My little boys turned 10 months old yesterday! That's double-digit months! And yes, it really has been Thanksgiving since I posted. What can I say? These little boys keep me hopping.
I want to get on and post some pictures so you can see how they've been growing, and I'll filter some updates in along the way to fill in the time gap.
But first, a letter to my little boys.
Dear Ethan & Connor,
I can't believe you guys are 10 months! I have to say that your ninth month has been one of my favorites. You guys are finally learning to play with each other and you get better at it (i.e. less injuries while playing) every day!
Connor, you are a cuddler when you want to be, but mostly you are fearless in exploring the world around you. You were the first to crawl and you practiced with baby crunches and baby push-ups until you got what you wanted. You pull up on every available surface (even Mama!) and strain to grab anything within your grasp just to explore it. You protest every nap because you want to know what's going on, but once you cave in to sleep you are like a rock. You eat everything we let you try with determination. You can say Mama, Dada, and "Bubba" for Ethan, but you delight most in saying Dada, even if it's to your stuffed puppy. You just learned to clap your hands, and you do it in such delight! Your laughter is infectious and beyond adorable. I love you, silly monkey.
Ethan, you are more cautious in your explorations. You are sensitive to my presence, never wanting me to leave and often wailing a string of "Mamamamama" when you want me or your bottle. You are a sweet boy who often lays his head on my shoulder or gives me big sloppy kisses wherever you can reach. You love to play with Connor and will pat him (sometimes nicely) and mostly tolerate when he steals your toys (he steals all of them). You were the first to roll over and the first to reach for Mama. You are very coordinated at putting your beans on their slide and you are very focused on putting things where you want them to be. You aren't sure about this solid food thing - unless it's puffs or turkey and then you're all in. You often protest when meals last too long; you'd rather be cuddled than anything else - as long as you can use Mama as a jungle gym during said cuddle. You can say Mama, Dada, and Baba/Bubba. You reserve your big smiles and giggles more than tickly Connor, but the payoff is worth it. I love you, sweet baby boy.
I look forward to being your Mama and having more adventures with you both. Thank you for all the snuggles, kisses, and love you've given me so far. I'll try to do my part and record our adventures so I can preserve what joys you both are.
Love,
Mama
Monday, July 2, 2012
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving!
Lest you think I will only write updates post-major holidays, I will try to post some 3 month pictures either today or tomorrow. Today is their 3 month birthday! According to my own scale, Connor weighs about 11 and a half pounds and Ethan a little less than 11 and a quarter. They are growing to be such big boys! They are both very smiley about now, although that can be hard to catch on camera.
But we do the best we can. We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with my in-laws. Blake's sister and her family came up from Texas to have the holiday with us. The babies were a big hit.
I love this picture of Connor, it looks like he wants to say, "Insert turkey here!"
Ethan is a bit more subdued.
They did have a great time over Thanksgiving and getting to meet their Aunt and Uncle and cousins. The food was pretty fantastic and there was lots (and lots) of it.
And of course, after all that good food, everyone needs a nap.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did.
But we do the best we can. We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with my in-laws. Blake's sister and her family came up from Texas to have the holiday with us. The babies were a big hit.
I love this picture of Connor, it looks like he wants to say, "Insert turkey here!"
Ethan is a bit more subdued.
They did have a great time over Thanksgiving and getting to meet their Aunt and Uncle and cousins. The food was pretty fantastic and there was lots (and lots) of it.
And of course, after all that good food, everyone needs a nap.
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as we did.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
We decorated the front door with a wreath, some vinyl clings, some lights, and of course our pumpkins! (Which did not get carved - surprise, surprise!) We had a ton of trick or treaters and they were all super cute. The best part was that we did not run out of candy and have to start giving fruit snacks. Whew.
Also, Batman was protecting the house.
Fortunately, he was nice enough to take some random peas and carrots we had laying around out for a bit of trick or treating.
Speaking of which, are these not the cutest peas and carrots you have ever seen?
They were so cute that I was inspired to go and eat some peas and carrots. It was a good thing I had some laying around.
Earlier that morning the boys had gone to the doctor for their two month check-up. They had lots of shots and weighed in at 8 lbs, 15 oz (Ethan) and 9 lbs, 2 oz (Connor). Connor is now the biggest boy!
