Things

2009-01-21T07:10:00.002-07:00

I was tagged by Chelle and Paige to do this meme. Sorry it took so long for me to get to it girls!

8 TV Shows I watch:
1. American Idol
2. Fringe
3. Days of our Lives (shut up)
4. Rock of Love Bus
5. Real Housewives
6. Top Chef
7. Grey's Anatomy
8. The Daily Show

8 Restaurants I love:
1. Mackensie's Chop House
2. The brewery in Castle Rock (can't remember the name off the top of my head)
3. Jack in the Box
4. Chipotle
5. Red Robin (Abby's favorite)
6. Culver's
7. Ted's Montana Grill
8. Kura Sushi

8 Things that Happened Today
(or yesterday in my case since it's only 7am)
1. Emma slept until 6:30 again!
2. Watched the inauguration
3. Picked up Abby from preschool
4. Went to a playgroup
5. Had lunch at Panera Bread with everyone
6. We all took a 2-hour nap when we got home!
7. Watched American Idol
8. Abby got a bloody nose before bed

8 Things I look forward to:
1. The babies sitting up, but not crawling (they're close!)
2. Spring!
3. Being done with this class
4. naptime
5. Going to the park this afternoon (68 degrees here today!)
6. No more spit up
7. The babies' 6-month checkup to see how big they've gotten
8. Getting rid of the co-sleeper once Emma's consistently sleeping through the night

8 Things I wish for:
1. No more spit up!
2. Babies who sleep past 6am
3. Lenses
4. A Speedlite
5. Other camera toys
6. A cleaning fairy
7. A personal chef
8. To magically lose 30lbs without any effort from me

8 Songs I just listened to:
Again, it's only 7am, so I put my ipod on shuffle and picked the first 8 songs
1. No Doubt--Spider Webs
2. Rehab--Bartender Song
3. Blues Traveler--Crash Burn
4. Pearl Jam--Betterman
5. Naughty by Nature--You Down with OPP (shut up)
6. Paula Abdul--Straight Up (shut up)
7. David Cook--Light On
8. Sublime--Garden Grove

8 Favorite Movies:
1. Steel Magnolias
2. Trading Places
3. The Goonies
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's
5. Silence of the Lambs
6. Heathers
7. Lady in White
8. White Christmas

Tag 8 people for this meme:
1. Beckett (Tali)
2. Bella
3. Heather
4. Kim
5. Niki
6. Rachael
7. Rachael
8. Robin

We officially have teeth!

2009-01-19T12:12:00.004-07:00

Cora finally cut her bottom two teeth a few days ago. They're still not completely out, but they've both cut through her gums. Hopefully now she'll start sleeping past 5:45am! My baby who's been sleeping 12 hours almost every night the last few months has now decided 5:45 is a great time to get up for the day! At least when Abby would wake up at 5:30, it was already light out. Cora has managed to go back to sleep for about an hour a couple times, but only if she's nursing. The second I stop, she wakes up.

Emma looks like she'll be cutting her first two teeth soon too. She actually slept from 7-8pm to 3-5am for about 2 or 3 weeks. Until a few days ago. Then, she started waking up around midnight as well. Last night, she woke up at 8:30 and 9pm, then I had to wake her up at 7 since Cora was already up! I haven't looked today to see if her teeth are in.

My Fourth Baby

2009-01-16T13:08:00.002-07:00

First off, a huge thank you to those who commented. I loved reading your comments. Some of you really cracked me up! I'll be sure to check out your blogs too. Chelle and Paige, I'm so sorry I haven't gotten to your memes yet. Thanks for tagging me!

This post won't be of any interest to the grandparents, so here are a couple pictures for them. Feel free to skip this post if you don't have any interest in photography.

Back to the title of this post. Recently, I've been asked about my camera quite a bit so I thought I'd answer your questions in a post instead of in the comments. I got a Canon Digital Rebel XTi for Christmas last year. Wait, I guess it was the year before now! I love my camera! This is my only experience with a dSLR camera, so I can't get into the Nikon vs. Canon debate. The only reason I got a Canon instead of a Nikon was because the price was right. I did buy it with the kit lens, but if I had to do it over again I'd just buy the body. My other lens is a 50mm f/1.8. This lens lives on my camera. The wide aperture (the f/1.8 part) is essential for me since most of my shots are indoors, and it's what gives pictures that blurry background that I love. Best of all, it was extremely cheap compared to pretty much every other lens out there. I'm fortunate that I have a lot of windows that let in a ton of natural light in my house, so I never use the camera's built-in flash.

I just got Photoshop CS4 this Christmas (the big guns! Because I'm a student, so I got it for 80% off retail! Yes, EIGHTY percent off! Squee!), but I'm still learning to use it, so the majority of the pictures I post are SOOC (straight out of the camera). Before I got Photoshop, I'd been using Paint Shop Pro for several years. I've never used Photoshop Elements, but from what I've read, Paint Shop Pro does a lot more for the same price. Paint Shop Pro has features like layers and masks, which I don't think Elements does? If you're just starting out, or don't want to spend your child's college fund on Photoshop, I highly recommend Paint Shop Pro. The only drawback is that you won't find nearly as many tutorials and books on it as you will Photoshop. One big reason I wanted Photoshop was to be able to use some of the great actions out there.

For Nicole, who emailed me that she recently bought an XTi, or anyone else who just bought a dSLR and wants to learn how to use it, I love Digital Photography School and Pioneer Woman's photography section for tutorials. Diary of an Air Force Wife recently started posting some great tutorials as well. The most important things to learn are

One of the best tips I found a while back was to the use the camera's meter to get proper exposure. I had no idea what that little ruler thing was before! I always adjust my camera's settings until I'm one or two notches to the right of what my camera says should be proper exposure. This should make my pictures overexposed, but they come out too dark if I listen to my camera. The best way to learn is to put your camera in Manual and shoot shoot shoot! Play around with the settings until you're comfortable. I also love browsing the discussion boards at Digital Photography School and various flickr groups for tips as well.

What did I miss? I'd love to hear your tips or photography sites you'd recommend in the comments.

Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

2009-01-12T09:57:00.004-07:00

I just read that today is Delurking Day, a day for all or you who read but don't comment regularly to come out of lurkdom and leave a comment. I know you're out there, and I'd love to hear from you! I'm horrible about commenting on my favorite blogs; it can be a little scary to leave a comment on some stranger's blog, even if I've been reading their posts for a long time. Being on this side of the fence, however, I can say we bloggers really appreciate your comments! Your opinions and advice are always welcome!

To make it easier, I have a few questions. Feel free to answer any or all of them. Thanks for stopping by!

**Where are you from?
**How did you find my blog?
**Do you have children too?
**Do you have a blog yourself? I'd love to check it out!

Test

2009-01-09T14:55:00.001-07:00

Just testing Word 2007's blogging feature.

