tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68470974257925237112024-02-19T21:03:47.952-08:00Hoping For BabbyJackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-32873646759084395472015-12-30T07:35:00.001-08:002015-12-30T07:35:36.603-08:00<b>11 & 12 Months</b><br />
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Nathan is 19 pounds and Charlie is 20 pounds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9OksHmYMbEc5_SzdC0YFPmylmEd7atdneKlAUbtG8y712TdDECOZtZ8_1Uvcbb7nW5oQIgOm7HA8-QD911Shru-cfojkMZEtqkWjr3_5kT1FlRc9RQFINob_VoaSs60YXJQJx_JOwlAjF/s1600/IMAG0837.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCm5djnvQ4SwG9oXJR73DH-cV3jRCInplVJNGTiH6maiQ_anKwlIpjEyTWBPJ7H69YpBU2mkJy8ML_R5jo-3Io3XgsS-VkkCV6P0Oe0IqUr8N2xmB26Xl8jdKEMGV9wIH0dfEr3Z4l9cZG/s1600/IMAG0846.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCm5djnvQ4SwG9oXJR73DH-cV3jRCInplVJNGTiH6maiQ_anKwlIpjEyTWBPJ7H69YpBU2mkJy8ML_R5jo-3Io3XgsS-VkkCV6P0Oe0IqUr8N2xmB26Xl8jdKEMGV9wIH0dfEr3Z4l9cZG/s320/IMAG0846.jpg" width="180" /></a><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9OksHmYMbEc5_SzdC0YFPmylmEd7atdneKlAUbtG8y712TdDECOZtZ8_1Uvcbb7nW5oQIgOm7HA8-QD911Shru-cfojkMZEtqkWjr3_5kT1FlRc9RQFINob_VoaSs60YXJQJx_JOwlAjF/s320/IMAG0837.jpg" width="180" /><br />
Although I had the entire month of November off and every opportunity of properly doing their 11 month update, it just never happened. I guess I forgot how busy we get around the holidays. Plus we had some family issues that consumed most of my time. I don't know. But here's what's been going on and where we go from here.<br />
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Both babies are pretty well on developmentally. Even though we never thought Charlie would even crawl, she is now pulling herself up as well as her brother. Plus she actually practices her balance by raising her hands and then falling back. Nathan just kind of randomly wobbles there. I don't think he understands balance. Both can use the push-walker toy so they will probably be walking on their own soon.<br />
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Both are getting more teeth. Poor Charlie got all four of her molars like within a week. That had to be hell. Nathan has one coming in but it's hard to tell because they really don't like you looking in their mouths. And Charlie hates having her teeth brushed. In January my insurance is changing and forcing me to carry them on dental/vision as well as medical so they will probably go visit the dentist for the first time.<br />
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Neither are really talking yet, but they make all kinds of sounds. Charlie has been making a "baa baaa baaaow" sound. We're not sure where she's going with it. We don't think it's baba like bottle because we don't call them babas. The best hypothesis we have is she might be saying baby because we call her baby girl a lot. Or it could be nothing. Nathan makes a lot of yells and shrieks and grunts. We call them yeti noises because he got a pair of yeti pajamas for Christmas.<br />
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Both are off of formula now and onto just whole milk and they eat pretty much everything. Well, Charlie will eat anything. Nathan is still a reluctant eater but he will eat eventually.<br />
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Christmas was really good, though we were all sick. Babies' first cold and fever. We celebrated their birthday on Christmas eve but next year we probably won't be able to do that. They will understand Santa Claus so it will be back to Christmas morning for the family. I don't know if they will understand birthdays by then or if we can combine them one more year. We'll see, I guess. They got a lot of great new toys and clothes but not so much that I feel like they were spoiled. There are a lot of adults in the family and just them for kids so the adults drew names for each other and everyone bought for the babies. It worked well and I think that's how we'll do it in the future.<br />
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I'm actually typing this on the 28th, their birthday but I probably won't post until after the doctor's appointment on the 29th. But I'm sitting here imagining this time last year. I woke up, went to the store and watched football and wrote long range lesson plans for most of the day, never dreaming that Charlie was plotting her escape. Now one year later there are two little noisy people playing on their activity table. I don't know if this year has gone fast or slow. It feels like I just blinked and here we are, but at the same time this has also felt like the longest year of my life. Like everything in life there has been good and not so good.<br />
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I think going into the second year I have a more realistic idea of what we're in for. We really had no idea last year. All of the parenting classes, nothing really prepared us. We actually saw a parenting class at Babies R Us a few weeks ago and I laughed internally. But hey, I'm sure some of them will have the fairy tale pregnancy, birth and babies they dream of. Good for them. And for others that don't, maybe they will read something like my blog and realize that they're not crazy after all.<br />
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Speaking of which, it's unlikely that I will do monthly updates anymore. I know that the dozen of you will be heartbroken. I'll still post major things like walking and talking and stuff like that. If you really think you'll miss me that much you can email me and I'll add you on Facebook. Otherwise, I'll be around once in a while. Thanks for reading and going on this adventure with us.<br />
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Jacky<br />
<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-45957472898474032792015-11-05T14:21:00.003-08:002015-11-05T14:31:10.647-08:00<b>10 Months</b><br />
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Both babies are doing well. They are about 18 pounds now so we bought some new convertible car seats. They were getting too big for the ones we had before but the new ones were pretty expensive so we only got two instead of four to have them in both cars.<br />
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They're both sleeping pretty well at night now. Charlie sleeps pretty much the entire night, but Nathan still gets up three or four times. He wakes up and panics either because he doesn't have his chewie or because he doesn't remember where he is or whatever. All it usually takes is a pat on the back and he will roll over and go back to sleep. I feel like he's going to be the one to crawl into bed with us at night.<br />
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They are both eating pretty much whatever we eat. We're still avoiding nuts and fish, but everything else is fair game. We've even gone a couple of places and ordered from the kids' menu for them, which is fun. Charlie will try and eat pretty much everything. Nathan, not so much. Most of the time when he tries something new, he spits it out. Usually if you give it to him a couple of times he will eventually eat it. But most of the time he would rather just eat Cheerios. That boy loves his Cheerios.<br />
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They're both in 12 month clothes now so we rotated their wardrobe again. They've got some cute stuff we bought a while ago and forgot about. They've got a bunch of 12 month stuff so we've been buying 18 month, but everything in stores right now is for winter and it will be summer when they're 18 months.<br />
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Nathan is pulling himself up and cruising along the furniture now. We anchored our bookshelves and TV stand because I'm sure he's going to be a climber, once he figures out how to do that. Charlie still isn't crawling, but she's trying. She gets into the position, but doesn't quite know what to do with her arms and legs. She might just go straight to walking since she can pull herself up too and the doctor says there's no physical reason she's not crawling.<br />
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We're looking forward to their first Thanksgiving and Christmas. We haven't had little kids in the family for Christmas since my cousin and I were little, which was quite a while ago.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-10464479363943974682015-10-09T14:06:00.002-07:002015-10-09T14:06:38.469-07:00<b>9 Months</b><br />
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<span style="text-align: start;"><b>18 pounds, 7 ounces and 18 pounds, 5 ounces</b></span></div>
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The weather is finally starting to cool off and we have been able to go for more walks. They used to hate riding in the stroller but now they love it. We walk around a mile around the neighborhood and Nathan usually doesn't make it the whole way without falling asleep. But now that winter is coming it will be getting dark sooner so I'm not sure how our walks will fit in with our bedtime routine.<br />
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Nathan is finally mobile. He mastered the art of a combination of crawling and scooting across the floor. It gets him where he wants to go. Charlotte still has zero interest in crawling but the doctor said that there's nothing physically wrong. She just doesn't want to. That's my girl.<br />
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Both are sitting up like champion sitters. Charlotte has surprisingly good posture for a baby. We bought them some new toys they have to sit up to play with.<br />
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Between the crawling and new teeth there were some sleepless nights this month. But we've also gotten them out of sleep sacks and into regular pajamas, which are pretty adorable. I feel bad that they're not allowed to have blankets because I feel weird sleeping without a blanket. I actually burrito myself under two blankets. But they don't seem to mind. Our winters don't get that cold anyway and their bedroom stays pretty warm since it's above the garage so I guess they'll be ok.<br />
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Nathan has learned to point to things. I'm not sure if the pointing has any meaning to him yet because he will point at anything. In fact, in his first crawling video he actually stops to point to a stray piece of cat litter on the floor. Thanks, buddy. I'm sure when you're old enough to vacuum, the floor will be spotless.<br />
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Work continues to keep us busy for the week and we try to enjoy the weekends as best as we can.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-87658301228243944992015-08-30T06:52:00.001-07:002015-08-30T06:52:47.059-07:00<b>8 Months</b><br />
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No doctor's appointment this month so I have no ideas as to sizes or anything. If I had to guess I'd say they're both close to 20 pounds now. But that could just be what they feel like when I'm carrying them up and down the stairs.</div>
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This month has been a busy one. We went on a couple of trips for the end of summer. The babies are pretty good travelers right now. But the main thing that has been keeping us busy is we both had to go back to work this month. Yes, August brings a new school year and the first time back in a classroom for the wife since last December.</div>
