hangin in there!

Well, as fate would have it our NICU stay appears so far to be neither short, nor sweet. Late last week Jack got pretty sick with a kidney infection, and the infection caused a little congenital cyst he had in neck get really, really swollen. While everything seems to be resolving slowly but surely now, the swelling is making it hard for him to open his mouth for oral feedings. They have mentioned the possibility of surgically removing the cyst as well, although we are hoping that it resolves on its own and that won't be necessary. We are trying to get Christian to eat from a bottle. He starts out really strong but gets sleepy quickly so he hasn't made significant progress yet. So, it's been two weeks and we don't have an exit date in sight yet. Everything has been going so well and they were born at a pretty good age for twins we weren't mentally preparing ourselves for any setbacks!!
We are working hard to stay positive, and last week my friends Laura and Valerie threw a shower for me! It was soo much fun and I got spoiled rotten. We kept the gathering really small because I'm still recovering from the surge and didn't want to get tired out, and everybody showed up in their pjs and brought frozen meals and some other nummy goodies too. I thought I'd throw up some photos because they were too cute!! Laura lead some of the best shower games ever, including name-that-bedtime-story and then gave me everything I could ever need for tucking the little guys in- Val brought the cutest bumble bee diaper cake, washcloth lollipops and a diaper change 'kit' for Ian (see the apron packet below). Lindsay made me a nursing cape, the whole gang just showered me with amazing gifts, it was the best.


everybody was too awesome!





the food was sooo good!

one little piggy

Our boys are doing really great so far! They're taking their feeds well and are requiring only minimal monitoring. Hopefully they take to the bottle quickly! We should get more photos once we come home from the hospital.

the Babies are Here!

At 2am on Thursday someone decided to kick their water bag open. I was fast asleep and woke up to a huge gush of water- just like in the movies. I experienced a crazy adrenaline rush the likes of which I still don't think I've recovered from! We called my OB and two hours later the babies were out. I'm still trying to get my head around it. On the one hand I really wanted, and thought, we'd go longer. On the other, it was a miracle I made it so far. The babies (we're still working out the names) weighed in at 5lbs7oz and 5lbs3oz, which is very large for nearly-34weeker twins and had my tumm pulled to a 45cm+ fundal length. I started at >120lbs and wound up at 188lbs in just 7 1/2 months. Plus, they were in crazy positions, transverse but stacked horizontally on top of each other so I was extra stretched. (My doctor said she's never seen more unusual positions for twins!) No wonder I was in such agony every time I tried switching sides in bed! It was uncomfortable for all of us. So despite the fact that my labor predictor (fetal fibernectin test) came out negative only a week beforehand, the ship sprung a leak. All the bedrest, drugs or wheelchairs (which I was then using) in the world couldn't have kept these guys in there a minute longer.

It feels sort of strange to have them out now! For so long we've been focused on making our pregnancy successful, and even though I'm a bit bummed we didn't make our 36 week goal, we came really close. So far the babies are doing great. One has needed a little smidge of oxygen flow, but that's it. It's hard to say how long they'll be in the NICU- probably 2-3 weeks. They need to develop their sucking reflex, which typically kicks in a week or two from now. While I wish they didn't have to be in the NICU, I know it's going to give me a badly-needed opportunity to rest and recover. I leave the hospital in a day or two. If all works out well, I'm going to be very, very busy in a couple weeks from now when Caleb and Julian get home from their visit from Nana. Love you all! We couldn't have made it this far without you! We'll get photos up soon!

Krafts

When I was a young 24 year old breadwinning in the tough streets of NYC while Ian gutted through law school, I stumbled upon a magazine that had no relation to anything I was doing at the time but nevertheless caught my attention. I bought a couple issues, and when so many other items got chucked in the trash through all our moves, these have somehow survived. The mag was Martha Stewart Baby. Sadly defunct after just a few quarterly issues, it was filled with gemmy crafts, recipes and articles devoted to babies. Over the years I'd get dreamy and collect supplies to reproduce one of their gorgeous creations, and over the years I gathered a bunch of random items that collected dust in my closet. Then along came bedrest. I finally had time to make the quiet book, crochet the pom-pom hat, and sew the terry cloth washcloth ducks made for scrubbing in baby's neck areas. (the burp cloths were inspired by a gift from my friend Jaymie) I don't know how I would have gotten through bedrest staying this sane if I hadn't held onto these magazines. It's like my future self inspired my past self to buy them, knowing there would be a time when they would be invaqluable. Sadly I'm too sick to continue with the projects- I still have a baby texture book and quilt in the works. I'll get to them someday... they've been fun!