To Cut or Not To Cut

2009-01-07T08:38:00.003-07:00

Abby's been begging for a haircut for some time. I think she just wants to go back to the kiddie haircut place again, though. Damon thinks she needs a haircut. But I can't bring myself to take her! What if the curls on the ends don't come back? Sure, it stayed curly after the first cut 1.5 years ago, but that was then. My biggest issue with cutting her hair is that she still has a lot of blonde on the ends from when she was a baby. If we cut her hair, we're cutting the last bit of baby away! It's so hard to let go! The thing is her hair always looks messy, no matter how often I brush it, because of the curls. She's constantly pushing it out of her face. It's not THAT long yet, so maybe we should wait until summer. But maybe cutting it would save us some time in the mornings. If we do cut it, how short should we go? But, but, but...I just don't know! I love her hair, and wish mine was as soft and healthy and had that gorgeous curl.

Housekeeping

2009-01-06T17:23:00.004-07:00

TONS of pictures added to flickr today. Happy Birthday Mom!

Some of my favorites:

Abby has really changed

2009-01-02T09:24:00.004-07:00

While looking at old pictures for the last post, I couldn't believe how much Abby has grown in the last year. I didn't notice it since it happened so slowly, but she lost the last of the "baby" this year and developed into a child!

Taken on 12/17/07, the day before her birthday

Taken by Abby on Christmas day

2008 in Pictures

2009-01-01T17:14:00.007-07:00

I've seen this on a bunch of blogs and thought it would be a good way to chronicle the high points of 2008 in pictures.

December 2007Ok, so this didn't happen in 2008, but it changed our family forever.

January
I was so sick the first part of the year that I didn't take many pictures. I literally found one handful of January pictures on flickr.

We had her birthday party in January since we had a big snowstorm come through the weekend we were supposed to have her party in December.

We found out we were having twins in January. Suddenly, we went from comfortable with the thought of having another baby to complete shock and panic at having two.

February
This is the ONLY picture I found on flickr taken in February!

March
Again, the only March picture I found on flickr! I was so sick those couple months I spent the majority of my time on the couch or in the bathroom.

April
The day of my "big" ultrasound, Abby was supposed to go to a friend's, but she got sick at Target. She threw up in the seasonal section, in the ultrasound room, and again in her carseat a couple blocks from home. I was still pretty sick at the time, so there was no way I could clean it up. We ended up buying her a booster seat instead since she was ready for it anyway, and Damon was to clean the carseat for when we needed it for the babies. Yeah. That never happened.

That was the day we found out we'd have a house full of GIRLS!

May
I was finally able to pull myself out of the bathroom by May. Only to be too big and uncomfortable to enjoy being pregnant.

One of my all-time favorite Abby pictures.

June
Happy Father's Day!

July

The last belly shot I took. This was 2 weeks before they were born (35 weeks).

August
This was definitely the biggest month of the year for us. Our babies were born the 5th.

Cora

Emma

September
Abby's first school picture

Getting chubby already

October
Cora's first documented smile

Emma's first documented smile

November
Both girls rolled over from front to back for the first time. Cora still hasn't rolled since!

One of my all-time most popular pictures.

Abby can now write her own name.

December
The babies tried solids for the first time the beginning of the month.

We had a great Christmas!

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

Four

2008-12-31T15:57:00.003-07:00

Abby turned 4 two weeks ago, on the 18th. We had a very small party on the 11th with just a handful of her friends. I made tacos and a couple sides, and bought cupcakes. I don't think I could've handled more than that this year. On her actual birthday, we took her to Red Robin since she'd been asking to go for weeks.

She cracks me up with turning four. She's constantly using "but I'm 4 now!" as an excuse to do stuff, or when I let her do something she normally wouldn't it's "because she's 4." She also keeps talking about how much more grown up she is now, and how much bigger she's gotten!

Last week was her 4-year checkup. She's 42lbs. and 42.25 inches tall. She's in the 90th percentile for each, so she's still big for her age. Everything went well except her vision test, so they referred us to an eye doctor. We went today and sure enough, she needs glasses. She has 20/40 vision and a mild astigmatism in both eyes. The poor thing never had a chance since Damon and I are both completely blind and I had astigmatism in both eyes. Damon had lasik a bunch of years ago, but I still can't see past my nose without my glasses or contacts. She was so excited to choose them herself, so hopefully she'll take care of them. We'll see. I'm hoping since she's old enough to get it, keeping them on her won't be a huge fight. We did go with the titanium flex glasses thanks to Rachael's advice, but I'd love to hear about any tricks you used to keep glasses on your kids or keep them from losing/breaking them. We'll get them in about a week, so pictures will definitely be forthcoming!

Abby's first school picture. She loves school! At her parent-teacher conference a couple months ago, her teacher had nothing but good things to say.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T12:50:00.002-07:00

We didn't get a Santa picture with the twins because they were sleeping in the stroller and it's too much work to get them in and out of their carseats. Next year for sure!

Too Long for Twitter

2008-12-19T13:47:00.002-07:00

Abby turned 4 yesterday (more on that later when I have time for a proper post), and a friend of ours gave her this huge sticker set. Among them were some itty-bitty nail stickers. We had this conversation just now as I'm making her lunch:

Abby: I'm going to go upstairs to use the tweezers to get the stickers off (the plastic thing they're on) because I can't do it with my fingers.

Me: No, the tweezers are not toys, blah, blah, blah.

Abby: But, Mom! I'm FOUR YEARS OLD!

I wish I had my camera handy because the look she gave me was priceless!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-10T09:57:00.001-07:00

4 Months

2008-12-09T20:57:00.002-07:00

Yeah, I'm late. Again. I have a really good excuse this time. My sister went back to California on Thursday. We're so grateful she basically put her life on hold and moved halfway across the country to help us out for 5 months. She was a huge help at the end of my pregnancy when I couldn't do too much for Abby, then in these first months with the babies. I couldn't have gotten through it without her. It's definitely scary being on my own now, but at least she was able to help through the really tough first months when no one slept. The hardest phase is behind us.

Damon was able to take Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon off to help me out, but now he's spending the night in Kansas City. It's just me and the kids until late tomorrow night. Today actually went a lot smoother than I expected it to. Last night was rough with Emma, but I got Cora up at 7:20 when Emma woke up and they stayed on the same schedule the rest of the day. They took 3 naps, all at the same time! The first one lasted about 1.5 hours, the second THREE hours, and the third about 1/2 hour. Emma went to bed for the night at 8, and Cora around 8:45. I got 3 loads of laundry done, all the bathrooms cleaned but the master, the basement picked up, the dishwasher loaded and run, and even a nap! We're having a small birthday party for Abby on Thursday afternoon, so I have to get the house clean by then. Tomorrow, I'll attempt my first solo trip to Target with the kids.

The babies had their 4-month checkups yesterday. Cora weighs 13lbs. 4oz. (50th percentile) and is 25 inches tall (75th), and Emma weighs 13lbs. 1oz. (50th) and is 23.75 inches tall (50th). Cora was 10th for weight and 25th for height, and Emma was 10th and 10th at their 2-month visit! Cora's been upped to half a pill twice a day on the Prevacid because she still spits up like crazy. On bad days, she can go through an entire load of laundry in a day! Even on good days, she can go through several bibs and 2-3 clothes changes. Emma's also been approved for up to 2 oz. of prune juice since she's constantly severely constipated. She won't go for a few days, then she screams in pain when she finally does. Cora also has a bad case of eczema, particularly on her elbows and shoulders, so we're to try Eucerin, Cetaphil (both of which made Abby's eczema worse), and Aquaphor. We've also been given the ok to start solids, and the doctor suggested it might help with Cora's spit up, so they'll get their first taste of cereal this weekend.