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One of the first things people asked us both when we went back to work is "Where are the babies?" I'm always tempted to tell people we left them at home with the cats but in this day and age you never know who is going to overhear a joke and take it seriously. We have Grandma and Great Aunt watching them while we're at work. If we didn't, one of us would probably have to quit and just stay at home because day care would have been upwards of $2,000 a month for both of them. We don't even pay that much for our mortgage, so I'm glad we have people to help us there. Our friends with the baby just a few months younger than ours have to use day care and their kid caught a cold within the first week. The babies seem to be doing fine with it but I've read that they're coming to the age where they're going to start really panicking when we leave so I guess we have that to look forward to.</div>
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The babies are really growing up. Nathan is so close to crawling and he wants it so badly. He gets so mad when he can't get to a toy he wants. Crawling is going to happen any day for him. I think Charlotte could crawl if she wanted to, but she is really not interested. She's like "You carry me and you <i>like</i> it." Both are eating a variety of solids and really only take bottles before bed at night and when they first get up in the morning. Both are getting some new teeth. You can kind of see Charlie's top choppers in the picture. Nathan is getting the two teeth to the side of those so he is going to look like a little vampire when they come in. They actually got their first cold too and I have no idea how. Could have been anywhere, I guess. Nathan woke up with a super runny nose that we attributed to teething, but then Charlotte got it too and we both woke up with sore throats. It was balls, but at least it was the week before school and not the first week.</div>
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We've got a pretty good routine for them with eating, playing and sleeping. That was one of my goals before I went back to work, to get them on a good routine. I think it makes it easier for the people that have to watch them. They go down for naps really easy and they sleep pretty well most nights. I guess technically they sleep through the night because they sleep until after midnight, but they still like to get up a few of times in the early morning hours. Sometimes it's because they lost their chewie and panic. Sometimes they roll over and panic. It usually doesn't take too much to get them to go back to sleep but they sometimes want to get up super early and play. And color me crazy, but I'm just not in the mood to play at 4:30.</div>
Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-11281344844607328832015-08-07T14:38:00.000-07:002015-08-07T14:38:33.732-07:00<b>7 Months</b><br />
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Never a dull moment with one baby, let alone two.<br />
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They have really been getting along with their solid foods. It's been interesting seeing what they will eat. Nathan will eat pretty much anything, while Charlotte is much pickier. Her food has to be absolutely smooth, which has been tricky since we've been trying to make a lot of their food. Sometimes we have to put her food through the Vitamix to get to a smoothness acceptable to Princess.<br />
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Nathan has finally got his first two choppers coming in. One day there was nothing and the next day they were there. Charlotte's are almost all the way in and we've been brushing them with her practice toothpaste.<br />
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Both babies can roll both ways now, back to front and front to back. We were still swaddling them at night, which is not good now that they can roll. Once I finished work for the summer we decided we needed to get them on some better sleep habits. We used a book called the Sleep Easy Solution. I won't bore you with details. You can read it if you want. Anyway, it took about a week to get them both out of the pods and swaddles and into just a plain sleep sack and in their own cribs. No bottles either. That was pretty miraculous. They usually sleep really well now for the first part of the night and don't start waking up until around 3:00. It's a start anyway.<br />
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In addition to eating healthier, the wife and I decided to get back to the gym. We had to switch because they one we were at before didn't have anywhere we could put the babies, but the new one has a playroom that takes them as young as 6 weeks. They even get their own gym card. They don't feed or diaper them, they come get you for that or if they cry for more than 15 minutes and there is a 2 hour limit but it works out well. I haven't made it a full hour without having to go get them, but it's a start too. We've seen a trainer and going to a lot of classes. We both want the babies to grow up knowing about and appreciating healthy eating and living.<br />
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As the summer winds down we have a couple of trips planned and then it's back to work for both of us in August. Thankfully we have family that will watch the babies as daycare is about $1,000 a month per baby and we simply don't have those kinds of funds.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-7597003315880220462015-07-15T01:07:00.001-07:002015-07-15T01:07:37.992-07:00<span class="userContentSecondary _c24"></span><br />
<b>6 months</b><br />
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Nathan has finally passed Charlotte in weight by an
ounce (16 pounds and 15 pounds, 15 ounces) but Charlotte keeps the
length advantage by half an inch (25 inches and 24.5 inches).<br />
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This month the babies mainly continued their work from last month. Both are getting better at eating and now they can try some more interesting foods. We don't have to wait 3 days before introducing new foods. And we can start having them try what we eat. And because of this both of us have decided to really start eating healthy because babies can't have animal cookies and potato chips for dinner.<br />
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Both are rolling from front to back well and are really close to flipping from back to front. Once this happens we aren't supposed to swaddle them anymore, which means we're in for some long nights. Baby girl simply won't sleep unswaddled. Nate Dogg might be able to handle it, though. Speaking of sleep, both have moved into their own cribs in their own room. We didn't set up the baby monitors because one thing we've heard repeatedly is not to run to every little cry. They need to start learning how to soothe themselves, especially when going to sleep.<br />
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We've found that they both love music. During the day they love listening to and watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiOGKT_gW-WrZTah-im6ipSjx8x5tkhEu" target="_blank">Teddy Rock</a>. At night we found a bunch of real songs made into lullabies. It's pretty funny to put your baby to bed to the lullaby version of Big Pimpin or Evenflow.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtP9HUQEAmWw56ZvTJ1c_LvUdcN3qGR96uMCyq_aaRET1GhtE-YaqLdcxmA91326u1ynkT2hfyODI4xBzdjEtmcYOo35WM2GRZYPRQfE_5TvD2BGDK6iFuFqZotkA-t_x6x2v1A3MKcTZ/s1600/swimming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtP9HUQEAmWw56ZvTJ1c_LvUdcN3qGR96uMCyq_aaRET1GhtE-YaqLdcxmA91326u1ynkT2hfyODI4xBzdjEtmcYOo35WM2GRZYPRQfE_5TvD2BGDK6iFuFqZotkA-t_x6x2v1A3MKcTZ/s320/swimming.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
The babies have been enjoying their summer at the pool. When you live in a climate as hot as it is here, that's your best bet in the summer. Either that or just stay inside. I think since we've gotten them to love baths so much, that's why they like the pool. At the rec center they have a really great activity pool and it's only $4 for the day.<br />
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I've got about a month of vacation before I have to go back to work. We're planning a trip at the end of July and I've got a bunch of appointments. Our neighbor friends who had the baby 3 months after us have been looking at day care and they're going to have to drop about $1,000 a month when they have to go back to work. And there is no twin discount anywhere we've seen. So we're both glad our family will be watching them until they're old enough to go to pre-k with me. Ugh, that's a lot of money.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-64298278566610976902015-06-03T05:01:00.001-07:002015-06-03T05:01:50.032-07:00<b>5 Months</b><br />
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This month has been pretty eventful in the world of baby. They started on their first solid foods. When we tell people that, a lot are surprised that they start so young. We were at first, but they are doing great. Charlotte didn't take to it at first, but both have made it through orange vegetables now. Nathan had a reaction to pumpkin, we think. They both love sweet potato and squash. And they tolerate carrots.They're eating green vegetables now. Charlotte loved avocado and Nathan hated it, which makes me think he must have been switched at the hospital. Next they will eat fruits and at 6 months they can have the level 2 food pouches, which are much more interesting.<br />
<br />
Nathan got his first haircut this month. His hair was getting out of control, especially on the sides. And his bangs were going to be getting in his eyes soon. We expected a major tantrum, but he was a little charmer. Thank goodness. Charlotte doesn't have enough hair to hold a clip-on bow, let alone warrant a haircut.<br />
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Speaking of little man, he discovered his wiener this month too. It's pretty funny, though I wish he didn't stare at us while he tugs on it. It's a little weird.<br />
<br />
Now that the weather is warming up, we were able to spend some time in the baby pool in the backyard. They both really enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
Both babies are really moving their hands now. They can grab things and they love to grab my hair. Nathan loves to put his left index finger in his mouth. I don't know if he's chewing on the finger to feeling the inside of his mouth or what. Charlotte's colic pretty much stopped out of nowhere. She's a normal baby now. Still a little high strung, but she has more adorable moments now. Nathan is going through a super clingy phase. Both of them prefer us to other people, but Nathan freaks out if one of us isn't in his direct line of vision or holding him. They're at the age where they're supposed to start learning how to self-soothe but it's hard letting them cry it out.<br />
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This month marks 1 year since the transfer. And almost exactly on that day...we got a bill from the fertility clinic for the past year of embryo storage. I had been expecting it. Only 1 year was included with the IVF package we paid for, so we had to pay for this past extra year. That was a shock, but what really threw us was that we had to decide if we wanted to continue to store the remaining embryos. We know we don't want any more kids. Some people are like "oh, you will when they're older" and maybe we might wish for more little ones in a moment of insanity. But in reality, we both feel that our family is complete.<br />
<br />
We had decided back when we started that we wanted the remaining embryos to be donated to the clinic for research. The only way I would have considered donating them to another person is if it was one of my good friends, but that didn't turn out to be possible. So we had sign the consent for them to be thawed, used and destroyed. I didn't think it would bother me, but it kind of did. Not because either of us are like anti-abortion or "life begins at conception" or anything like that. We know it's just tissue. But it's like the end of a very long and emotional journey. Plus, those little fuckers have cost us near $40K and to think that they're just going to be destroyed kind of stings. But we're working through it.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-989081622216052442015-04-28T16:25:00.000-07:002015-04-28T16:25:43.773-07:00<b>4 Months</b><br />