It's Official. I'm an Invalid!

Caution: This post is a rant. If you're looking for something cheery, read elsewhere.
I'm cursed with big babies! Yes, I know this is a good thing normally, but my poor uterus is so stretched out it's like I can hear it screaming in agony. Like times my ballet teachers used to stretch my leg back and it hurt a ton and I would want it to stop really badly! My fundal length is 43cm, just for some perspective a full-size/full-term fundal length is 40cm and many women don't even hit that. It wouldn't be so bad if I was at the end, but I'm only at 33 weeks on Sunday. My doctors are aiming for 36-37 weeks for a delivery, but they want me to make it until 34 weeks at the very least. Sometimes I feel like this has got to be some crazy joke- I can't roll over to different sides in bed without massive pain, and the pressure is so bad it's hard to walk for more than a few paces. As a result I recently got a sweet hookup from my physical therapist- a walker. It helps a ton. Looks like a wheelchair is the future as well. Maybe a stretcher too...

Almost at 30 weeks!

All week I stay in my apartment, alternating between the bed and the couch. But for one morning, and one morning only, every week I'm allowed to leave. I get to feel the sunshine on my face, the wind blow through my hair, the excitement of watching real people walk down the street... It's pretty dang exciting, let me tell you. And my destination is (drum roll please) the doctor's office! I get to see how I'm doing (was I good that week?), and while there's always a fear that once they pull up the ultrasound image the doctor will gasp and tell me to get to the hospital immediately (like last pregnancy) so far everything has been completely shipshape. In fact, today the doctor told me 'strong work' which is the best compliment I've ever gotten from a doctor.
One is a high risk specialist. He's got a great 4d ultrasound machine that also records a dvd for you of the babies- imagine, you used to have to go to a special little business to get these. Today one of the babies was positioned just so and we were able to get a shot of his sweet little baby face.

That's what I like about that doctor. My other doctor, who I seem more frequently, is really great. She knows I'm freaked out a lot, so she hugs me when I need it and calls me randomly to check in, and she gave me her cell number so I can call her when I need to, even if it's at 4am. Besides the stellar medical advice and the ultra caring behavior, one thing I like about going to see her is her office. At first I thought she got a house and made it into an office, but then I found out she got the office and then renovated it to look like a house so her patients feel more comfortable. I think even Martha Stewart would be proud.



These fuzzy feet rock.

Take A Look At Our Love!!

Whenever Melissa and I see people making out on the street, we always joke about how awesome their love must be. How its impossible for them to keep it from the rest of the world. Well, I've been thinking a lot about how awesome our love is and remembered the engagement video we produced some 10 years ago. So check it out. Our love is awesome! (by the way, the video takes a bit to get started)

No more Piles! Will it really help?

Lately, I've been extra-freaking out about how I'm going to handle four kids under three. So I decided to organize my home as much as possible in anticipation of the storm. If I can get rid of the piles- piles of shoes, piles of spices, piles of who knows what in the junk drawer- then stuff can be easily accessed. The hope is that finding things instantly may be the slight breeze that keeps us on the right side of the sanity-line come September/October. We live in a 2-bedroom and our cupboards and drawers were crammed, stacked, items toppling over, hiding amongst themselves and reproducing (if we couldn't find something we bought another one. We found five nearly-full jars of cumin and cloves, three tire pumps, four bags of powdered sugar, oh, and a partridge in a pear tree. Really. Some friends did a garage sale a few months ago and I didn't participate because I thought I didn't have any clutter. Boy, was I deluded.)
I got inspired by my mom's advice and a recent Real Simple article about organizing products. I usually take note of the fact the magazine is 80% shopping catalog and move on with my credit card none the wiser. This month I fell for it. Big time. Wow, once I started checking out the sites I couldn't believe the treasure trove of stacking shelves, mini cones, trays, etc. to handle everything from toe rings to pot lids and toothbrushes.


I wound up getting things I didn't know existed- a scarf/tie hanger for our closet, trays for the junk drawers in my kitchen and bathroom, can holders, tiered spice cabinet shelves... once I started I couldn't seem to stop. Anyways, Ian and I are now able to instantly find the dental floss. And the cornstarch. And the batteries. And the kidney beans. And my good black heels. And the muffin tin. And I feel kind of giddy whenever I open a drawer. I'm SUCH a homenerd! Will all of this actually help come September/October? Or am I just battening down hatches that are going to be no match whatsoever for the typhoon. I don't know. I'll keep ya posted...