Milestones:

*As you can see from the pictures, both girls are now holding their heads high when on their tummies.

*Cora hasn't rolled again since that first time, but Emma rolls constantly.

*She's also trying really hard to roll from back to belly. She has become extremely squirmy when on her back!

*Cora LOVES Abby's old Exersaucer while Emma could care less.

*They both also love the bouncy chairs, but will only tolerate the swings for short periods of time.

*Cora sleeps a good 12 hours a night while Emma still gets up at least once a night, but more often 2-3 times.

*They're both very chatty, but Emma tends to be pretty soft-spoken when she babbles. She's the mellow twin while Cora is more excitable.

*Emma loves to take baths, but Cora is terrified of them and screams the entire time. Even with me in the tub with her.

Makes My Monday

2008-12-08T11:49:00.002-07:00

Cheryl at Twinfatuation started this and I thought it was a great idea. Wanna know what makes my Monday?

All 3 kids are taking a nap at the same time! Not only that, but the babies have been asleep 1.5 hours already! AT THE SAME TIME! I showered and got myself ready for the day and now I'm enjoying some guilt-free ME time, despite all the cleaning I have to do before Abby's birthday party on Thursday.

Help Settle a Debate at My House

2008-12-03T10:29:00.002-07:00

I've posted a poll at the top of my blog. Damon and I are having an ongoing debate on the virtues of having multiple laptops, but we can't seem to agree so I thought I'd ask the internets. How many of you have more than one computer/laptop in your home? Please answer in the poll. Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:40:00.002-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you here in the U.S. We're staying home this year, so I decided to go all out.

Our Menu:
Turkey (duh)
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Rolls
Stuffing (Stove Top)
My Gumma's sweet potato casserole
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Green Bean Casserole (my sister's request)
Corn
Brownies
Rocky Road Fudge Bars
Apple Pie (w/ice cream of course!)

Mmmm....Leftovers!

One of My Favorite Things

2008-11-25T21:36:00.002-07:00

Call me Oprah now! There are a few items that I absolutely love and have been so helpful with the babies. The Juss Tin Case nursing cover is definitely one of my favorites!

When it became clear that Cora was going to be a Professional Nurser (I'm constantly amazed when she REFUSES a bottle!), I did an online search for nursing tops. While looking at tops, I came across a nursing cover. Best. Idea. Ever. That new search led me to the Juss Tin Case covers. There are so many choices out there, but Juss Tin Case has one special feature that set them apart: a pocket that the cover folds into! That was my selling point. It folds neatly into the pocket, and takes up very little space in my diaper bag. It's not bigger than a wallet, but thinner, when folded. It comes in a bunch of different fabrics to choose from, and Julie updates them frequently. It's also larger than most, so it covers not only my front, but the sides as well. It has a flexible neckline so I can easily look into Cora while staying covered. Finally, it's nice and thin so Cora never overheats like she would under a heavy blanket. My Juss Tin Case nursing cover lives in my diaper bag so it's always there whenever I need it, but it doesn't get in the way at all. I've been using it for months now, and absolutely love it!

Juss Tin Case was founded by a mom, which I love. Julie has a hand in everything. I received a personal email from her within hours of my purchase letting me know that it had already shipped! I placed my order Friday afternoon and received it early the following week (Tuesday or Wednesday, can't remember exactly).

I emailed Julie to let her know how thrilled I am with my nursing cover and that I'd be writing this post, and she generously offered to giver everyone 15% off her covers if you use the links on my blog. Not only that, but all her nursing covers over $35 are currently $10 off! You get 15% off on top of that! This would make a terrific gift for the pregnant ladies, or those with nursing babies, in your life. Happy Holidays!

I'm so proud!

2008-11-24T21:14:00.006-07:00

One of my pictures was chosen as the Image of the Day at Parentdish!

2008-11-20T19:59:00.002-07:00

Both babies are cutting their bottom 2 teeth right now. Kill me now. I noticed 2 white spots under their gums a few days ago, and Cora's in full-on meltdown mode today because they're starting to pop through. That explains our crazy night last night.

Christmas Card Pictures

2008-11-20T16:53:00.002-07:00

NaBloPoMo is a total bust for me! Oh well. I will try to post more often at least.

A few days ago, I found some really cute Christmas pj's for all 3 girls so I decided to attempt a Christmas card photo. After 3 days, I finally got the winner! Over the next few days, I'll be posting outtakes from the last few days. You can find a TON of them here. I still have a bunch more to post later!

2008-11-12T12:38:00.003-07:00

Both girls just rolled over for the first time! Cora rolled first, and Emma followed. Pictures here.

I added a TON of pictures (2.5 pages worth!), including a bunch from Halloween. Finally. There are some you won't see if you're not one of my flickr contacts because they show Abby with her friends.

Day 7: Aloha Friday

2008-11-07T19:33:00.004-07:00

I'm totally cheating today, but I've seen this on a couple of my friends' blogs and thought it was a fun idea.

From An Island Life:

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and sign the linky thing at An Island Life, the creator of Aloha Friday. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Today’s question is:

Do you twitter? What's your twitter name so I can follow you?

Yes, that's actually two questions, but they're easy! I've become obsessed with twitter since I got my iPhone. I love being able to post a quick update, and reading what everyone else is doing throughout the day. You can find my latest tweets in the sidebar. I'm Brandi_B if you want to follow me.

P.S. Cora's doing just fine in the crib by herself. She slept from 9:15 to 7:45 the first night and 9-6:45 last night. Emma's doing great on her own too. She woke up once at 4 the first night, and slept from 9 to 6:15 last night! I got 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night! We'll see if she keeps it up; if separating them was the answer to her sleeping through the night. I bought this crib at Target this week. It's not black like it looks in the picture, but a dark brown. They call it espresso. It was one of my favorites, and the cheapest by far. I didn't want to spend too much since we'll only use it until they outgrow it as a toddler bed.

Day 6: Laundry Binge

2008-11-06T11:47:00.003-07:00

It started innocently enough yesterday. The shirt I wanted to wear was dirty and the babies were running out of their thick fleece sleepers, so it was time to do some laundry. That ended up being 2 loads of our laundry (Damon, Abby, and me) and 3 loads of baby laundry. Then Cora spit up on my comforter while I was doing laundry, and I decided to wash the crib bedding that has been on the unused crib for 3 months. 2 more loads. Since I was washing that bedding, it was also time to wash the extra crib sheets so they're ready once Cora spits up in the crib. Finally, I decided it was time to purge the babies' 3-month clothes, and get out Abby's old 3-6 month clothes out of the garage. That, coupled with random items that didn't make it to the wash earlier or got spit-up on throughout the day, ended up being another 2 loads yesterday. And 2 more today! I have at least 2 more loads (towels and the rest of my bedding) to wash today, then I hope to never see laundry again. That's 13 loads of laundry in 2 days!

Damon jokingly accused me of trying to break our machines so I can get a front-load set.