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At the 4 month appointment Charlotte
is 13 pounds, 11 ounces and 23.75 inches. Nathhan is 13 pounds, 1 ounce and 23.25 inches. They're starting solids starting with rice cereal gradually increasing in thickness. Once they master eating with a spoon, we can start orange vegetables. They did well with their second round of immunizations, though Charlotte's a little feverish now. Both are healthy and on track developmentally. Nathan's crossed eye is normal for now. We are going to start teaching them to focus their attention on toys in front of them and help them build their muscles by sitting up.<br />
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I have been on vacation for most of this month so I was able to spend a lot more time with the babies. They change so much, so quickly. Before Nathan was our relaxed and patient baby. Now he has discovered his hands and feet and he is having a hard time coping with them, I guess. Most of the time he is still really happy and smiley (though we can't get him to smile in pictures for anything). But he is also having some tantrums now that make Charlotte look like chill. It's so hard to calm him down once he gets really upset. Charlotte is still pretty cranky too, but she has really calmed down. I don't know if it's because she's older now or because we've been giving her this stuff called Colic Calm, but she is happy more of the day now.<br />
<br />
Both are starting to use their little baby voices. When they're in good moods, they oooh and aaah and smile and it's actually really cute. As I mentioned Nathan discovered his hands and he loves putting them in his mouth now. I think Charlotte has discovered her hands too, but she's not making as big of a deal out of it as Nathan. Both can support their own weight when practice standing, though they have no sense of balance yet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlotte - the happiest baby burrito <br />
west of the Mississippi</td></tr>
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Both are sleeping a lot better now. We've got a bedtime routine that has them in bed, usually asleep, in less than an hour. It's pretty amazing. Charlotte has to have a bottle to sleep, but once she is out she will sleep for 5-6 hours before getting up again. And then once she has a new bottle, she goes right back to sleep but after that initial block she is usually up every hour until it's time to wake up. Nathan crashes pretty quickly when we put him to bed but he won't sleep as long. Maybe 3 hours, but he doesn't get up as often as Charlotte. And if he gets up and has one of his tantrums, he won't go back to sleep unless he is in the swing. Both are so different it's hard to get myself into a good sleep routine, but the good part is that they really don't wake each other up. Weird. They sleep in these sleep sack swaddles and when we unzip them they do their morning stretch.<br />
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We spent a lot of time driving around this vacation. For the most part the babies will sleep in the car. And when they're sleeping, they're not screaming. So we drove and drove any place we could think of. Last week we actually took a 750 mile (each way) road trip just to get out of town and go do something. The babies did great as long as I was in the back with them to tend to them.<br />
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I've been going to doctors while I was on break. I'm still pretty depressed and they're trying me on different medications, but none of them seem to be working well. One helped me sleep, but bade me want to kill myself. The newest one gives me such a stomach ache, I don't even want to take it. But I'll keep trying to figure out something because I'm not getting better. I really hope my kids don't inherit this, but depression runs in the family.<br />
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I'm still having a hard time being a mom. I take care of them, but I don't fit into the mom role. I've actually stopped going to our mothers of multiple meetings. I just don't feel like I fit in with them anymore. Actually, we went to a barbecue at a friend's house and I fit in more with the dads in the backyard at the grill than with the moms inside. I don't really like to think that I'm adopting a stereotypical lesbian 'dad' role. Whatever it is, it's going to be unique and it's probably going to take me a while to figure it out.<br />
<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-34791707704965916902015-03-29T10:55:00.001-07:002015-03-29T10:55:18.341-07:003 Months<br />
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We're moving right along in the world of time and babies. It's really starting to blur together but here are some of the main things from this month.<br />
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We didn't have a 3 month appointment with the doctor so we weighed and measured them ourselves, so it might not be 100% accurate. Both weighed in at 12 pounds, 11 ounces. Charlotte is 23 inches and Nathan 22.<br />
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They're in 3-6 month clothes now but they can still wear some 0-3 month clothes too. It depends on the brand. We've found that Circo brand from Target runs large, which is odd because Target's clothes tend to run small, in my opinion. Carter's on the other hand run way small.<br />
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Nathan is still pretty chill, but he has definitely found his voice this month. He does not like to go to bed at night. He tantrums for about 5 minutes and then he's fast asleep. Same when he wakes up to eat. He wants to get up and play so he cries, but he does fall back asleep. He is usually first up in the morning and once he sees someone he puts on his charming smile and it's time to get up.<br />
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Charlotte still has issues with crying. Some days it's not bad and others makes you question if there is a God. But when she is in a good mood, she is the sweetest thing and so adorable. She loves having her picture taken. I don't know how she even knows what a camera is, but when one comes out she smiles. This month she learned to scream so that will be fun for everyone.<br />
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Both are awake for longer periods during the day and doing more things. Nathan loves Baby Einstein and Charlotte loves to be bounced in this vibrating bouncer chair. They are both starting to spend time in their big bed and they both love to watch the mobile.<br />
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I'm on vacation for the next three weeks so I'm looking forward to spending time with them. I miss so much when I'm at work all day.<br />
<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-29940367964132065462015-03-02T17:36:00.001-08:002015-03-02T17:36:10.603-08:00<b>2 Months</b><br />
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Although it has been such a short time, these little ones are changing so much. Already they barely even resemble their first pictures. They are both 10 pounds now and Charlotte only has an inch on her brother at 22 inches and Nathan 21 inches, They both got a bunch of immunizations at the doctor today, but they took them like little champs.<br />
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This month has been similar to last month in most ways. Caring for them is still very hard. And now I've been back at work for 3 weeks. When I had to go back, my wife stayed with them alone for the first two days but it is just too much. It is a two person job so now Grandma comes over during the day while I'm at work. She's been wonderful and we're so thankful that we have her.<br />
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We got the loft furnished so it's like an upstairs living room now. It is pretty sweet and that's where we've set up shop. It's much easier than hauling baby gear up and down stairs every day. It's a pretty good size so when they start crawling they'll have plenty to explore, which is good because downstairs we have ceramic tile and that would not be fun to crawl on. Another nice thing about that is our bedroom is a bedroom again.<br />
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Besides getting bigger, the babies' personalities is really starting to show. Charlotte has been a princess from day 1, but it's really more than that. She just wants to be held, to feel close to someone. My mom says she is so much like I was when I was a baby, which is crazy because I have a very different personality now. I like to think I'm more like Nathan. He is still much calmer but he's also better at self-entertaining and self-soothing. Both still cry a lot and sleep still isn't the greatest. But we're trying some things and it's not as bad as it was before, most nights.<br />
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They have both outgrown most of their newborn size clothes and are now in 0-3 month. It's nice to have some new outfits. We passed on most of Nathan's clothes to friends that are having a boy in April and we're going to just donate Charlotte's. We're not having any more and we're only hanging on to a couple of outfits that have sentimental value. We dress them every day even if we're not going anywhere, which is pretty rare that we don't go at least one place. At night they're wearing sleep sacks with wraps and that has helped them to sleep.<br />
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They're both starting to smile and not just because of gas (although they are both champion farters). Nathan will smile up a storm when you have him on your chest for tummy time. He is also starting to coo when he lifts his head and looks at you. He is already making motions like he wants to crawl. He's a little beast. Charlotte can lift her head just as well, but she does not enjoy tummy time the way Nathan does. She also doesn't coo as much, but she did smile at me when I got home from work one day. It was really sweet.<br />
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They have both been able to breastfeed better too. They can latch now, despite us giving them pacifiers. If anyone is pregnant and taking classes, beware of preachy lactation nurses. The class we went to made it seem like if we ever gave them a pacifier or used the wrong bottle or gave them formula at all, they would NEVER be able to breastfeed. Well, the bottles they told us to get suck balls. They leaked and were a pain in the ass to wash and put together. So we scrapped them and went with the Playtex ones the doctor suggested. Charlotte loves her pacifier and Nathan likes it when he's falling asleep. And they've been on about 50% formula. All this and they are able to breastfeed just fine now. Though with two of them it's just easier to pump and put it in bottles for them. Especially for Charlotte because she eats so slowly.<br />
<br />
But as it turns out, we've decided not to breastfeed anymore. It was just too hard and too much pressure pumping for two babies. They got a good 2 months of breastfeeding and we're both fine with that.<br />