And he's pretty cute too. :-)
We decorated the front door with a wreath, some vinyl clings, some lights, and of course our pumpkins! (Which did not get carved - surprise, surprise!) We had a ton of trick or treaters and they were all super cute. The best part was that we did not run out of candy and have to start giving fruit snacks. Whew.
Also, Batman was protecting the house.
Fortunately, he was nice enough to take some random peas and carrots we had laying around out for a bit of trick or treating.
Speaking of which, are these not the cutest peas and carrots you have ever seen?
They were so cute that I was inspired to go and eat some peas and carrots. It was a good thing I had some laying around.
Earlier that morning the boys had gone to the doctor for their two month check-up. They had lots of shots and weighed in at 8 lbs, 15 oz (Ethan) and 9 lbs, 2 oz (Connor). Connor is now the biggest boy!
And he's pretty cute too. :-)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
The Pyloric Stenosis Saga
One of the reasons I was so behind on getting this blog up and running (besides being the new mother of twins) was that we were back at the hospital twice during my maternity leave after we were discharged from the birth. Why?
Well around September 23rd Ethan started spitting up pretty badly. Now, he had spit up before, and all babies spit up, but this was starting to get out of control. We had a check up scheduled for that Tuesday but I called to move the appointment up to Monday as I was pretty worried about my 3.5 week old little boy. He slept for seven hours without wanting to eat on Sunday night and we woke him up so that he could eat and then spit up everything he just ate. Connor was eating like a champ at this point and so I thought that perhaps Ethan just didn't want to be on the same schedule as his hungry little brother. But I started seeing this "pyloric stenosis" thing pop up on the message boards.
Pyloric stenosis is a disorder where your pyloric muscle is enlarged - the muscle between your stomach and your intestines. As you grow, the muscle grows as well and it blocks off this path so nothing gets past your stomach. Thus everything in your stomach has nowhere to but back up. The only solution is surgery, but that's it, no long term problems or effects. They just cut the muscle and it heals back in its proper place. It's somewhat rare, about 1 in 500 live births, and I had no reason to think it was this except for the fact that my dad had it and it is somewhat hereditary. He didn't know what it was called but when my mom and I called and asked him if it was pyloric stenosis it must have rung a bell, because he said that's exactly what it is.
So off we went to the pediatrician who sent us for an ultrasound to confirm. The ultrasound showed that Ethan did indeed have pyloric stensosis. But because he was dehydrated, we'd have to give him IV fluids and wait for the surgery to be the next morning. The IV fluids perked Ethan up enough for him to realize that he was hungry, and we had a looooooong night of trying to console him without food.
He was not happy.
But the next morning he went into surgery and did just great. We stayed an extra night to monitor him and make sure he was taking food okay and Mom stayed home with Connor. Blake and I asked the surgeon if we should be concerned that Connor might have the same thing. After all they were twins, but not identical. He said it was extremely unlikely that Connor would also be sick and we looked up the odds and it was something like seven percent.
Well Mom called me on Tuesday evening to say that Connor had started spitting up some larger amounts. And I thought, let's not be paranoid! Babies spit up and the surgeon said the odds were super low and let's just wait it out.
Next Monday, exactly a week later, we did the same parade of pediatrician, ultrasound, hospital for round 2 of pyloric stenosis. Because we got the jump on Connor's issue a bit quicker, he didn't have to wait overnight for surgery, we got to get him in right away.
He was still not happy, but less so.
There was some kerfuffle with his medication and so we ended up staying from Monday until Wednesday again. We were discharged on Wednesday and I had to be back at work on Friday! It was true craziness, but we got through it with happy, healthy little boys thanks too all the support from our families and our church family. Thank you all so much!
Well around September 23rd Ethan started spitting up pretty badly. Now, he had spit up before, and all babies spit up, but this was starting to get out of control. We had a check up scheduled for that Tuesday but I called to move the appointment up to Monday as I was pretty worried about my 3.5 week old little boy. He slept for seven hours without wanting to eat on Sunday night and we woke him up so that he could eat and then spit up everything he just ate. Connor was eating like a champ at this point and so I thought that perhaps Ethan just didn't want to be on the same schedule as his hungry little brother. But I started seeing this "pyloric stenosis" thing pop up on the message boards.
