Settling In

So this is the first week that Jack and I have been alone and we're surviving!  We have established our routine and they are really pretty good about sticking to it.  I managed to get so much done yesterday because they were so wonderful.  I put away all the Christmas presents, cleaned the house, did several loads of laundry, bathed them and myself (yes, that's an accomplishment!) and cooked a big dinner...on top of the normal feeding, diapers, mixing breastmilk/formula and playing with them.  Its amazing what I get excited about these days:)

We got a slight extension for our next pediatrician appointment -- 10 days instead of 7!  I know, its small, but to us, it's huge!  They will go back next week for weight checks and labs.  Here are a couple pictures to show you how big and alert they are getting since we don't have weights to report this week:

Hanging out and holding hands all by ourselves! (it was adorable!)

 

 

We really do look alike.

Paige is starting to fill in her seat!

Andrew's "surprised look" in his new hoodie from Santa!

Hope you all have a happy and safe New Years!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with our new family.  We hosted Christmas Eve dinner for both sets of Grandparents and then spent most of Christmas day relaxing with just us.  The babies got SO many presents!  Many of which were from Santa...which means I spent hours wrapping and then opening them myself.  Crazy, I know:)  The nicest part was that Jack's boss surprised him on Wednesday by sending him home at noon and telling him not to come back until Tuesday.  That was a wonderful present for our family. 

Andrew in his Santa bib from Grandma!

Paige loves Santa!

 

Andrew as an elf!

And Paige's first tutu!

We hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours!

Happy 2 Month Birthday!

Today was a fun day.  We celebrated my 29th birthday and their 2nd month birthday.  Where has the time gone? My 28th year had so much excitement, I can only imagine what this next year will entail.  We are finally settled into our new home with our two babies and life couldn't be better:)

Paige and Andrew visited the pediatrician again today (the worst part of the day!) and got weighed.  Paige is now 7 pounds, 5 ounces and Andrew is 6 pounds, 8 ounces!  Each time they get on the scale, I am shocked!  They each got their synagis vaccines and Andrew got the rest of his 2 month series.  Poor guy!  He was such a trooper, although he has been sleeping all night and did not even wake up for the couple guests we had over for my birthday.  That is SO unlike him! 

I wanted a simple birthday at home with the babies and pizza (since I've been avoiding it and trying to cut out most dairy!).  Our good friends, Alisa and Brian, came over to celebrate and Jack's cousin, Katie, came to help me out with the babies today.  It was a nice, relaxing dinner at home so that we could include my two most favorite people:)

Celebrating with my babies!

Happy 2 month birthday, Andrew!

And happy 2 month birthday, Paige!

We love you and couldn't be prouder of you both (even if you won't cooperate for pictures together :))!

And We're Finally at Term!

So yesterday was my due date.  Hard to believe since it feels like they've been around forever. When we are out for all of our doctor's appointments, everyone asks how old they are. I tell them and get an interesting look since they are so small.  So I've started adding: "but they were preemies born very early."  Then we get the "ohhh." I wonder when I won't have to add that clause to my answer and when we will really feel like they are actually their age...

They both continue to do great at home and we are thoroughly enjoying their awake periods...well, the ones during the daytime:) We're starting to really get into a routine since we've had several days without having to spend several hours at doctor's appointments.  This week we only have one appointment, too.  So nice!  We will head to the pediatrician on Wednesday for weight checks, Andrew's 2 month shots (poor guy!), and both of their synagis vaccines.  This vaccine is to help protect them from RSV (a respiratory virus).  The shot is super expensive and only high risk babies qualify for it. They will each get the shot monthly through the winter. 

We are starting to get into the Christmas spirit, too.  I've managed to escape a couple times and am almost finished with shopping.  The babies have been amazing and have even allowed me to bake a little and wrap some presents.  Here is Paige helping me wrap:

We will be hosting Christmas Eve dinner for our immediate families.  And then most of Christmas day will be just us.  We are a little sad that we won't get to see extended family this year because of the infectious risks, but there is always next year!  And we promise to take lots of holiday pictures!

8 Weeks Today!

Can you believe they are 8 weeks old today?!? I cannot believe how much they have grown in just this short time.  They are both starting to have longer alert periods, too, and are really starting to focus on things and track a little.  I cannot wait for the smiles to come, although I'm trying to be patient and remind myself that they will be behind in their developmental milestones.  Smiling will make those 3 am feeds a little more bearable though:) 
Yesterday's pediatrician appointment went well.  Paige weighed 6 pounds, 9.5 ounces and Andrew weighed 5 pounds, 12 ounces!  We saw one of the nurse practitioners, who was good.  Our pediatrician left for Australia the day after we met her for her daughter's wedding and won't be back until January - bad timing! But she chatted with this NP before she left and is having us followed by her until she returns. She helped me figure out the rate to increase both of their feeds and she adjusted Andrew's reflux meds for his weight gain.  Paige survived her first set of shots without a problem, too. She was definitely a bit more fussy than normal last night (they both are generally pretty easy and don't cry a whole lot), but nothing that wasn't manageable and no fever. Yay!