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As for the adults, my wife is doing much better. She is feeling better and looking great. We did a mile walk this month. We normally do the 5K, but this year that wasn't an option since the babies are still too young for the jogging stroller. I'm barely holding it together, though. I've been seeing my therapist weekly, so she must really think I'm a hot lava mess because before the babies it was every 3 weeks. She really wants me to see a doctor about medication to even out my mood but I haven't been able to get a appointment until the middle of March. Every day is a struggle and the struggle is real.<br />
<br />
On the plus side, I only have one more month of work until my next vacation so there's that to look forward to. I feel like I miss so much when I'm at work. I've actually been taking Mondays off anyway to spend more time with them. I should have gotten those days off anyway, they really did me wrong shortening my leave. So I'm taking as many days as I can until vacation and then we'll see where we're at.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-76314445946309849112015-01-29T07:47:00.000-08:002015-01-29T07:47:19.576-08:00<b>1 Month</b><br />
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<br />
The babies are healthy and doing well. Charlotte is now 7lbs 5oz and Nathan is 7lbs 1oz. They are still on the small side, but that is to be expected being a month early. They've met their weight milestones and Nathan survived his circumcision. They've had their first shots, first baths at home and made it through their first month of life.<br />
<br />
They already have very distinct and very different personalities. Nathan is very calm and patient, but he is super strong and determined. He holds his head up during tummy time like a champ already. He also has my love for sleep. Charlotte earned the nickname "princess" in the hospital. On the second night she would not sleep and wouldn't stop crying unless someone was holding her. This might not have been so bad but we had another baby to take care of also. Anyway, sometime during the night the nurse came to check on us and we were all in tears, She took pity on us and took Charlotte to the nurses station for a few hours, even though their policy is that the babies stay in the room.<br />
<br />
I thought we had a pretty good idea of what we were getting into, but this month has been about 10 times harder than either of us imagined. As much as we tried to prepare, talk to people, go to classes, very little has gone the way we had hoped it would.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned before, a c-section recovery is terrible. Combine that with newborn twins and it's a real shit show. I don't think I can really get into some details because they're pretty personal, but believe me when I say it was rough for both of us.<br />
<br />
We had a lot of visitors when we went home and our cousin stayed with us for a week, which was great. She helped us get into a routine and it was nice to see her for so long since she lives in Denver and we usually only get her on holidays. It took a few days before she could get up and down the stairs comfortably so we stayed downstairs. We're in the bedroom now but we're getting some furniture for the loft and that will probably be where we set up permanently. It's hard living in a bedroom.<br />
<br />
The babies are sleeping in the room with us in bassinets. We know the rules about not having anything in the cribs, but they simply won't sleep at night in anything but their Podsters. So they sleep in their Podsters in the bassinets. When they sleep, that is. Mostly they sleep during the day and they would sleep upside down on the hood of the car and nothing would wake them. Night though, they just don't want to settle. They're too young to know the difference between night and day and newborns are nocturnal so we've just got to deal. It's been hard not sleeping, though. And I haven't been able to do the whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing during the day. More on that later.<br />
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One thing other mom was looking forward to was breastfeeding but that hasn't gone well either. The babies were so young they couldn't latch. After a lot of work she finally got Charlotte to do it sometimes but Nathan just won't. We've been told by several nurses that it's harder for boys and after all this time we think he may never get the hang of it. So she's pumping and we're giving them about 50/50 breast milk and formula.<br />
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After she was feeling a little better we were able to start going out with the babies and doing things. We've been able to go to Target and to dinner in addition to our doctor's appointments. I never anticipated how much attention they would draw. Before we could have been gum on the sidewalk for as much as people paid attention to us, but now random people come talk to us wherever we are. For me, this is just about my worst nightmare. I'm a woman of few words to those who know me well and to strangers they're lucky to get a grunt and a nod to most questions. Fortunately for me my other half is the opposite so she's been doing the talking. But man, I don't get it. If I saw some poor new mother at Target with her hands clearly full with twins, I might pass and smile but I would never think to go bother her and strike up a conversation. Maybe that's just me.<br />
<br />
So, this month has been pretty rough. Everyone keeps telling us we're doing well, but they really only see the best of us and the babies. Alone it's very different. Just to speak to myself, I've been having a lot of really bad feelings and I'm not sleeping or eating well at all. For a variety of reasons there's not much I can do about it right now so I've been trying to just accept that this is life now and try to pass the time until it gets better, Everyone also says that these times will just fly but maybe that's just in retrospect because this past month has felt like 10 years and I think it's aged me that much as well. I'm trying to look for things to enjoy but it's just so much work that fun is just not there for me. I also got shafted on my leave at work and I actually have to go back in a week instead of in April like I thought. It's a long story and it sucks, but it is what it is.<br />
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Here's to month 2.<br />
<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-69110093128564653152015-01-25T19:07:00.000-08:002015-01-25T19:07:25.160-08:00<b>The Birth Story</b><br />
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Sunday December 28, 2014 started off like pretty much any other day we had been having. She felt miserable, but having been told by the doctor several times that misery was to be expected, we didn't think much of it. I went to the grocery store and we spent the day in bed watching football and me writing lesson plans.</div>
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We watched the Patriots get embarrassed by the Bills and settled in to watch the Broncos/Raiders. She is a Broncos fan. Well, she's a fan of Emanuel Sanders anyway. She had just laid down and commented that she had finally found a comfortable position. I went on with my work and a few minutes later she said her water broke. I asked if she was sure and after seeing the sheets, we were both sure.</div>
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We had the bag mostly packed and threw in a few last minute things, fed the cats and we were off. We're not too far from the hospital so it didn't take too long. We got there and they took us up to labor & delivery. We didn't even go through triage since she was still leaking so they knew the babies were coming.</div>
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Our regular O/B wasn't on call so we had a different guy. He was nice enough, I guess. They gave me disposable scrubs to wear and took us to the operating room. Both babies were still breech so there was no chance of a vaginal delivery, but we already knew that. I wasn't allowed in while they prepped her and did the spinal, but she said it actually wasn't bad. When I finally did get to go in, they told me not to touch anything blue since it was sterile. I wasn't about to touch anything anyway. But as I sat down, I noticed music was playing. I had heard it in the hall but I didn't pay much attention since I thought it was just hospital hall music. But no, they pipe in music in the operating room! And what songs were my children delivered to, you ask? "You're the One That I Want" from Grease and "Shake, Shake, Shake...Shake Your Booty". I kid you not. It was really bizarre and hilarious, especially when the nurses started singing.</div>
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They said I could watch the operation if I wanted, but I wasn't particularly interested. Not that it grossed me out, I just didn't care to see it. It was surprisingly short. They were born a minute apart. Since she wasn't quite 36 weeks yet, they took them to the NICU. But they said they hoped it was just for transition and that they wouldn't have to stay long. See, before we got there triplets were born and the level 3 NICU was full. So if ours needed to stay, they would have had to transfer them to the hospital across town.</div>
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I'm not sure what I thought it would look like, but it was a bunch of baby beds and monitors. And ours weren't in beds near each other so I stayed with Charlotte for a while and then went to Nathan. I took some pictures and took them back to the recovery room. She was doing well and told me to go back to the babies. Both babies sugar was a little low so they fed them and watched them. A few hours later they were cleared to leave the NICU and we went back to the recovery room.</div>
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By this time it was getting late so we didn't have any visitors. The nurses showed us where everything was and basically left us. There is no central nursery and all the babies "room in". They basically slept for a while and every hour the nurses came to check on us. They told us newborn babies are sleepy and have to be woken to eat, and they did mostly sleep. Sometime around 2:00 in the morning a nurse came and gave them a bath and the next morning we were moved out of the recovery room and into a regular room.<br />
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We stayed in the hospital for 3 days and would have stayed longer if they let us. We had no idea how hard a c-section recovery would be. I would have to devote a whole other post just to everything that entails. But on New Years Eve we cleaned up and packed them up to go home. What was really cool was that it was snowing and we rarely get snow. It just doesn't happen here, but it made the trip home memorable.<br />
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It's been 4 weeks today and what we've done and learned in that time can fill a post on its own too.</div>
Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-17338057112140807462015-01-03T09:00:00.000-08:002015-01-03T09:00:14.214-08:00<b>A Couple of Late Christmas Presents</b><br />
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(left) Charlotte Sue (right) Nathan Henry<br />
Born: 12/28/14, 4:02 PM Born 12/28/14, 4:03 PM<br />
5 lbs 15 oz, 18 inches 5 lbs 3 oz, 19 inches<br />
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A little earlier than expected, but they're here. Both are healthy and everyone is doing well. We spent the full 3 days allowed in the hospital but are home now. I will write more about their birth story later. Can't believe they are real and actually here.<br />
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Happy New Year, everyone!Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-12737652521166015472014-12-23T13:38:00.004-08:002014-12-23T13:40:17.117-08:00<b>Week 35 - Change is in the air</b><br />
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Officially 3 more weeks to go, but that's assuming we make it to 38 weeks.<br />