Pyloric stenosis is a disorder where your pyloric muscle is enlarged - the muscle between your stomach and your intestines. As you grow, the muscle grows as well and it blocks off this path so nothing gets past your stomach. Thus everything in your stomach has nowhere to but back up. The only solution is surgery, but that's it, no long term problems or effects. They just cut the muscle and it heals back in its proper place. It's somewhat rare, about 1 in 500 live births, and I had no reason to think it was this except for the fact that my dad had it and it is somewhat hereditary. He didn't know what it was called but when my mom and I called and asked him if it was pyloric stenosis it must have rung a bell, because he said that's exactly what it is.
So off we went to the pediatrician who sent us for an ultrasound to confirm. The ultrasound showed that Ethan did indeed have pyloric stensosis. But because he was dehydrated, we'd have to give him IV fluids and wait for the surgery to be the next morning. The IV fluids perked Ethan up enough for him to realize that he was hungry, and we had a looooooong night of trying to console him without food.
He was not happy.
But the next morning he went into surgery and did just great. We stayed an extra night to monitor him and make sure he was taking food okay and Mom stayed home with Connor. Blake and I asked the surgeon if we should be concerned that Connor might have the same thing. After all they were twins, but not identical. He said it was extremely unlikely that Connor would also be sick and we looked up the odds and it was something like seven percent.
Well Mom called me on Tuesday evening to say that Connor had started spitting up some larger amounts. And I thought, let's not be paranoid! Babies spit up and the surgeon said the odds were super low and let's just wait it out.
Next Monday, exactly a week later, we did the same parade of pediatrician, ultrasound, hospital for round 2 of pyloric stenosis. Because we got the jump on Connor's issue a bit quicker, he didn't have to wait overnight for surgery, we got to get him in right away.
He was still not happy, but less so.
There was some kerfuffle with his medication and so we ended up staying from Monday until Wednesday again. We were discharged on Wednesday and I had to be back at work on Friday! It was true craziness, but we got through it with happy, healthy little boys thanks too all the support from our families and our church family. Thank you all so much!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Birth Story
Although the boys were due on September 30th, many of you will remember that all I really wanted was to make it to September and make it to my first class. The boys must have been listening, because they were born on September 1st at 2:33am and 2:35am! We just made it!
I went from this: (approximately 32 weeks pregnant, so this plus almost 4 weeks)
to this:
I actually went into labor on August 31st around 5:30pm. I was 35weeks and 5 days pregnant. Mom and I were waiting on Blake to get home for dinner and I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions where my belly was tightening but it wasn't hurting. The doctor had told me to call if I had more than 6 in an hour. I was keeping track of them with an app on my iPhone (of course). When 5 had been recorded, I called Blake to let him know I was going to have to call in if I had one more. He took this as a come home now, babies are imminent message. That was probably for the best.
Blake came home and we attempted to eat dinner (delicious chili made by my mother-in-law, Patti). I got about two bites in and couldn't eat because I was having that magical sixth in an hour contraction. We called the hospital and they said to wait an hour, drink some water, and rest, and hopefully the contractions would pass. If they didn't stop, then we would have to come in to be evaluated.
When the contractions didn't stop, I knew we were going to have to go in. But I never DREAMED I was actually having babies. I mean, everyone goes in for false labor at least once, right? I calmly directed my husband and my mother to finish packing our bags (of course we weren't packed all the way, I wasn't even 36 weeks for heaven's sake!). This was mostly to make my husband feel better, since I knew we were going to be checked and sent right home. I even convinced him to stop for a couple of hamburgers (for himself) on the way to the hospital because he had skipped dinner and we would probably be at the hospital for a couple of hours.
We got to the hospital around 9:30 and it took forever to get signed in and everything even though I had preregistered all of our information. I was hooked up to two fetal monitors for baby heartbeats and a contraction monitor. Baby A (Ethan) was very good at staying on the monitor but Baby B (Connor) kept squirming away and we had to readjust the monitor. The nurse said she'd never seen a baby as high up as Connor (who was tap dancing in my ribs, thanks kid). I drank water and rested as best as I could, but the contractions kept getting stronger and more painful and just would not go away! Labor was progressing.