Our big issue is yet again, constipation!  Pooping is our topic of conversation quite a bit.  Paige likes to go several days without stooling and Andrew is now following in her footsteps. We know it has to do with the high calorie breastmilk they are getting and we've even added prune juice to their diets, but it doesn't seem to be working yet.  Paige was on day 4 today but as soon as Jack was on his way to buy suppositories, she went.  Thank goodness!  Her poor belly was getting huge and I'm sure she was so uncomfortable.  I guess all we need to do is threaten the suppository and she'll go:)  Now we are just hoping for Andrew to have the same success!

Tomorrow I plan to escape for a couple hours to finish Xmas shopping and leave Dad to fly solo for a feed.  We'll see how he does....I think he's a little nervous:)

Photo Shoot

Today was the day we visited the ophthamologist. Definitely not a fun visit.  They cry they like I have never heard them cry whenever they have this exam.  It involves a device to hold the eyes open and it looks HORRIBLE!  I mistakenly watched it the first time, so this time I turned around.  Poor Andrew's was a little traumatic, too, and he ended up with a burst blood vessel and small cut on the underside.  I felt so bad for both of them that we held them almost the whole afternoon and evening.

The fun part of the experience was that this was their first trip out of the house together and their first stroller ride!  We drew LOTS of attention with the double stroller.  Everyone is so excited to see twins.  And even more excited when they see how small they are.  The hospital is full of elderly people (no offense if you're old!) who all want to stop and talk and look at the babies.  So we made lots of friends in this adventure:)  Here we are:

Getting out of the house and to the doctor was quite the production.  But we made it.  And even on time!

They looked so cute in their outfits today that I decided to do a quick little photo shoot when we got home.  I thought the idea was great.  Paige and Andrew did not agree and were hardly cooperative...

We'll try again tomorrow for some better pictures together:)  But check out the Twin Album (link at the bottom of the website) for other more recent pics.

Tomorrow we are off to the pediatrician for weight checks, labs, and the first set of vaccines for Paige.  Wish her luck!

Paige's Appointment

Today was Paige's apnea clinic appointment at Georgetown and it was great.  Getting to and from Georgetown isn't the most fun, but well worth the clinic experience. We were given the options to follow-up at Georgetown, Fairfax and Children's.  At first, my plan was to go to Children's....until I found out that Georgetown's clinic is the only one run by neonatologists.  The others are run by pediatric pulmonologists.  The best part is that it isn't just an apnea clinic to manage the monitor. It's also a high risk preemie clinic for NICU graduates, so they will help the pediatrician to manage their growth and development, control their reflux, tweak their medications, and follow their labs. So wonderful!

Today, they spent about an hour with me going through everything.  Paige weighed in today at 6 POUNDS 6 OUNCES!!!  I was shocked!  And so were they:)  She has gained so much at such a fast rate that we are dropping back her calories a little bit.  We also are weaning her reflux meds since she isn't symptomatic at this point.  Her monitor had 9 "real events" since discharge, which is pretty good.  We need to go three weeks without an event though to get rid of the machine.  We did get advanced to only use it when she sleeps though. I cannot tell you how HUGE this is!  The stupid monitor alarms ALL the time. And poor Kodi goes crazy because it is SO loud.  We even had to warn our neighbors since it sounds like our fire alarm is going off all the time.  We'll go back in another month to download the data and see if she's outgrown these events.

At the end of our visit, I talked with them a bit about Andrew and some of his issues.  They told me to make an appointment for him next time, too.  Even after we are off the monitor, they will continue to follow them both for quite a while. This is another huge relief.  Its another resource for both us and our pediatrician.  The pediatricians are great with well babies, but the nutrition and calorie management isn't usually their thing, and they aren't as good at the reflux, anemia, and some of the other preemie issues.  Even with the new pediatrician, who I like, I still felt a bit alone in trying to tweak their calories and advocate for the NICU requests, since they often differ for the primary care practice.  This clinic will manage all of that and take another weight off my shoulders.  For that, I am super thankful.

Tomorrow is our one day without doctor appointments this week (hooray!).  We try to plan our baths on days that we don't have to leave the house since they drop their temps so much with that (hopefully they will maintain a little better soon...)  So that is on the agenda for tomorrow morning...and I may even sneak out of the house for an hour or two to try to buy a couple Christmas presents. I love the holidays and usually have all my presents purchased and wrapped at this point.  This year, I don't have much.  Except for all the gifts I keep ordering online for the babies:)  We did manage to put up our tree this weekend though.  I was determined to get this done since we are stuck in all the time. Now it's starting to feel like Christmas!

Paige & Andrew's first tree!

Look how our family has grown!

Cross your fingers for a good sleeping night for the babies tonight - we could sure use it!