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At the growth scan last week the babies are measuring 5 pounds 6 ounces each. So that's almost 10.5 pounds of baby. They're past the point of needing preemie clothes so we threw them in a donation bag. They're at the point that if they were born now, they'd be fine even though they'd spend some time in the NIC-U. 38 weeks has always been the goal, but these little overachievers have been measuring ahead almost from the beginning. So there's a chance they could come even earlier.<br />
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At the last couple of appointments the doctors have hinted around to start watching contractions carefully and monitor movement even more. Everything is getting more uncomfortable, which partly comes with carrying the weight of twins. But at the same time, we are getting close.<br />
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If we make it to 38 weeks, then the date will likely be January 13, which I think would be a cool birthday since it would fall on Friday the 13th some years. We're going to try our darndest to keep them in that long. We are seeing doctors 3 times a week now. Today at the perinatologist the nurse suggested we have the O/B check her cervix next week just to see if anything is going on. Hopefully nothing is.<br />
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Our out-of-womb preparations are mostly done. The room is done and bags are mostly packed. We've got most of what we need to get them started in life and a bunch of people that are excited for them to come and meet them.<br />
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We bought baby books as well. They are really cool because they're customizable and come with extra pages. So we were able to take out the "Daddy" pages and put in extra "Mommy" pages. One of the pages asks us to write our hopes and dreams for the babies and it made me think about all the tragedies in the news recently with people being shot and killed. And it made me think "I hope my babies, especially my son, look white". I'm biracial (black and white) and the donor is white so I think they will. I was raised with the white side of my family so that's really what I identify with, but that's not how the rest of the world identifies me. This might sound sad, but I don't want my children to grow up fearing police and other people in positions of authority. But the fact is that racism is still a major problem and I feel if they look white, they'll have better opportunities in life.<br />
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Anyway, enough of that. It's Christmas and that's supposed to be time for peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men (and women). So I end on that note and wish you a happy holiday, whichever one you may celebrate. Or if you don't celebrate, then happy Thursday this week.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-17925543770952751492014-11-30T19:52:00.001-08:002014-11-30T19:52:56.743-08:00<b>Week 32 - The Final Stretch</b><br />
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I write you today from a magical place called 'vacation'. You may have heard that this place is just a myth, but as someone who has seen the fabled land, I can attest that it does exist.<br />
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Last Wednesday was my last day of work for at least 5 weeks. I had been debating whether or not to tell my students I wouldn't likely be coming back and I thought I had settled on no, but at the last minute I decided to tell them after all. I have a really decent class this year and I haven't been able to say that for a while. I put up an ultrasound and asked if they knew what it was. They all gasped and raised their hands. After that I had to explain what a surrogate was and that I couldn't have babies of my own. But I didn't get into the lesbian stuff. They were all super excited so I'm glad I told them.<br />
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In all actuality, I probably will be back for a week after winter break. Things are going well and the doctors fully expect them to make it to the week of the 12th. I'm actually kind of glad because that first week back is our parent conferences and I can't have a sub do those. Plus that will give me some time to adjust them to the changes in the classroom that will come with having a sub for 12 weeks. At the end of March is spring break and then the two weeks after that is my second track break and then I'll be back for good.<br />
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In the meantime, we start monitoring twice a week this week. And we registered with the hospital and did the maternity tour. It was really interesting. The hospital we're having them at is a 'baby friendly' hospital. This basically means that they encourage breastfeeding and immediate skin-to-skin contact. And they don't have a central nursery, like you see on TV and movies. The babies stay with you in the room...all...the...time. They're of the mindset that welp...you made them, you deal with them. Not to say that they don't help you out, but it's not a week long vacation in the hospital like you might imagine. Actually, they said you stay 36 hours max for a vaginal delivery and 3-4 days for a c-section before they send you on your merry way.<br />
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Oh, one other cool thing about the hospital is that all babies get tagged with a security bracelet so if they get anywhere near an exit, an alarm sounds. And we have to wear an ID bracelet for each baby. The maternity ward is locked down and visitors have to check in by video before they're allowed in.<br />
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We've been taking classes this past month. We did baby basics, which was interesting. The instructor complimented my swaddling. We also did breastfeeding, which wasn't exactly what I expected. That instructor was super preachy and anti-formula, but people sign up for that class with the intention of breastfeeding so I feel like she wasted a bunch of time telling us how great breastfeeding is instead of telling us how to do it. I figure we'll get some better help from the lactation consultants at the hospital. We are taking a childbirth class too, which might seem pointless as we're having a planned c-section. But the class goes over c-sections too and they teach you how to recognize early labor (just in case) and anyway, we're curious to learn new stuff. And we are getting the car seats installed by professionals so we know it's done correctly.<br />
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For a while we were super concerned with getting the hospital bags ready, but it turns out you really don't need to take much. They give you pretty much anything you need. And the hospital isn't too far from where we live so if there was anything we wanted or needed from home, it would be a half-hour trip at most. I plan to stay at the hospital except for when I need to go home and tend to the cats. And when I need to eat because apparently they don't feed me and I'm sure I'm far too picky an eater to eat hospital cafeteria food.<br />
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I actually do have stuff to do this first week of vacation. It's not going to be all Skyrim and picking my nose in my underwear just yet. I have a dentist appointment because I realized I hadn't been since we moved. I realized this when the appointment card was forwarded from the old address. I also have to get the rest of my vaccines and I actually do have to go to work one day because I didn't get my FML paperwork until the weekend and my principal has to sign it before I take it to the doctor. Other than that, I'm going to tidy up the joint and enjoy our new TV. We've never had one in the bedroom before but we figured that after the semester ends we'll be spending a lot of time resting in bed (and me prepping stuff for my sub). And eventually we'll move it to the loft anyway.<br />
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That's it for now. Lol, I know that's a lot and I say 'that's it' like it's a short little anecdote. Sorry, we don't have any good ultrasound pictures. The last few have been just the tops of their heads and I don't know that they'll get any better as the babies get bigger and have less room to move and turn. We'll see, though.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-15883985960074721392014-11-02T09:02:00.000-08:002014-11-02T09:02:07.136-08:00<b>Week 28 - Time Flies, Time Changes</b><br />
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So, as it turns out, I simply have less time to blog now that I'm at work. My weekdays are basically work, doctor's appointments, home, sleep. Maybe eat. Our weekends have been packed with a variety of activities, though those might be over now. The weather is getting colder and she's just getting too uncomfortable to go out much. We've been trying to take it easy. Last Saturday we spent literally the whole day in bed with the laptops. It was great.<br />
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Yesterday my mom and aunt threw our baby shower. The timing worked out great to have a Halloween themed party. It was pretty awesome. We invited all of the same people from my birthday and more, so it was quite the affair. My costume was probably the second best. I was the bad guy from the Cobra Kai Dojo in the old school Karate Kid movies. The best...my trainer dressed as an 80's aerobics instructor.<br />
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We got a lot of great stuff for the babies and a bunch of gift cards and cash for the other stuff we still need. And everyone had a really good time. There's still Christmas coming before they're born (hopefully) so we should be pretty well set. Well, at least for material things anyway. I've been working on baby laundry mountains this weekend and putting the rest of the nursery together with all of the stuff we got.<br />
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This weekend we had to go and have the glucose tolerance test. It's one of those things we had heard many different stories. "Oh, it's not that bad" or "You don't <i>have</i> to fast" and so on. Well, our doctor was clear that it <i>is</i> a fasting test and they confirmed that at the lab. Fasting is hard because she's used to eating first thing in the morning and gets sick if she doesn't. So we wanted to get it out of the way as early as possible. The first draw wasn't bad and she said the drink wasn't bad either. Lemon-lime, though it probably would have been better chilled. I thought we would be able to leave for the hour in between, but no. We had to sit in the lobby watching HGTV.<br />
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An hour passed and we went back for the second draw and it did not go well at all. They couldn't get anything from the arm vein and I don't know why they tried poking the same vein again. Anyway, they went to the hand and she started to get really sick and actually passed out. I've passed out from different things before but I've never seen anyone pass out and it was really scary. I was thinking I should call 911 but the lab tech didn't seem too worried. I guess they must see that a lot. She finally came back around and after a few minutes she told them to go ahead and do the draw so we don't have to do this again.<br />
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After that they let her lie down for the next hour and did the final draw laying down. It went better and we were finally able to get some food, go home and relax for the day. It was rough one.<br />