While it's unusual for me to do this much laundry in one shot, I do end up with 4 or 5 loads when I do laundry. I know I should do a load or two a day, but some days are just too busy. And draining. I typically do laundry 2 or 3 times a week, but with 2 babies who spit up, not only on themselves but on whoever is holding them too, we go through a lot of clothes!

Those of you with twin babies, do you get rid of everything in one size when one has outgrown it, or do you mix sizes? Between Abby's old clothes, what we've received as gifts, and my obsessive shopping, the girls have a TON of clothes. I feel like they won't get to wear a lot of it if I don't move them both up at once. Cora tends to outgrow everything first since she's longer, but I typically wait until Emma starts outgrowing things to get rid of everything in their current size and move them both up. If I don't, then Cora ends up wearing clothes that are way too tight because we tend to keep everything but "going out" and bedtime clothes in some of these canvas bins in my room and in the basement. It's so much easier than having to go to their closet all the time when one (Cora) or both of them spit up or have a blow-out and need a new outfit. This also means that Emma ends up wearing clothes that are too big for her for a while.

I'm thrilled my friend, Kim, had her first girl two weeks ago. The timing is perfect because I've been able to give her the babies' outgrown clothes right when she could use the next size. I have 3 trash bags full of clothes to give her, and there's still one load in the dryer and one in the washer that's bound to have more. Sadly, I found some really cute 3-month outfits mixed in with Abby's 3-6 month stuff and a bunch of those thin receiving blankets we don't use anymore. I also found a bunch of clothes that were so stained I can't believe I kept them! Onesies and those snap shirts mostly. What was I thinking?

Day 5: 3 Months Old

2008-11-05T19:09:00.002-07:00

Not even a week in and I've already missed a day. Oops! Oh well.

I meant to post a long update on the girls since they're 3 months old today, but it's not happening today. For about a week, neither girl has napped more than a half hour at a time. On a good day, they'll have one 2 hour nap, but it's often at different times. Today hasn't been a good day. I've had maybe an hour total since 6am where I haven't been holding a baby, and that was spent cleaning the kitchen (definitely overdue) and doing laundry. I'm on my 8th load, none of which has been put away. Oh, we did go to Target (again!) and both girls were very good (but awake) while there. That's been my break for the day.

Cora goes to the nursery tonight. Happy birthday Cora; as a present, you're getting kicked out!

Day 3, Way too tired so this will be all over the place

2008-11-03T23:32:00.004-07:00

So adjusting to the time change didn't go as smoothly as I'd originally thought. The worst of the colic seems to be behind us, but the last couple days have been tough. Emma woke up at 2:30 and 4:45, Abby woke up at 6, and Cora woke up at 7.

Since Cora really took off breastfeeding, she became "my" baby. The only problem is that now she's only happy with me. She screams when anyone else tries to hold her. Cora has this extremely high pitch she hits when she gets really mad. She doesn't just cry, she screams like she's auditioning for a horror movie. It's so funny to hear. She's getting better about letting others hold her, but I'm the only one that works when she's upset. She's definitely more high-maintenance than Emma. Although, Emma's been a handful lately too. I feel guilty for not spending as much time with her as I do with Cora. Emma's finally decided it's ok to breastfeed again, so that helps. We're still supplementing with formula for both of them because I just don't make enough milk, even breastfeeding two babies hasn't increased my milk supply much. I keep meaning to buy some fenugreek, which helped some with Abby, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Does anyone know if Whole Foods sells it or Mother's Milk tea? If not, I'll have to order it online.

It's definitely time for bed. I hope this makes some sense...

NaBloPoMo, Day 2

2008-11-02T11:18:00.002-07:00

The time change didn't seem to affect us too badly. Emma only woke up once, at 3:45am (new time), so their 7am wakeup wasn't too bad. Besides, we forgot to change the clocks last night, so it was 8am for us!

The co-sleeper is getting to be too small for both girls to sleep in, so we've decided to move Cora to the crib in the nursery soon. She started sleeping for 6 hours at night at one month old, and has been sleeping 8-10 hours for over a month now, so it makes sense to move her to the crib and keep Emma in the co-sleeper for a while longer. We're going to have to go crib shopping soon since we only have Abby's old crib right now. If any of you have a crib that eventually converts to a full-size crib, buy the rails to convert it right away! Abby's convertible crib turned out to be a waste because I couldn't find the rails anywhere when we were ready to convert it about 3 years after we originally bought it. Her crib style was discontinued, so no one has the rails anymore.

NaBloPoMo

2008-11-01T19:38:00.004-06:00

Since I'm horrible about updating regularly, I've decided to join NaBloPoMo: National Blog Posting Month. Basically, it's a challenge where you post every day for a month. It's a great way to get into better blogging habits, so hopefully it'll get me posting more often. Any bets on how long I'll last?

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:59:00.001-06:00

2 Months

2008-10-06T21:46:00.002-06:00

The girls had their 2-month checkup today. Cora weighs 9lbs. 7oz. and is 22.25in, and Emma's 9lbs. 4oz. and 21.25in. We were so sure that Emma would weigh more! That inch really makes a difference. Emma looks and feels so much heavier. They had to get a couple shots too, and we're paying for it tonight. They both slept for about 3.5 hours after they calmed down, but have been extremely cranky while awake since.

8 Weeks (and a couple days)

2008-10-02T00:31:00.002-06:00

I keep meaning to write an update on the babies, but I've been horrible about actually doing it. My babies will be 2 months old on Sunday! Time is flying by! Before we know it, this first year will be over.

The girls have their 2-month checkup on Monday. We're so curious to know how much they've grown. Emma definitely outweighs Cora now! About 3 or 4 weeks ago, breastfeeding really clicked with Cora and Emma decided she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Emma screams bloody murder every time I try to nurse her, but she's finally been nursing a little when she first wakes up the last day or two. She'll only stay on for a few minutes, but it's definitely progress from where we were even a few days ago. Cora is almost exclusively breastfeed now. She only gets a couple bottles a day, and that's typically if she wakes up right after I've pumped or I just need a break. Emma mostly gets formula since I'm not pumping enough milk to stop supplementing. Both girls are still eating every 2-3 hours.

Cora will most likely be put on medication for acid reflux. She spits up like crazy! Yesterday, she went through 6 outfits and I changed my shirt 3 times! She has also started crying right after she spits up. She spits up after almost every feeding. We've been trying to keep her upright after she eats, but it's not working. Emma has also started spitting up the last few days, but it's nowhere near as bad as Cora. Cora is definitely gaining weight, but Emma has gotten quite a bit heavier than her.

Both girls are starting to lose their scrawniness and are filling out. Emma is starting to get Michelin Man legs! Her face has also gotten so adorably chubby. Cora is now the one with catching up to do. They've outgrown both Newborn diapers and clothes.

I'm amazed at how well they sleep already. I was still pacing the bathroom throughout the night with Abby at this age. There were many nights I'd wake up Damon at 4 or 5 am in tears because I hadn't slept at all yet and was beyond exhausted. Cora has been sleeping through the night for a month! She typically sleeps 6-8 hours at night. Emma is finally sleeping longer. She'll sleep for 4-5 hours before waking up. When she does wake up, she gets changed, eats, and goes right back to sleep. Most nights. The second stretch doesn't last as long; she'll wake up after 2-3 hours then, but it's usually 6 or 7am by then anyway. It's so nice only having to deal with one baby in the middle of the night!