As I was almost 36 weeks I was too far cooked for the doctors to think about stopping labor, so I had a choice between just letting things progress and getting a c-section. As Connor was transverse - that is, sideways in my belly and not head down or even breech with his feet down - I elected for the c-section. As it turns out, Connor was also tangled up in his cord so the c-section was the smartest and safest option. We made the decision for the c-section around 12:30 and things progressed rapidly from there. Before I knew it I was in the OR getting a spinal. The spinal caused my blood pressure to drop several times so while I was not in pain I was very uncomfortable and claustrophobic about not being able to move my legs, but the OR staff was able to give me medicine to counteract all of that.
At 2:33 am, Ethan was born. I burst into tears the moment that I heard him cry. I couldn't believe we had a real, live baby! Blake exclaimed that he had never seen a baby with so much hair. I couldn't see them right away because of the set-up, and I was so jealous. At 2:35, Connor was born. He started crying right away as well and also had a ton of hair. They checked the babies (APGAR scores of 8 and 9 for Ethan and 9 and 9 for Connor) and let Blake and I hold the babies and kiss them before taking them to the NICU. Nothing was wrong, but all babies born before 36 weeks (even though we were at 35 weeks and 6 days at this point) have to go to the NICU to be checked out. Blake went with the babies and I stayed behind so they could finish putting me back together.
Almost as soon as I was in recovery they were able to bring Connor out to see me.
Ethan had to stay in the NICU for a few hours because of his breathing. He was making an "enh, enh" noise when he breathed because all of the fluid had not been squeezed from his lungs as it would have been for a normal delivery. He was just monitored and came up to join us very soon.
We stayed in the hospital until that Sunday and we were all very ready to go home and start being a family.
I went from this: (approximately 32 weeks pregnant, so this plus almost 4 weeks)
to this:
I actually went into labor on August 31st around 5:30pm. I was 35weeks and 5 days pregnant. Mom and I were waiting on Blake to get home for dinner and I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions where my belly was tightening but it wasn't hurting. The doctor had told me to call if I had more than 6 in an hour. I was keeping track of them with an app on my iPhone (of course). When 5 had been recorded, I called Blake to let him know I was going to have to call in if I had one more. He took this as a come home now, babies are imminent message. That was probably for the best.
Blake came home and we attempted to eat dinner (delicious chili made by my mother-in-law, Patti). I got about two bites in and couldn't eat because I was having that magical sixth in an hour contraction. We called the hospital and they said to wait an hour, drink some water, and rest, and hopefully the contractions would pass. If they didn't stop, then we would have to come in to be evaluated.
When the contractions didn't stop, I knew we were going to have to go in. But I never DREAMED I was actually having babies. I mean, everyone goes in for false labor at least once, right? I calmly directed my husband and my mother to finish packing our bags (of course we weren't packed all the way, I wasn't even 36 weeks for heaven's sake!). This was mostly to make my husband feel better, since I knew we were going to be checked and sent right home. I even convinced him to stop for a couple of hamburgers (for himself) on the way to the hospital because he had skipped dinner and we would probably be at the hospital for a couple of hours.
We got to the hospital around 9:30 and it took forever to get signed in and everything even though I had preregistered all of our information. I was hooked up to two fetal monitors for baby heartbeats and a contraction monitor. Baby A (Ethan) was very good at staying on the monitor but Baby B (Connor) kept squirming away and we had to readjust the monitor. The nurse said she'd never seen a baby as high up as Connor (who was tap dancing in my ribs, thanks kid). I drank water and rested as best as I could, but the contractions kept getting stronger and more painful and just would not go away! Labor was progressing.
As I was almost 36 weeks I was too far cooked for the doctors to think about stopping labor, so I had a choice between just letting things progress and getting a c-section. As Connor was transverse - that is, sideways in my belly and not head down or even breech with his feet down - I elected for the c-section. As it turns out, Connor was also tangled up in his cord so the c-section was the smartest and safest option. We made the decision for the c-section around 12:30 and things progressed rapidly from there. Before I knew it I was in the OR getting a spinal. The spinal caused my blood pressure to drop several times so while I was not in pain I was very uncomfortable and claustrophobic about not being able to move my legs, but the OR staff was able to give me medicine to counteract all of that.