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That brings us to November and daylight savings, which I find incredibly dumb but I am glad for the extra hour of sleep. November is going to fly by. Between staff development days, where we don't have students, Veteran's Day, which is a two-day holiday for me, and then Thanksgiving, I figure I only work about 8 days or something like that. And then I go on track break! I'm at a 12 month school so we go through the summer but we get 3 weeks of vacation 3 times throughout the year. My first break starts right after Thanksgiving and then runs into everyone's Winter break at the end of December. If these babies are born in early January I won't have to go back after Winter break. If they keep them in there as long as the doctors want, I might have to go back for a week or two.<br />
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I'm taking the full 12 weeks off and the way the calendar falls, that will take me to my second track break in April and then Spring break. So, my students likely won't see me from Thanksgiving until after Easter. That's a long time to be without their regular teacher, I know. But I've got to think about my new family. And I'll find them a decent sub.<br />
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Now, they don't have subs for college so the lady has a different situation. She only has 8 weeks of sick days, but her department chair worked out an awesome arrangement where she will actually get the entire semester off. So she won't have to go back until next August. He said he wants her to be able to spend time with her new family, which is pretty much the opposite of how they feel at my work. My boss didn't even acknowledge the babies until very recently. It's not that I'm looking for a ticker-tape parade or anything, but a simple 'congratulations' would have been nice.<br />
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Although November is a short month, we've got a lot going on. Besides the usual appointments, we're also touring the hospital, I have a 5K and our Mothers of Multiples group is hosting the new MOM's tea. Plus Thanksgiving! She has really been looking forward to pregnant Thanksgiving. After all that, it's vacation time and the final baby countdown!Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-40847494753371503312014-09-28T16:00:00.001-07:002014-09-28T16:00:34.460-07:00<b>Week 23 - Matching Shirts & Matching Bellies</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Is this a commentary on my girlfriend's style <br />or my cat's fat stomach?</span></td></tr>
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Wow, I hadn't realized it had been almost a month since my last entry. Not that I don't have anything to say, but I guess I've been busier than I thought.<br />
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The first weeks of work are always busy, but this year has been crazy because of all of the changes. It's teacher stuff and not particularly interesting to anyone else, but we're hoping it calms down after next week and the final staffing changes are made.<br />
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In the real world, things are going well with the babies. We're at 23 weeks now and at one of the last ultrasounds they were finally able to confirm the genders. We were pretty sure since we had PGD, but we wanted to be completely sure. It is a boy and a girl. And they're movers. They move so much that they have a hard time getting a heart rate. So I think we're in for a couple of handfulls. They also had their cardiology scans and everything looks good in their little hearts.<br />
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We will be meeting with the regular O/B every two weeks starting next month. I guess that means we're getting close. She asked us if we had thought about a pediatrician and in truth we had thought about it, but that's about it. We don't know anyone with babies in our part of town. All of the mothers at the multiples meetings live on the opposite side of town, and we'd rather have a doctor nearby. So the doctor gave us a list of ones they suggest. We'll probably go with one of them if our insurance covers them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3YJZ3qmsLUE_wHBxlkKge-fDZqcPUGICJn4iKdKXiQThN_0k4mGu-qvvc-8te92YTVICC6V6Za_lkkaMKk3INhqeKEXmtOxtJkoczmEYR8d1cUTP2HXqAN4VaaiHUWV4X0lgniN4C57f/s1600/IMAG0568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3YJZ3qmsLUE_wHBxlkKge-fDZqcPUGICJn4iKdKXiQThN_0k4mGu-qvvc-8te92YTVICC6V6Za_lkkaMKk3INhqeKEXmtOxtJkoczmEYR8d1cUTP2HXqAN4VaaiHUWV4X0lgniN4C57f/s1600/IMAG0568.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
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I was thinking about how similar raising babies is going to be to raising cats. See, we let our cats do all sorts of things we find cute. And then they don't end up being so cute anymore. Take the bassinets, for example. We thought it was adorable when they jumped in there but not as adorable when they wouldn't get out. And even less so when Bailey started scratching the sides. But we've got his number now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYDascTPw8bNhnQR7r7AnVVpjG6G_stT60PMDnnTY0q6F97m8kz_SUBLn78QrfxzshNSHYFxgJHsmL8KzxU86C2OeDWDTy0jV4ZB6IAz_DMPxjzD3SiRR9v07Wc8ETFL4RuhiJwDDBn8h/s1600/IMAG0612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYDascTPw8bNhnQR7r7AnVVpjG6G_stT60PMDnnTY0q6F97m8kz_SUBLn78QrfxzshNSHYFxgJHsmL8KzxU86C2OeDWDTy0jV4ZB6IAz_DMPxjzD3SiRR9v07Wc8ETFL4RuhiJwDDBn8h/s1600/IMAG0612.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLkya261gbzJVtw78aNsj235YqSjVzTLL9PyJLgkdyssMq8QoJtXVeLXPt5nvA47yCVrq1IFAycf08lIv7ffykwg2vRgfw9Ka8SlHKP3-7XQ8ZLq-XysPqrfHRrZlMZqOXacHrnrMpWog/s1600/IMAG0603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLkya261gbzJVtw78aNsj235YqSjVzTLL9PyJLgkdyssMq8QoJtXVeLXPt5nvA47yCVrq1IFAycf08lIv7ffykwg2vRgfw9Ka8SlHKP3-7XQ8ZLq-XysPqrfHRrZlMZqOXacHrnrMpWog/s1600/IMAG0603.jpg" height="200" width="111" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc337ZwVB_Bkx0sKbrFbK1wa9inJpQZUq5pQY9Y7_gAVihvH8C_pABDJDLO4BoGrtt83nIoEtpwdveEcrWuHnkgEXqLkwk-woeOokrZzDISlgN7gOvbAV8hVtTa6RzOnj6tuukD7NAWkhl/s1600/IMAG0616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc337ZwVB_Bkx0sKbrFbK1wa9inJpQZUq5pQY9Y7_gAVihvH8C_pABDJDLO4BoGrtt83nIoEtpwdveEcrWuHnkgEXqLkwk-woeOokrZzDISlgN7gOvbAV8hVtTa6RzOnj6tuukD7NAWkhl/s1600/IMAG0616.jpg" height="200" width="111" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not so cute</td></tr>
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And the stroller. Cute when they sat in the seats, and Bailey really made himself at home. But not so cute when I realized it was getting covered with cat hair that I had to vacuum out and put a blanket on it because that can be washed easily. We make all these modifications and adjustments and try to get them to do what we want and I wonder how much of that will transfer to parenting.<br />
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I don't know. They'll probably find ways to do what they want anyway...just like the cats do.<br />
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<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-53654071950332036142014-08-31T04:16:00.001-07:002014-08-31T04:16:46.499-07:00<b>Week 19 - Happy birthday to me</b><br />
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Well, happy late birthday here. It was actually on the 20th but I had to work. What's the point of having a summer birthday if you have to work? And I don't know how, but my birthday always seems to fall on the staff development days before school starts. So I usually spend my birthday-day listening to my principal read a 42 page meeting agenda. Ugh.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qc5S37qu2YLvKtPuNqWNvlS-0fT93F-Xnsj2CVz7DLmIShlTUJ-Jm8Q61ubOL0Cp2EiFLVlYNSrXh_jllTR4WhNJN7Hk419_KXmDPy8Y_ye237yaeBVyBbtT0YjBNnPotRTQVnAPUn6P/s1600/cards-against-humanity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9qc5S37qu2YLvKtPuNqWNvlS-0fT93F-Xnsj2CVz7DLmIShlTUJ-Jm8Q61ubOL0Cp2EiFLVlYNSrXh_jllTR4WhNJN7Hk419_KXmDPy8Y_ye237yaeBVyBbtT0YjBNnPotRTQVnAPUn6P/s1600/cards-against-humanity.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a>This year we had a party. Normally the family gets together and gets food from somewhere. We've found it's easier than going out to eat. This year we invited friends too, which is a big deal for us. We've never had a party this big, but we felt we were finally settled into the new house well enough to finally have people over. It was great. We had Olive Garden, they do party size trays of most of their dishes. And cake from Costco, which isn't as great as I remembered it. It was good, don't get me wrong. But it was a bit on the sweet side. And we played Cards Against Humanity. If you've never played, I highly suggest you find someone with a set. They're kind of hard to find though, but there is an online version too. It has the same rules as Apples to Apples, but the cards are random, offensive and just hilarious. It was a little weird because one of my friends brought her son and he's 12. It's an age where you know he knows what the cards mean, but it's weird to admit that you know. It made me think, would I let my son play in 12 years? Probably and he would probably get the "dem titties" card.<br />
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We've both gone back to work now. My year has started off well. I was scheduled for 25 kids. 20 showed up and one told me on the first day they were moving out of zone the next week. Then on Friday another told me it was her last day. My school is in a highly transient area and so around the end of any given month when people's leases are up, we see a lot of movement. So I'm down to 18, which is unheard of for a fifth grade class here. Of course, we always expect a lot of new ones after Labor day so I doubt it will stay that low. But if it does, it's possible we could lose a position at count day. It wouldn't be me as I have the most seniority, but it's not something anyone wants to deal with. She has had a good first week too, though it has been tiring. But fortunately she only has classes Monday through Thursday so she gets to just rest on Fridays.<br />
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We both found out about our maternity leave options. I asked our office manager and she said FML will send me a packet 30 days before the birth. I fill it out, send it back and they verify my eligibility. I'm not worried about it as I have over 150 sick days accumulated so I should be able to take the full 12 weeks. I think I have a sub lined up too. She only has about 8 weeks accumulated and they said she could take unpaid time too, but we just can't afford that. They don't exactly have substitutes in college so they just cancel her classes for the semester. Then when her sick days are up, they give her administrative work to do for the rest of the semester. Hopefully it's something she can mostly do from home. After both of our time is up, I don't know. Day care is really expensive for little ones that young and you don't get a discount for having more than one.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 Weeks</td></tr>
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We've seen the doctor, I think three times since I last posted. Twice with the perinatologist and once with the regular O/B. Everything is fine. The babies are growing and moving around a lot now. At the next visit with the perinatologist they'll do the cardiology scan to make sure all the chambers of their heart are developing correctly. The O/B said we need to be up to date on our vaccinations, which is something I hadn't considered. I had shots for school, of course. And I had to be up to date for college, but that was like 15 years ago and vaccines do expire. And I have to get a flu shot, which I usually don't do. You would think I would, being around kids and gross people all the time. But this year was the first time I ever got the flu as an adult so I think I have a decent tolerance against it. But if the doctor says I need it, I'll get it.<br />