The best part of this age is the smiles! Both girls started smiling a couple weeks ago, but it's only been the last few days that Cora has started smiling with some regularity. It's still pretty rare to get a smile out of Emma. Cora will smile for a good minute or two before she's done for a while. She's starting to do this several times a day. One of these days, I'll actually have my camera nearby when she smiles!

I wish I could call in sick

2008-09-29T13:15:00.002-06:00

I'm siiiick! Abby brought home another cold last week, and now Jessica and I are both sick. It's hard enough taking care of 2 babies and a preschooler when healthy, but it's horrible trying to keep up when both caregivers are miserable. If only one of us was sick, at least the healthy one could take the slack. I just hope the babies don't get it!

Test

2008-09-27T16:52:00.001-06:00

I think I got all the old posts moved over here safely. Welcome to our new home!

2008-09-26T11:49:00.002-06:00

Cora slept from 9:15-8 this morning! That's her longest stretch yet. She's our good sleeper, typically sleeping about 6-7 hours at a stretch at night. If only Emma would too! She's getting better, though. Last night, she slept from 8:30pm-2:30am. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. She finally went back to sleep at 4:15am. Then, she started grunting at 5am. She's such a noisy sleeper; she's my snooze alarm. Every 10-15 minutes, she'd toss and turn while grunting and letting out the occasional cry. She did this until 7:15! I didn't get to enjoy Cora's 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep because I was constantly woken up.

2008-09-14T19:54:00.002-06:00

I found a picture of Abby when she was about the same age as the girls. We've been saying all along that Emma looks like Abby did, but it's crazy to see they look exactly alike! They look more like twins than Cora and Emma do! Emma's on the left and Abby on the right.

2008-09-09T22:14:00.002-06:00

I was recently searching for free templates while up in the middle of the night. I'd love to update the look of this blog, but it definitely needs a new name first. I'm horrible at that sort of thing, so I need your help! I'd love any suggestions you may have. I know they'll be better than anything I could come up with.

2008-09-08T14:55:00.000-06:00

The girls had their one month checkup today. They are growing like crazy! Cora was 7lbs. 10.5oz. (5.5lbs. at birth) and 21 inches long (19 in. at birth). Emma was 7lbs. 6.5oz. (5lbs. 1oz. at birth) and 20 in. long (18.5in. at birth). Cora's around the 10th percentile for weight and 25th for length. Emma's around the 10th for both. We couldn't believe they've each put on more than 2lbs. in a month! No wonder their preemie clothes no longer fit.

We also talked about their colic. Their pediatrician gave us formula samples to try when we supplement. Hopefully that'll bring some relief! Everything else she suggested, we've already tried (walking, swaddling, gas drops...). I was thrilled she didn't scold us for letting Cora sleep 6-7 hours a night. I was so worried she was going to tell me Cora needed to wake up more often to eat. If only Emma would sleep so well too!

2008-09-06T14:35:00.000-06:00

A month later I'm STILL finding adhesive in various nooks and crannies when I get out of the shower!

One Month Old

2008-09-05T18:34:00.000-06:00

My babies are a month old today! It feels as if I was pregnant ages ago yet I can't believe they're already a month old. The girls are both growing like crazy. They're well-baby check is Monday and we're so curious to see how much weight they've put on. They're both starting to lose that emaciated look and are filling out, particularly in their faces.

Unfortunately, BOTH girls are colicky! They get such painful gas our evenings our filled with their screams. I was really hoping we wouldn't go through this again. This weekend was particularly bad since my other sister, Jennifer, and Damon's parents were here. They were overstimulated on top of it, so they screamed for a few hours every evening. Since things have settled here, they don't cry as long (or as hard!), but it's still difficult to listen to them in pain.

On the bright side, once they finally settle down and fall asleep, they're pretty decent sleepers. On 3 different nights, Cora has slept a solid 6-ish hours! From about midnight to 6-ish. Emma was sleeping a good 4 as well, but she might be going through a growth spurt. She's been waking every 2 hours the last few nights. When they wake up in the middle of the night now, they go back to sleep fairly easily. We did have one night this week where one or both were up from 3-6:30am. Then Abby woke me up at 7:30 to take her to school.

Abby does really well with the girls. She gets a little frustrated sometimes when we're all busy and can't play with her, but she tends to take it in stride. She loves to help by holding their bottles for them, but after a minute she complains that her hand is sweaty and needs to stop! For the most part, she's pretty gentle with them. She hasn't gotten jealous of them yet.

2008-09-02T00:23:00.000-06:00

Abby loves school. She was really nervous that first day, but she went in with no problems after giving me a big don't-want-to-let-go hug. Interestingly, the only kids who cried were all boys. When it was time to pick her up, she went on about how much fun it was!

She is really into counting us all right now. She loves to count how many of us there are. I think it started at mealtimes. She enjoys getting the silverware for all of us and she'd ask how much she needed to get. I'd always ask her how many of us there are and tell her that's how much we need. Anyway, when she counts us she always makes sure she's number 3. No one else is allowed to be number 3 since she's 3 years old!

ONE Day!

2008-08-26T13:53:00.000-06:00

That's how long it took for Abby to catch a cold at preschool! In all fairness, it is possible she caught it at the "Kids Cabin" at the gym since she didn't start feeling sick until the weekend, but I still blame preschool. She already had to miss a day of school because of it. I really hope the babies don't get it too!

________________

Damon went back to work yesterday, so we're trying to find our groove without him. So far, it hasn't been too bad. Jessica's been a huge help at night. I swear she's the Baby Whisperer! She somehow manages to get them right back to sleep after a middle-of-the-night changing/feeding. Damon and I really struggle with that because they seem to wake up the second we lay them back down. Cora has also recently gone from our mellow child to the screamer in the middle of the night. The last couple nights that Jessica's been sleeping with me instead of Damon, though, she's hardly fussed!

Today, we got brave and decided to go to lunch then Target. Lunch was a little harried because they both got fussy. I ended up having to eat while holding Emma. Target, on the other hand, went very smoothly. The babies LOVE Target! Ok, they love riding in the cart, but still... As long as I kept the cart moving, they were happy.

2008-08-20T13:25:00.000-06:00

My Original Baby starts preschool tomorrow! It's hard to believe she's already old enough for school. I think I'm going to be more of a wreck tomorrow than she will be! She's been so excited to go for some time now. There was an open house last week, so she got to meet her teachers, explore the classroom, and play with some of her classmates. She was pretty slow to warm up to everyone, which is so unlike her, so we'll see how it goes once she'll be there by herself.

2008-08-18T22:01:00.000-06:00

The girls had their 2-week checkup this morning. Cora is up to 5lbs. 14oz. and Emma's up to 5lbs. 5oz. Both are up well past their birthweights, and they each gained 8.5oz. in a week! Their doctor was very impressed. She said they expect babies to gain .5-1oz. a day at this point, and both surpassed that.

After their appointment and lab, we decided take them out to lunch in a real restaurant for the first time. It went so much better than the first time we took Abby out! This was their first venture out of the house that didn't involve a doctor's appointment, so we were a little worried. They both slept the entire time!

