2 more pics

Sleepy Daddy and boys



Claire Bear being a ham!

Together Again!

Everyone is home!!

Isaac came home last evening! He is doing great! We took them both in for weight checks today. Isaac is 4lbs 12 oz which is the same as when he left the hospital and Ryan is 5lbs 2oz which is up 5oz since when he left the hospital.

I will post pics of both boys together once I upload them on my computer!

The madness begins...

Quick Update...

Sorry for slacking... but between caring for Ryan and Claire, Scott working half days, and trips to see Isaac I am kinda lacking in the free time department!

Ryan is doing well, he sometimes had difficulties with feedings...but hopefully he is maintaining or even gaining some weight.

Isaac is off CPAP and they are pulling his tube feeds today. He nursed well for 30 minutes today. Hopefully he will be strong enough to come home next week!!

Claire is adjusting to Ryan much better. She always wants to know where he is and what he is doing. She gave him a kiss yesterday too.

Here are some updated pics...

Baby Isaac

Baby Ryan

Claire being braver

Claire and baby Ryan

This is as close Claire will come to "baby brother Ryan" (this is actually what she calls him)!

I will give updates on Isaac later this afternoon. I am going to go see him at noon.

Back from the hospital...

Thanks to Mandy for posting the birth of the boys! I was discharged today minus one. Isaac is still in the NICU. He is having a difficult time maintaining his breathing on his own. He is currently on CPAP on room air. He had a trial off CPAP for about 4 hours today on did okay, but not good enough to keep him off. He has Respiratory Distress Syndrome which is pretty common in preemies (especially boys) and is expected to stay in the hospital for another 2 weeks or so. It was so hard to leave him at the hospital today, but at least I know he is in good hands.

Ryan is doing fabulous. He came home with us today and was actually D/Ced from the NICU on Friday. Everyone is amazed with how well he is doing for a 34 weeker. He is nursing well, but still needs to be supplemented with a high calorie formula due to his tininess.

Baby Ryan
Baby Isaac

I will post the actual birth story and more updates later...I am just too exhausted today!!

The Boys Have Arrived!

Hi! This isn't Becky, it's her sister Mandy. Becky is currently recovering from her C-section this afternoon. And we all know what that means... Ryan and Isaac are here! She almost made it to 35 weeks, so she didn't do too badly at all. And best of all, both boys are over 5lbs! Here are (what I believe to be) the official stats:
Ryan (Baby "A"): Born 9/17/08 at 3:18 pm. Weighs 5lb 2.6oz and is 18 inches long.
Isaac (Baby "B"): Born 9/17/08 at 3:19 pm. Weighs 5lb 2.4oz and is 19 inches long.

Ryan is doing very well and is breathing fine on his own. Isaac is having a little more trouble and is on CPAP (I'm pretty sure that's right), which can supply oxygen as needed. He hasn't really needed to use the oxygen, but it's there just in case. He's been struggling some with the breathing, but Scott and my mom both said that he was sounding better than he had been earlier, so that's good. Both babies are in the NICU and poor Becky won't be able to see them until tomorrow morning. Scott took me up there so I could meet them and they are both tiny, but completely adorable. They definitely favor Scott, but that's only fair since Becky already has her doppelganger in Claire Bear.

They moved Becky to her room around 6:00 and she's trying to get some rest while she can. You can call her cell phone if you would like to say hi and congrats. It was a very trying day for her, but she'll be fine. When she went to the doctor's earlier today, her blood pressure was still very high and she was already 5 centimeters dilated. The doctor said that she had to go to the hospital and that they may very well have to perform a c-section. She wasn't allowed to drive herself, so a nurse from the office actually took her. Scott met her there and I guess they didn't like what they saw once she arrived, because the next thing I know, my mom is calling me at work to say they're prepping her to go to the OR.

So, that's the story so far as I know it. Hopefully Scott will e-mail me the pictures he took when they were born and I will post them for you. Until then, happy thoughts for Becky, Ryan and Isaac.

This sh*t is really getting old!

I went to the hospital again today...three hours later - still 3-4cm, still have high b/p (156/117), and still pregnant. At least when I go on Wednesday, I can go to my OB's office instead of the torture of hospital triage. Although...I am sure if my b/p remains high, he will send me over there anyway.

I am so tired of being pregnant, although I am not ready for the challenge of twins either...

Yesterday, the girls came over to throw me a shower! The boys got some nice outfits for the upcoming months. The food was excellent and the conversation was interesting!

I started an Ann Tyler book recommended to me by Val, seems interesting so far...

Bored...

Ughhh....I hate doing nothing! I hate television and all the crappy shows that are on! Who the hell is Tila Tequila anyway and why is she famous?? Why do I want to vomit every time I flip past Jon & Kate?? Why is everyone on Bravo gay?? Why does my People magazine suck this week?? Why did I finish a really good book ("The Time Travelers Wife") last week leaving me with only crap to read (I refuse to start reading the Nicholas Sparks book I found on my bookshelf...I don't think I can take the cheese)?? Why isn't anyone updating their blogs so I can at least read that?? Why did I stop getting a paycheck last week...now I can't online shop?? Why does Claire want to play everywhere but where I am (at least watching her play is interesting)??? I would join Facebook and start that addiction, but I get paranoid that former patients will try to look me up...