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Lastly, we've made a pretty big baby related purchase. My girlfriend has driven a Toyota Yaris for the past 7 or so years. When we found out about the pregnancy she considered keeping it, though it is really small. But since it's twins, we knew it would have to go. There was no way two car seats would fit in the back of a two-door hatchback and the jogging stroller we picked was way too big for the trunk space it had, unless we put the back seats down. It's actually too big to fit easily in my car too. She's been looking at safety ratings and stuff and had her mind made up on a Mazda 3. We went down today to see what they had as far as Labor Day sales and ended up with the CX5. So now we have a pretty cool mom car.<br />
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Crazy how life changes. We were just talking about that, about what we would say to ourselves in 2002 if we had a way-back machine. Well, lottery numbers excluded anyway. Every year I've been writing a birthday letter to myself on Future Me. Maybe I'll write to myself in 10 years this time. If the next 10 years changes as much as the last, I have no idea what our lives will look like.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-19401840177163289872014-08-12T18:57:00.000-07:002014-08-12T18:57:03.107-07:00<b>Week 16.5 - A beautiful cervix and luscious veins.</b><br />
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There has been much excitement this week. Today we saw the perinatologist for the level 2 ultrasound, also known as the anatomy scan.<br />
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The important thing is that we were able to see the genders. We were pretty sure what they were since we did PGD with the IVF, but there's always that chance (however slim, it's still a chance) that it might have been wrong. Baby B is for sure a boy. The tech could see his little dinker donger very clearly. Baby A was a little shy, but from what she could see, the tech was leaning towards it being a girl. So we're calling it at that. Now that we know for sure (pretty much), I'm happy to finally share the names we picked. We've had the boy's name picked for years because that's what we initially wanted. The girl's name was a little harder because we hadn't even considered having a girl and we couldn't agree for a while. But we are both thrilled with the names we picked. Allow me to introduce you to Baby A, now known as Charlotte Sue and Baby B, now known as Nathan Henry.<br />
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Like I said, we had Nathan picked for years. We both just loved the name from the beginning. We chose Henry for the middle name because it's a family name on both of our sides. We knew we wanted the girl's middle name to be Sue, after my mother. But the first name eluded us for a while. We considered Emily, Emma, Delilah, Hannah and some others but none of them seemed perfect. We had considered Charlotte but I realized that some family friends of ours have a boy and a girl, named Nathan and Charlotte. I thought it would be weird, but they were cool with it so we decided to go for it. We haven't had any second thoughts at all, so I think that's a sign that these are the perfect names.<br />
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Now, on the chance that A does turn out to be a boy after all, we have a second boy's name picked and that would be Noah Joseph. We don't need a second girl's name since we know for sure one is a boy.<br />
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They did some bloodwork today for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevated_alpha-fetoprotein" target="_blank">MSAFP</a> test. This tests for elevated protein in the blood, which could indicate a problem. If there is a defect in the spinal cord or brain it could leak alpha-fetoprotein, which would show up in a blood test. The doctor did say they looked perfect on the ultrasound and they are growing well, but after all we've gone through to make these babies, we'd rather be on the safe side. He also said my girlfriend's cervix looked beautiful and the phlebotomist said her veins were luscious. So we're looking pretty good so far. We have two more appointments in two weeks. One with the regular O/B and another with the perinatologist.<br />
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We got some more exciting baby news. Not for us, of course. But for our friends that just moved into the neighborhood. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that. When we were buying our house, one of my friends that I work with kept seeing my pictures on Facebook and asking me about it. It's the guy that helped me pick up the baby dresser, actually. Anyway, one day he asked us to take him to the models. The next day he took his girlfriend out there. And shortly after that they had a picture on their Facebook of her putting the "Sold!" button on the map. They bought the same model as us on the next street over.<br />
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Well anyway, soon after we moved we did the embryo transfer and when it worked, his girlfriend told him it's time for <i>them</i> to start making a baby. So they did over the summer and it worked! She's about 10 weeks behind us, but our kids will be in the same grade in school and grow up together. This is really exciting for us because for one, we don't have many friends to begin with. I have very few at work because people come and go so frequently, I try not to get attached. But I really like this guy and now that we're neighbors we'll be friends even if one of us changes schools. And we have very few friends with young children. Most of our parent friends around our age started way before us so their kids are like in middle school. And I wouldn't really call the moms from the multiples group friends, at least not yet. But now we'll have parent friends with kids the same age as ours and in the same neighborhood. It worked out perfectly.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-2169713680941437482014-08-02T20:25:00.000-07:002014-08-02T20:25:23.648-07:00<b>Week 15 - Our cat drinks out of the toilet</b><br />
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I was showering and I accidentally forgot to put the toilet seat down before I got in. I look over and I see him with his head and front paws in the toilet. Mind you, we give them filtered water because of Tyler's pee-pee issues. But this little asshole would rather drink out of the shitter.<br />
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Anyway, these past weeks we've been taking care of more legal business. We signed the wills and powers of attorney but we decided to meet with a family lawyer to get some real answers to what exactly our legal rights will be. Ideally we both should be able to sign the birth certificates and that is what the first attorney suggested should happen. This lawyer said the same thing. She said that more and more same-sex couples are having babies and we shouldn't have any trouble both signing the birth certificates. After they are born, we will file for adoption just to make it extra legal. She did have some concerns in making sure the donor is truly anonymous and can't come back and claim custody himself, but we have the paperwork and the sperm bank's policy on anonymous donors so we should be covered there.She said this is all very new legal ground and that makes things tricky. This lawyer is also going to elaborate on our wills and do HIPA forms for us. It's a lot going on, but I guess that comes with being an adult.<br />
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We saw the regular O/B and weren't expecting an ultrasound because they schedule those separately (they're billed separately to the insurance) but she wheeled in the old ass machine and did a quick one. Shit was so blurry we couldn't see much, but we did see two heartbeats so they're both still in there. The doctor said the goal is to get to 38 weeks but most of the moms we've talked with got to about 36-37 weeks with their twins, so that's what I'm mentally planning. The next appointment is with the perinatologist and they're doing the anatomy scans then, so we should find out the sexes for sure.<br />
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We got some more furniture, the dresser and attached changing station. The dresser was already assembled so we had to have a friend with a truck help us pick it up. Then we had to have my cousin help me get it up the stairs. It's always been really hard for me to ask people for help. But I read something recently, how when you have a baby you really have to adopt the "it takes a village" philosophy. And when you are having twins, that is doubly true. So I've been working on that and was proud that I asked for help. Anyway, the dresser is really nice. It's probably the nicest piece of furniture we own now. And it's for the babies, how funny. We figure when they get old enough to want their own rooms and stuff they can pick out new dressers and we will keep this one ourselves.<br />
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This week I'll be going back to work. School doesn't start until the 25th but I have several trainings in the next couple of weeks. I don't even know what most of them are for, just that they're paying me for them. I can't believe summer is almost over and it's basically my last summer for a while. My school is going year-round this year, so I've got to enjoy what's left of this summer before it's over.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-34307560005357465142014-07-19T09:38:00.002-07:002014-07-19T09:38:42.070-07:00<b>Week 13 - Expect misery.</b><br />
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It has been another busy two weeks, especially considering we're supposed to be on summer vacation here.<br />
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We saw the perinatologist for the first time and got another ultrasound and some video of them bouncing around!<br />
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Their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuchal_scan" target="_blank">nuchal scan</a> was perfect and they're measuring 13 weeks (on Friday), so they're still ahead by a few days. The doctor was really great. He was really honest and told us to literally "expect misery" after 30 weeks. But it wasn't in an asshole way. It was just a statement of truth and we appreciated that. Too often doctors sugar coat things. He was really thorough too and answered all of our questions. They're more familiar with IVF than at the regular O/B. I guess because so many multiples come from IVF. But it was nice to be able to explain to them how we got there and have them understand what we were talking about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLJnwZPhJ7pS9BAQqU1Z_PN6-ysPWCJytlkEdUcRDThPvinaLDK5L_z88tBAFclmiLw0hFhyOP3W0kj0k0R6V2Ewyd1CBjrNlZXLwKkJ789gOlldZG3WNvX5vYX3u_wyEczcemBgFNZfu/s1600/IMAG0568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLJnwZPhJ7pS9BAQqU1Z_PN6-ysPWCJytlkEdUcRDThPvinaLDK5L_z88tBAFclmiLw0hFhyOP3W0kj0k0R6V2Ewyd1CBjrNlZXLwKkJ789gOlldZG3WNvX5vYX3u_wyEczcemBgFNZfu/s1600/IMAG0568.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a>We've started getting some baby furniture. My mom's goal is to get one big piece a month until they're born, or until the nursery is furnished. This month was the bassinets. They're really cool and apparently the cats think so too because they totally made themselves comfortable the moment we put them together. We had been expecting this and had talked to the vet about it last time we were there. She said you have to let them explore the new stuff. You can't ban a cat from anything, but you can make it so they're not as interested. We now filled them with a bunch of backpacks and shoes and Guitar Hero stuff so when they jump in it's not comfortable and it's <i>their</i> decision to jump out. It worked and neither of them has tried to jump in for days now.<br />