On Breastfeeding

2008-08-17T12:56:00.001-06:00

Brittany asked why pumping was better at this point, so I though it would be easier to answer in a post of its own instead of in the comments.

It all started with Abby. I thought breastfeeding was going well those first days until we met with a lactation consultant who told us she wasn't latching well at all so she was eating like she should. She wasn't gaining weight and looked awfully yellow. She ended up jaundiced to the point that she needed to spend the night at the hospital under the "tanning bed" lights to get her bilirubin down. It scared me so badly that I ended up pumping for almost 9 months instead of working with her and a lactation consultant to try to breastfeed. When I pumped, it made me feel better to be able to see exactly how much she was eating. I tried breastfeeding her a few times after that, but I was too intimidated to really put any effort into it.

Fast forward to the twins. A lactation consultant came by almost every day to work with us. Cora has the same latch issues that Abby had, so she's been mostly bottlefed. I have tried a few times to breastfeed her, but I'm more of a chew toy than a feeding source to her although she has been able to get some milk. We'll definitely keep trying this time. Emma has a great latch, but she was so small they told us not to push her too hard to breastfeed. Then she kept losing weight in the hospital, so our pediatrician told us to hold off altogether for at least a few days until she put some weight back on. So I was relieved when they kept telling us that at 37 weeks, their sucking reflex might need some work so not to worry too much about breastfeeding until their closer to their actual due date. I know pumping. It's so hard, particularly in the middle of the night when everyone's asleep, but I've done it once so I can do it again.

A few days ago, however, Emma decided she prefered nursing to the bottle! I'd been seriously considering contacting the local breastfeeding store to hire a lactation consultant to come to the house a few times to help me out. We still have to supplement feedings because she tends to fall asleep while nursing, but it's been a big accomplishment for me to be able to actually breastfeed one of my kids! Cora eats like crazy, so we still have to supplement them with formula on top of my pumped breastmilk because I'm just not making enough for both of them.

I did try to tandem feed a couple days ago which was hilarious! Emma spent most of her time looking over at Cora (who was actually doing pretty well!) like "what is she doing here while I eat?" She looked so confused by what was going on!

2008-08-11T16:26:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much everyone! Your kind words mean so much to us. We're settling in nicely at home. We were only a few minutes late to the girls' first well baby visit this morning! That included getting Abby ready too. Cora is up to 5lbs. 5.5 oz. and Emma's at 4lbs. 12.5oz. so they're growing nicely. Cora gained 3.5oz. since being released Saturday! Everyone keeps telling me not to try too hard with the breastfeeding until they get to 40 weeks gestational age (3 weeks old), so I've been pumping like crazy again. We've also been supplementing with formula because I'm not making enough to fill their voracious appetites yet.

They did have to get their bilirubin levels checked again since their doctor thought they still looked a little yellow. Their bilirubin has been high enough to keep retesting, but not enough to really worry about so far. Worst case we'll have to use those special blankets at home for a bit, but they definitely won't need to be hospitalized and go under the lights like Abby did.

I added a ton of pictures to flickr.

**UPDATE** We just heard back from their pediatrician. Their bilirubin levels have gone down since Saturday, so there's no need to do anything for jaundice this time around!

We're going home!

2008-08-09T10:42:00.002-06:00

My bp is still up, but my doctor had a hospitalist come in to assess me so I can go. The hospitalist is a doctor who works for a certain practice but only works in the hospital doing rounds. In addition to my blood pressure meds, which have been upped to 3x/day, I now have to take a calcium channel blocker and see my primary doctor once a week for the next month or so. Oh yeah, and I'm very anemic too. I've been on an iron supplement 3x/day as well since the girls were born, so I have to continue that and have that rechecked periodically. He said I'll probably be on iron for a good 6 months. Anemia is one thing I've never had a problem with, so it came as a big surprise. I love red meat! He also talked about putting me on a diuretic to get my Shrek feet back to normal size, but the swelling has been going down quite a bit on its own. Plus, they want me to take prescription Motrin every 8 hours for the next couple weeks, and I got a prescription for Percocet for the pain. I'm going to be a walking pharmacy!

They weighed me this morning and I'm down about 20lbs. from when I came in! I only gained 23lbs., but I had quite a bit to lose before I got pregnant so it won't hurt my feelings one bit if I end up losing more than just the 3 pregnancy pounds left.

I am so happy to be going home! Time to pack up everything that's not nailed down in the hospital room...

2008-08-08T14:35:00.002-06:00

I figured out a way around the firewalls to post pictures! I still can't upload to flickr, so I'll post a whole lot more once we finally get home. It turns out we're not going home today after all. My blood pressure is still way up, so we have to stay until at least tomorrow. The girls are perfectly healthy and ready to go home!

Emma Jane
Cora Rae
They have more hair than Abby did. It's definitely darker than it looks in the picture.

Finally!

2008-08-07T21:32:00.001-06:00

The laptop cord came today, so I can finally post again!

Cora Rae and Emma Jane were born Tuesday morning. Cora at 8:16am and Emma at 8:17am. Cora weighed 5lbs. 8oz. and was 19in. long. Emma weighed 5lbs. 1oz. and was 18.5in. long. Cora needed a little oxygen, but was breathing room air within a couple hours. Emma had to go to the NICU and was on a c-pap machine to breathe and iv to bring her blood sugar up. Damon checked on her around 5pm. Tuesday, and she was already breathing room air! They did keep her overnight in the NICU, but it was for observation than anything else.

We're all doing really well. Recovering from a c-section isn't nearly as horrible as I'd feared it would be. The girls get to come home with me when I get discharged tomorrow! That was always our biggest goal. I'll post pictures tomorrow. The hospital's firewalls aren't letting me tonight.

In hospital

2008-08-05T01:59:00.000-06:00

In hospital
Originally uploaded by Brandi_

Made it to 37 weeks! Bp is now way up again so c-section scheduled for 730am 8-5. Computers been down at home for 3 weeks. Cord finally coming this week.

2008-07-15T13:04:00.000-06:00

Since the babies' birthday is completely up in the air now, I thought it would be fun to start a pool. Go here to enter your guesses!

34 Weeks

2008-07-15T12:42:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be pregnant forever! I talked to my doctor this morning about scheduling an induction since he told me 36-37 weeks would be my limit way back when we first found out about the twins. He's now decided that since I'm doing so well, he won't schedule anything until 39 weeks! These babies have absolutely no interest in leaving my belly, so I'll be delivering humongous babies right before my due date. I haven't even had any Braxton-Hicks contractions yet! My cervix is still being too cooperative at 3.03cm. My bp was a little up, but still well within the normal range: 134/80. I'm also up only 3lbs. from two weeks ago--somehow I've only managed to gain 25lbs. total despite eating like a horse!--and I'm measuring 38 weeks. Oh, Whisper (Baby B on my left) is now breech again. Her heartbeat was way up near my lungs.

I will now start going to Maternal Fetal Medicine for bi-weekly non-stress tests starting Thursday. During a non-stress test, they strap a thing that monitors contractions, and another for each of the babies' heartbeats. They check for movement from the babies as well as monitoring heartrates and any contractions I may be having. I was told to eat a light snack on my way there instead of a big meal because they want the babies active.