Okay...enough complaining.

I need:
Book recommendations (FYI - I hate mysteries, most chick lit, Harry Potter type books and romance novels)
Movie Recommendations
Fun websites

Thanks!

I'm back...

Well, luckily I am not anymore dilated than Wednesday...but my blood pressure is elevated. I think my last reading was 165/108. They drew some labs and luckily I am not in preeclampsia yet. Basically it means more bedrest and another hospital trip on Monday to do this all over again!!

Still here...

I am hating this bedrest crap...but whatever at least I didn't have to spend the majority of this pregnancy in bed. My Mom and my MIL are both helping out with Claire so I can keep this kids cooking hopefully another 2 weeks. I will update after my hospital visit tomorrow (as long as they don't keep me).

BEDREST :-(

The time has come where I am now on bedrest. I went to the OB today and I am 3-4cm dilated ans 70% effaced. I have to go to GBMC on Friday to see if I have progressed anymore. This sucks. At least I am not in the hospital yet.

Getting around town with 3 kids...

This has been a worrisome subject for me since I found out I was having twins. I looked at triple strollers online, but it just didn't seem worth it because they are so freaking expensive. I realized the best bet was "wearing" one baby and pushing Claire and the other baby in the stroller. Of course, that may not be the best solution all the time. I do feel fully armed with baby stuff to make going out with three kids possible. Here is what I have ready to go...

First, after much debate I have the Kolcraft Contours stroller. Scott but it together on Saturday and it is really neat! I love all the different seat options that are available. The downside is that the seat for Claire doesn't have a place for her to rest her head comfortably and that it is like a small bus. Still neat though!

We also have a double snap and go stroller which I scored off of Craigslist for dirt cheap. This should work well if I go to somewhere where Claire can walk/play and I can push the babies around.










My sister in law also gave us her Maclaren side-by-side stroller which will be good when the boys are older.

Now for the fun part..

This carrier is called the maximom twin carrier. It kinda looks like a double bjorn. It has mixed reviews online. People either can't live without it or think it is a piece of crap. I got it used on eBay. The good news is that when i am done with it, I can sell it back on eBay at the same price that I paid for it. Since it is a specialty item, there are ever only a few listed at a time with lots of bids. This carrier can be used until the boys are around 4 months old.



I also have the moby wrap from when Claire was a baby. It is a semi-complicated huge piece of fabric to tie your baby to your body. The benefit of it now is that it can do a twin hold for twin up to 3 months old. I can also use it for one until they are toddlers (apparently).

I also am the proud owner of the old standby bjorn...Claire and I used this a lot. I believe Claire outgrew it around 6 months old.

I have sling that was recommended to me by my neighbor that just had a baby. It is a ring sling with many different ways to position the baby. This obviously only hold one as well. It is called a slingezee and I haven't read a bad review anywhere. This apparently holds up to 35lbs.

I own this sling, but I think it is a piece of crap. I only used it once with Claire and it felt like I was never able to get a secure hold. It is the infantino sling. The funny thing is that I now own two of these thanks to Mandy dropping off my old one and her sister in laws old one too.

I also have the ergo carrier which gets rave reviews everywhere online. You have to wait until the baby has some head control before you use it, but it can be used on the front or the back for up to 60lbs. Apparently people swear by this carrier...I thought we would give it a try.

I also have a mei tai which can be worn in the front, back or hip. I can actually combine the ergo carrier and this and wear one on the front and one on the back. Again the baby needs to be a little older with some head control to use it. I can combine it also with the slingezee wrap to wear two at once. This one was handmade on etsy.com and can hold up to 35lbs.

I also own the playtex hip hammock. I used this a few times with Claire. I can't say that I like it all that much, but it wasn't the worst thing ever. It is for babies/toddlers 15-35 pounds (although from past experience, I was done using this when Claire was around 20 pounds).

Hopefully, the options will keep the babies happy. I will have to let you all know what worked best after I get a chance to actually use some of these. Also, hopefully with all this baby wearing I will be able to shed some pregnancy pounds!

Another day...another uneventful OB appt.

Not much happened at today's appointment. I lost 2 lbs (which is very strange) and everything else is in it's place. I start going weekly now and I also start my NST's (which is a test that basically measures fetal heart rate, contractions and movements) next week. My OB said he would let me go to 37 weeks if I can make it that far...that would put me at October 3rd. It sucks being pregnant, but honestly it would suck more having two babies in the NICU (plus I am no where near mentally prepared for twins yet). My OB also confirmed that my chances of C-section are pretty high since both babies are breech...we shall see what they do.

Claire was pretty funny today! We were walking to the car and she said "Mommy, take Claire Bear's hand." She is such a goose!

Oh SNAP...Stretch marks!!

Well I found out Sunday that I have stretch marks. I thought I was doing well because I hadn't seen any, but apparently I was wrong! I looked at me naked belly in the mirror on Sunday and saw a crap load of purple and blue stretch marks. Apparently Cocoa butter is not enough when twins are involved! The stretch marks have probably been there for a while, but since I cannot see anything below where my belly button used to be I never knew...

Here are some items I can now cross off my list of things I'll never do...

• Wear a bikini
• Wear a midriff top
• Model for playboy
• Be a stripper
• Go to a nude beach

I am sure there are more...but these are all I can think of right now!!