At 2:33 am, Ethan was born. I burst into tears the moment that I heard him cry. I couldn't believe we had a real, live baby! Blake exclaimed that he had never seen a baby with so much hair. I couldn't see them right away because of the set-up, and I was so jealous. At 2:35, Connor was born. He started crying right away as well and also had a ton of hair. They checked the babies (APGAR scores of 8 and 9 for Ethan and 9 and 9 for Connor) and let Blake and I hold the babies and kiss them before taking them to the NICU. Nothing was wrong, but all babies born before 36 weeks (even though we were at 35 weeks and 6 days at this point) have to go to the NICU to be checked out. Blake went with the babies and I stayed behind so they could finish putting me back together.
Almost as soon as I was in recovery they were able to bring Connor out to see me.
Ethan had to stay in the NICU for a few hours because of his breathing. He was making an "enh, enh" noise when he breathed because all of the fluid had not been squeezed from his lungs as it would have been for a normal delivery. He was just monitored and came up to join us very soon.
We stayed in the hospital until that Sunday and we were all very ready to go home and start being a family.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Professional Newborn Photos
We are in love with April Hollingsworth at Harmony Designs Photography who took these wonderful shots of our little boys. Here's a few of our favorite shots.
Here they are in their coming home outfits:
Here they are being little baseball players:
Here is little Ethan with a big yawn! We didn't get as many good close-ups of Connor.
And of course, some nice family photos:
We'll be getting more photos from her throughout the year as the boys grow. Stay tuned!
Here they are in their coming home outfits:
Here they are being little baseball players:
Here is little Ethan with a big yawn! We didn't get as many good close-ups of Connor.
And of course, some nice family photos:
We'll be getting more photos from her throughout the year as the boys grow. Stay tuned!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Enjoying Fall
Well, some of you might have noticed that the boys are already here and we are no longer "awaiting their arrival"! Instead of doing one giant post, I'm just going to start with where we are and then do a separate post for the birth story and the surgery stories to catch us up to where we are now. Early this morning the boys turned 8 weeks old and they will be 2 months the day after Halloween! Where did the time go?
I can tell you right now, the boys haven't been sleeping through it! We are very much still in the sleepless phase of having newborns. How long can I get away with calling them newborns?
Even with a distinct lack of sleep, Blake and I have been enjoying fall with our boys. Earlier this month, Blake and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch. We got all the way there and then Blake got concerned that the boys didn't have hats to protect them from the sun. This kicked off an afternoon long adventure to find baby hats, but eventually we made it back to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins.
We trekked as a family out into the patch, but most of the pumpkins were gone. All that was left were oddly shaped or watermelon-colored pumpkins. Blake tried to sell me on these, but I wanted traditional, orange pumpkins for Halloween. I am so strange sometimes.
Eventually we settled on our nice little family of pumpkins.
We have good intentions of carving them, but we will see where the time goes. The boys are planning to be peas and carrots for their first Halloween - I promise there will be pictures and I can already promise they will be super cute. More to come later, I hope this satisfies the need of the general populous for pictures of cute babies.
Until then, Go Cardinals!
I can tell you right now, the boys haven't been sleeping through it! We are very much still in the sleepless phase of having newborns. How long can I get away with calling them newborns?
Even with a distinct lack of sleep, Blake and I have been enjoying fall with our boys. Earlier this month, Blake and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch. We got all the way there and then Blake got concerned that the boys didn't have hats to protect them from the sun. This kicked off an afternoon long adventure to find baby hats, but eventually we made it back to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins.
We trekked as a family out into the patch, but most of the pumpkins were gone. All that was left were oddly shaped or watermelon-colored pumpkins. Blake tried to sell me on these, but I wanted traditional, orange pumpkins for Halloween. I am so strange sometimes.
Eventually we settled on our nice little family of pumpkins.
We have good intentions of carving them, but we will see where the time goes. The boys are planning to be peas and carrots for their first Halloween - I promise there will be pictures and I can already promise they will be super cute. More to come later, I hope this satisfies the need of the general populous for pictures of cute babies.
Until then, Go Cardinals!
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