All along, I've had my sights set on making it to 37 weeks. That seemed doable once I hit the 30-week mark, and it's what's kept me going especially during the night when I'm completely miserable. Those extra 2 weeks are going to be hell.

The Belly at 33 Weeks

2008-07-11T17:49:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention that my belly measured 37 weeks AGAIN. That's the third appointment I've measured the same. My doctor said it's likely because the babies are head down now, so their bodies are laying against my sides. That makes sense since that's exactly how they feel to be laying in there.

33 Weeks

2008-07-09T16:22:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I've made it this far! Back when we found out we were having twins, we were told the goal would be 36-37 weeks, but to hope to get to 32 weeks. We're a weeks past that first goal and I'm still going strong. Amazingly, still no bedrest! Except for the slight cervical issues (which could've been so much worse!) and a couple trips to the hospital for dehydration, I've had a really smooth twin pregnancy. Sure, I'm huge and uncomfortable at this point and I'm so ready to be done after the 8th trip to the bathroom at night, but that's all normal stuff. I haven't had any real complications.

Yesterday, we had a little scare but it turned out to be no big deal. After my cervical check (2.96 this week!), I passed out in the waiting room of my doctor's office! I'm fine, and once they hooked me up to the non-stress test machine (where they monitor the babies' heartbeats and me for contractions), my doctor wasn't worried about it. The babies are fine, and I'm still not having any contractions. I thought surely my doctor was going to send me to the hospital, but he thought I'd be fine. Whew!

Next week will be my last cervical ultrasound. Apparently, after that--since I'll be 35 weeks in 2 weeks--the length of my cervix won't be an issue since the babies will be ok if I were to go into labor. There's a possibility they'll have to stay in the NICU for a few days if I deliver before 36 weeks, but that's nothing compared to the months they would've spent there a few weeks ago. I'll now be seeing my doctor every week and he wants me to start going to Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital twice a week for non-stress tests to monitor any contractions.

Speaking of MFM, I had an ultrasound last Thursday there. Baby A (my right) is now 4lbs. 3oz. and Baby B is 4lbs. 1oz. I now have more baby weight than I ever did with Abby! I can't believe I'm carrying around 8lbs. of baby. The ultrasound tech predicted this would be my last ultrasound. He guessed I'll deliver at 35-ish weeks. My next (and definitely my last!) ultrasound is scheduled for 35w6d, so I hope to prove him wrong!

31 Weeks

2008-06-24T10:25:00.000-06:00

I had an uneventful cervical check last week; holding steady at 3cm. Today's appointment was great! My cervix is now up to 3.21, so I avoid bedrest again! And, my regular ob is on vacation, so I met with the nurse practitioner instead. She'd requested the ultrasound tech check the babies' heartbeats so I was able to get a quick peek at them too. There's not a whole lot to see at this point since they're out of room, but it's still good peace of mind. Plus, we were able to see that they're both head down now! Let's just hope they stay that way!

My prenatal appointment was pretty quick since I'm doing so well and we'd already checked heartbeats. My blood pressure is up to 136/70, but that's good. That's pretty much where I should be at this point. I'm also up 2lbs., putting my total weight gain up to 23lbs. This is the best diet ever! I eat like crazy and don't gain much weight. Finally, the belly still measured 37 weeks, the same as 2 weeks ago. The NP wasn't worried, though, since the babies are doing so well.

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T15:08:00.000-06:00

2008-06-11T23:57:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that my belly measured at 37 weeks at my ob appointment. I officially look like I'm full-term!

29 Weeks

2008-06-10T17:45:00.000-06:00

Great news! My cervix grew this week, so I get to avoid bedrest one more week. Last week, it was just under 3 cm and today it was right at 3. My doctor was impressed at how well I'm doing, so unless my cervix starts causing problems again I won't be going on bedrest until about 32 weeks. I still have to take it easy and rest as much as possible, though, so my cervix doesn't shorten again. My bp was 120/72, so hopefully that will continue to not be an issue too.

I also gained 2lbs. in 2 weeks, putting my total weight gain at only 21 lbs. I never expected to gain so little weight while carrying twins! Nor did I expect I'd actually have to work at gaining weight! I've never been one who can eat anything and not gain weight, until now.

I have this huge mole on my cheek, about 2 finger-widths from my ear. Over the weekend, I noticed it suddenly got hard, raised, and crusty. I mentioned it to my ob, and he referred me to the dermatologist in the same building. I also have this skin tag on my inner thigh that's a souvenir from my pregnancy with Abby. This time, it's gotten huge and keeps getting caught in my jeans! They were able to get me in this afternoon at the dermatologist's office, so we ended up having a much busier day than I'd planned.

My cheek is fine and the mole doesn't need to be removed unless I want it to. I'm thrilled! I'm a really moley person, so I have a few moles I'm pretty sentimental about and this is definitely one of them. It was rough on me to think I'd have to get it removed. She did find three moles that were questionable, one of which she was really concerned about, so they're all coming off July 1st. At least this time, Abby's old enough to get herself into her booster seat. Thankfully, she did remove the skin tag today. Good riddance!

2008-06-09T10:06:00.000-06:00

Friday was baby ultrasound day. Unfortunately, they're getting too big and squished in there to get good pictures, but at least they were able to get the measurements they needed. Baby A (on my right) is tranverse and Baby B (left) is breach. Basically, Trouble is sideways with her head by her sister and Whisper is laying feet first. There should still be time for them to get into position, but if they don't move I'll definitely be having a c-section. Also, Baby A weighs 2lbs. 10oz. and Baby B weighs 2lbs. 11oz. It's interesting that they switched. Last time, A weighed an ounce more than her sister.

We did quite a bit of nesting this weekend. Well, more shopping than anything else, but it was fun to go a little crazy at Babies R Us! I feel better having most of the basic stuff done. There's still a lot more to do, but we're making progress a little at a time.
-Canvas bins are bought and filled for the changing table, although I'm going to need more because I used the ones I bought for the second changing table (for the basement) in their closet.
-Changing table pads and covers are bought and covers washed.
-Car seats have been either cleaned or put together (thanks for the second car seat Mom!)
-Preemie-sized basics have been purchased, washed, and put away along with all the clothes we got at the second shower.
-Diaper bag is ready to go to the hospital.

And a belly shot. I took this yesterday. I'm almost 29 weeks here (28w5d):

We have a name!

2008-06-03T17:55:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling the pressure to get everything done now that I'm having these cervical issues and bedrest is imminent. I need more time to nest! The crib isn't fully put together yet! I hope we can get the co-sleeper back together! The double stroller's still in the box! We need to clean the swings and bouncers! We don't have "coming home from the hospital" outfits for them yet! My list of crazy goes on and on...

One of the biggest things I'm getting anxious about is that we don't have names for the babies. Finally, we did decide on a name this weekend for whoever's born first. The first baby will be Cora (short for Cornelia!). Once we figure out the other baby's first name, we'll still have to figure out middle names. We do have one we'll definitely be using, but we want to wait until we have a second first name before we commit to using it with Cora.

At the rate we're going, the second baby will be named Ethel after all!