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I also painted the babies' room. We were going to go with yellow, but decided on mint green instead. It will look great with the dark brown furniture. We don't have much in the way of decoration decided yet, but my lady did make this cute button rainbow to hang on the wall.<br />
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One of the biggest things we did this week was to see a lawyer. We've never had any kind of legal documents made before, mostly because we've never really had anything worth protecting before. But now we've got the house and two kids on the way. While we do have the domestic partnership, we found out that it's basically toilet paper, legally. It really doesn't give us any kind of rights. The lawyer is going to do estate planning for us, which basically is our wills and declaring each other power of attorney (and a secondary should some misfortune befall both of us at the same time) for medical and financial decisions. She is also going to set up a trust and appoint my brother and sister-in-law power of attorney secondary and custodian if we both go before the kids turn 18. And lastly she is going to look into how we stand with parental rights legally. She was really interested in our situation but she wasn't familiar with the legality so she said she is going to look into it. Ideally we both want to be able to sign the birth certificate, but we don't know if that is an option. If not, we might have to do a second parent adoption after they're born.<br />
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We went to our second Mothers of Multiples meeting. There were a lot more moms than last month's meeting and some brought their babies. One had a 2-week-old. She slept the whole time (the baby, not the mom). I like that in a baby. Another had 10-week-old identical twin girls and they were adorable too. It's still too intimidating for me to hold other peoples babies, but I was very interested in just observing them.<br />
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We don't have quite so much planned for the next two weeks, but things have a habit of popping up, so who knows.<br />
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<br />Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-82500788095040465632014-07-06T08:32:00.000-07:002014-07-06T08:32:34.414-07:00<b>Week 11 - This Is Really Happening</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 weeks, 5 days</td></tr>
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We saw the doctor again on Thursday and we went armed with a notebook full of questions. But first we had an ultrasound. Normally we wouldn't have had one since we just had one last month, but you know...twins.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL-6-KfKTtvW80ANWBJGpkL4AjnzMcUyREhsaxL2BZtOhwoT5Rdd5c75VJr7Eop7kJFT_r6kLXGHihIcOwX-AA7htbOxbfLUNOKslKRlKz_Scz4EuahMYGl2XFfdnBs8v9QjzU8XTCdhA/s1600/week10feet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifL-6-KfKTtvW80ANWBJGpkL4AjnzMcUyREhsaxL2BZtOhwoT5Rdd5c75VJr7Eop7kJFT_r6kLXGHihIcOwX-AA7htbOxbfLUNOKslKRlKz_Scz4EuahMYGl2XFfdnBs8v9QjzU8XTCdhA/s1600/week10feet.jpg" height="154" width="200" /></a>The ultrasound tech is so nice and bubbly, but not in an annoying, fake way. She seems really, genuinely happy. She must have the best job, showing people their babies all day. She got lots of good pictures for us. Heart rates and gestational development are perfect, a couple of days ahead actually. They're really moving around in there now. Baby B was bouncing around so much she had a hard time getting a good heart rate measure. But she got a super cute picture of his little feet.<br />
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We got some clarification from the doctor on some things. The fertility doctor had her on a lot of medication and restrictions. She takes a very cautious approach since her patients are typically there because of problems getting or staying pregnant. Some of the restrictions are no baths or swimming, no lifting more than 12 pounds and no woohoo. The OB said we can swim and take body temperature baths, and lift no more than 20 pounds. So our orange cat Bailey is good, but Tyler is still too fat (tipping the scales at about 22 pounds). We'll be done with the medication at week 12. She is also sending us to a perinatologist, which is an OB that specializes in high risk pregnancies, which twins automatically is. We'll be seeing them both alternately and they'll be doing more ultrasounds than with a single pregnancy. It gives is peace of mind, really. It was hard waiting a month between appointments because it gives you time to develop all kinds of worries. Now we only have two weeks to freak ourselves out between appointments.<br />
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We visited with my mom for the 4th of July. It was a really nice day. We took advantage of the swimming thing and the water was perfect. Then we went to lunch and Babies R Us and picked our furniture. We decided that although we have the room, the babies are going to share a bedroom. So we picked out two cribs (they're both the same), <br />
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a dresser with a changing station,<br />
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and two bassinets (also, both the same) for the first weeks (or months) in our bedroom and they convert to mini-playpen like things as the babies grow. <br />
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We also got most of the registry done there and online later. The time is going to go pretty quickly. My mom and aunt are planning a Halloween baby shower, which I think is awesome. So many cute ideas for it and my lady found the most awesome shirt for it.<br />
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All this really makes me realize that this is happening for real. It's crazy, but pretty awesome. Two little babies. Who would have thought.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-61076760882571851042014-06-22T07:00:00.000-07:002014-06-22T07:00:02.936-07:00<b>Week 9 - The Metamorphosis Begins</b><br />
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All my adult life I've heard how having kids changes you. But since we don't really have other friends that we've seen have kids, it's just been another cliche. Now we're experiencing some of the changes firsthand and our kids aren't even born yet.<br />
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First off, we got a Costco membership. We figured we're going to need twice as much of everything we needed before, so Costco seemed the obvious solution. Unfortunately, their diapers start at size 1 and ours won't be in those for a while. But they will need them eventually. And they will need a lot of them and lots of other stuff too. Formula, juice boxes, goldfish crackers, etc.<br />
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Next, we joined a moms group. Actually, it's a moms of multiples group. As I mentioned above, we don't have a lot of friends with kids. The ones that do, have older kids, like middle school age. So it's not likely that they'll want to go on play dates with our little ones. We heard about this group and went to our first meeting last week. At first it was really intimidating because we don't socialize much and the lady that was hosting the meeting lived in a really <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w" target="_blank">fancy</a> area. But once we got to talking, everyone was really nice and we had a really good time. Plus we realized that we can learn a lot from them.<br />
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Time to trade in the cute little 2-door hatchback for a more family friendly car.<br />
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Getting up at 6:30 on a Sunday is now the equivalent of sleeping in.<br />
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And who knows what else is to come. We've got to take the cat to the vet. You know, the one that was acting nuts after the transfer? Well, he's still acting nuts and it isn't so cute anymore. I think we're going to have to put him on some long-term anxiety medication. He's driving himself crazy and now he's starting to get the other cat all wound up and normally he's very chill. If this is his way of getting us ready for the babies, then point taken. But if he's just having a hard time adjusting to pregnancy hormones, he's in for a hell of a time when the babies actually come. So we've got to get him calmed down.<br />
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We have our next baby appointment next week. They're going to do another ultrasound, which normally they wouldn't but because we're in a special situation, we get to see the babies again :)Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-67661586692370274112014-06-08T17:07:00.001-07:002014-06-08T17:07:48.616-07:00<b>Week 7 - 30 more to go...</b><div>
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Long gone are the days when pregnancy was a 9 month deal. Now we know it's measured by weeks, 40 to be precise. However with twins, they're considered full term at 37 weeks. So although the official due date is January 25, they'll probably schedule the delivery sometime around 2nd instead. I'd love to go a day earlier and have New Year's babies, but since it'll be scheduled I guess that'll be up to the doctor.</div>
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Up to this point the pregnancy symptoms have been typical. Nausea, boob changes, cramps, etc. I expected those, but I wasn't really prepared for the hormonal waterworks. I'm not an emotional person, myself. At least I don't show emotion well. She's always been the opposite but now, it's a whole new game.</div>
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As we were driving home from the grocery store today, listening to the radio as we always do, "Home" by Phillip Phillips comes on. You know, the one they used for the gymnasts at the last Olympics. Nice song, whatever. But then I hear in a choked voice "I think this song is going to make me cry!" So I look over and I'm like what? And she was seriously tearing up and was like "We're going home and I'm making myself a home for the babies!" but then she started laughing, so I ask "Are you fucking with me?" And she laughs and says no, but then we both start laughing. Ah, well. It was a sweet moment.</div>
Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847097425792523711.post-49184733595503257532014-06-06T14:45:00.000-07:002014-06-06T16:01:43.462-07:00<b>How are babbies formed?</b><br />
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I guess I might need to change the name of the blog since there are babbies instead of just babby. Yep, twins.<br />
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Crazy stuff. After all these years of no babies, now we have two. If everything went correctly during the transfer, it should be a boy and a girl. But you know nothing is 100%.<br />
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So far they are right on developmental schedule at 6 weeks 5 days. Size and heartbeats were perfect. First babies in the family in 24 years. Everyone is really excited.<br />
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They said a twins pregnancy is pretty much like a single pregnancy until a little later. Then it gets interesting. And now we pretty much know she'll have to have a c-section, which we didn't want but that's pretty much the standard for multiples. Next appointment is July 3.Jackyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05884965333353083096noreply@blogger.com0