28 Weeks

2008-06-03T15:27:00.000-06:00

Today was cervical check day. It's shortening, but apparently not at a rate to send me to bedrest. Yet. Last week, it was over 3, and today it was just under 3. If it's shorter again next week, I'll definitely be looking at bedrest. I'm doing what I can to keep these babies in as long as possible. At least if I did go into preterm labor and they couldn't stop it, the babies have a 90% survival rate now. They'd be in NICU for a long time, but they'd make it. That's a huge weight off my shoulders, but the longer we can hold off delivery the better.

I also got the results from my glucose test today. I wasn't too worried about it since my doctor's office hadn't called. No news is good news, right? Sure enough, I passed with flying colors. The nurse said the normal is range is 60-140, and I was at 92. Phew! That's definitely the test I wanted to pass! Now, I can continue to eat like a horse without having to carefully monitor every bite.

Things are definitely getting tight in my belly. Baby A (on my right) is constantly kicking my ribs and pelvis trying to make more room for herself. We call her Trouble because she kicks so hard is always on the move. Baby B is now Whisper because she doesn't kick nearly as much as her sister. I feel more movement than kicks from her. Already, they're both on different schedules. Trouble is up most of the day, while Whisper tends to be at her most active right as I'm trying to go to sleep. She's up a lot at night when I get up to go to the bathroom too.

Oh sleep, how I miss you! I can't remember the last time I got more than a couple hours of sleep between bathroom breaks. It's only gotten worse the last few weeks too. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, I spend at least 2-3 hours going to the bathroom every 10 minutes. What's worse is that it takes me that long to try and get comfortable, just to have to get up again. It doesn't seem to stop until I'm so exhausted I finally fall asleep. Rarely before 2. Then, I'm up every hour the rest of the night. On a good night, I get right back to sleep every time. Only 9 more weeks to go.

Babycenter has another picture update for twins this week. Go here to read about their development this week.

27 Weeks

2008-05-27T17:29:00.000-06:00

I had a prenatal appointment this morning. Things are getting interesting. I was really uncomfortable and just plain miserable for most of the weekend, so I mentioned it to my doctor. He had me go in for a cervical length ultrasound right then and there with his u/s tech. The tech said that it was within the normal range, but something spooked them. I now have to go to my doctor's office for an ultrasound to check my cervix every week, along with my prenatal appointments every other week. Plus, I still have to go to Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital every four weeks for ultrasounds to check the babies' growth. Whew!

On the bright side, the babies heartbeats were nice and strong so they're fine. The biggest worry at this point is that I'll go into preterm labor. While all these appointments are a pain, it's a comfort to know that my doctor is really staying on top of it. I'd much rather have to go in constantly than get blown off.

I've also been told to slow down even more. I'm lazy, so it's no hardship, but I'm already barely leaving the house. If I take it any easier, I'll be on bedrest before I'm required to be!

The weather's been great around here, so we've been spending some time in the backyard the last couple weekends. It's so great for both Abby and me to get out and enjoy it!

2008-05-20T15:29:00.000-06:00

I was handwashing a few dishes yesterday when my back started to hurt. After thinking about it, I realized I COULDN'T REACH THE SINK! My belly's so big now that my arms just barely reached the running water if I hunched way over.

25 Weeks

2008-05-15T14:16:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, the ultrasound tech called me fat! Ok, he didn't actually say fat, but it was what he meant. He kept going on and on about how huge I look even for having twins. That's because I'm all belly! He's lucky I'm not easily offended. I am growing like crazy these days though.

Last week:

Today:

Despite calling me fat, the tech was really good at his job. It helped that he was funny too, so he made us feel pretty comfortable. The doctor I saw this time was really great too. She explained everything in so much more detail than the other doctors. I wish I would've requested her when I made my next appointment!

When I started going to Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital for ultrasounds, they switched babies on me. Baby A used to be the one on my left and Baby B on my right, but the first time I went to them they switched their "names" because the one on my right was now the one closest to my cervix. They kept the same names this time, so from now on (I hope) Baby A is now the one on my right and Baby B is on my left.

Now that I've totally confused everyone...Baby A weighed 1lb. 10oz. and Baby B weighed 1lb. 9oz. Just a little under average for twins at this gestational age. They were also able to get a better shot of the placenta and are pretty confident the twins are fraternal. What really surprised us was when the tech switched wands and did a "4-D" ultrasound! We had no idea they'd be doing that, so it was a huge surprise to be able to get a better look at their little faces. Unfortunately, he forgot to label them "Baby A or B" so I have no idea which baby is which.

This is the only one properly labeled:

Babycenter

2008-05-06T17:50:00.000-06:00

I just discovered something neat at Babycenter. One thing I've really liked aobut the developmental weekly emails is the picture showing what the baby looks like inside the uterus that week. I just realized they also offer the picture for women having twins!

One thing I forgot to mention before was that the babies are at the point of viability. If for some reason they had to be delivered this week, they have a better than 50% survival rate. And that goes up every week we can keep them in there! So far, we've been really fortunate not to have any complications, and it'll hopefully stay that way.

24 Weeks

2008-05-06T16:55:00.000-06:00

Has it really been 4 weeks since my last post? Oops!

A lot has happened in these four weeks. The day of those appointments, Abby threw up all over town. It started at Target after my prenatal visit, in the Lawn & Garden section where I'd stopped to sit. At least we were in a convenient place since we could buy her a clean outfit to wear. Unfortunately, that meant taking her with us to the ultrasound appointment instead of to my friend's house. After a couple false alarms in the bathroom while we waited our turn, she threw up again all over the ultrasound room right before we got started! This was a really long ultrasound, so she got bored. Poor Damon had to take her to the bathroom a dozen times since she kept saying she was going to throw up again. She threw up again in the car when were about a block from our house. She's now in a booster seat because I can't stomach cleaning it and Damon hasn't gotten around to it (that car seat is going in the trash!).

About a week later, I caught her stomach bug. I was up all night throwing up again, which is so much worse after having a several week break from it. Once again, we ended up in the hospital in the morning. This time, I was not only severely dehydrated, but my potassium level was very low. I ended up there for about 12 hours because I had to get hooked up to a potassium drip. That took 5 hours to empty. Then another 2 hours before they could draw blood to retest me. It was a loooong day! Thankfully, that seems to have been the last of the pukiness for me!

In other news, my neighbors threw us a baby shower about a week ago. Damon's mom, Rita, was able to make the trip here for it. I couldn't believe how many gifts we got! Particularly from strangers! We received gifts from people who haven't even broken ground on their houses yet! Several of those who haven't even met us yet couldn't make the party, but sent a gift anyway. I think we received a gift from almost every single person in the neighborhood! I spent all of last weekend making cinnamon rolls and delivering them to everyone who already lives here.

I had another prenatal appointment this morning. Surprisingly, I haven't gained any weight in the last 4 weeks despite eating everything in sight! If only it were that easy when I'm not pregnant! My blood pressure was fine, and I measured 31 weeks, right where I should be. The babies' heartbeats were also good and strong. I've now been given official orders to "slow down" and "take it easy." I'm so not one of those people who can't sit still and must be doing something at all times, so taking it easy isn't that hard for me to do. Lately, I can't even make it through the grocery store without getting really sore! I go in Friday to MFM for another ultrasound. Hopefully I'll upload the last ultrasound pictures before then!