The girls are getting so big

Well, it's been a while again. I guess I have a good excuse, but I know you all want updated pictures. Here are a few, I've found that the big slide shows I've done in the past take a while to upload so I won't add so many pictures everytime. I am still at home from work (I go back Nov. 10th) and am enjoying it so much. The girls take up every second of my time. My mom still stays with me almost every day. I keep my sanity that way. This week I am going solo however, b/c my mom is on a trip to visit her sisters for a week (I'm jealous). Here are a few pictures from the past month. The girls are getting so big. After their 2 month visit Leila weighed 10lbs 1oz and Alice weighed 10lbs 10oz. I've finally mastered tandem nursing the girls and they are still exclusively breastfed (my proudest accomplishment)! The girls are almost grown out of their 0-3 months clothing and are in size 2 diapers now. Thomas and I look at the girls everyday and count our blessings. It's so hard, but all worth it. Enjoy the pictures-


Alice looking super cute~
Leila and Alice together
Twins rock!
Leila loves her some bath time
Alice thinks it's pretty good too

Girls in their first month

Where have you been?

Here at the house with the girls and thank goodness my mom. Two babies are way a lot of work. I don't know how I could do it without my mom during the week and Thomas's help for the night feedings and weekends. Last we went to the doctors the Leila weighed 6lbs 4 oz and Alice weighed 6 lbs 2 oz. That was at 2 weeks old and they are 5 weeks old today. We had some professional pictures taken on their one month birthday. The girls we so good. They are eating every 3-4 hours and sometimes go 5 or 5.5 hours at night (sometimes). I'm still nursing them and given them an occasional bottle of EBM for a break. I had no idea that nursing would be so much work and so hard. I'm sure nursing one would be easier, but I have two. I really enjoy nursing them, but wow hard. Ok moving on. We have gone on some outings to Sam's, neighborhood walks, HEB and.....hmm that's it. We don't get out too much yet. When they get a little bigger I'm sure we'll be out on the town. We are loving up the girls every chance we get, but are looking forward to when they are awake and not crying a little more often. Some milestones they have hit so far are: rolling from tummy to back, smiling (mainly in sleep still), sticking tongue out, tracking object with eyes, and making a few different sounds. I will try to post soon again!

Pictures of our girls

Yes we had the babies!

As you might have guessed, we did have our twin girls. We all just arrived home from the hospital on Monday the 21st and I haven't had a chance to update this until now (as you might imagine I'm busy). The girls were born on Monday, July 14th both at 5:53pm. No one gets the claim to fame for being a minute older. Leila is technically the big sister, however. I was admitted to the hospital on Friday the 11th because my blood pressue was high. My doctor was out of town, but wanted me to come in to check my bp since he's been worried about preeclampsia. Since it was still high at the hopsital I got admitted and stayed there throughout the weekend until the induction started at 11pm on Sunday night. The stay was ok, it turns out I did develp preeclampsia. All the nurses kept saying, why are you still pregnant? I guess my doctor wanted me to hold out until he got back into town on Monday. Anyhow, we started the induction on Sunday night late and kept the process going on into Monday. At about 9:00am the doctor broke my water to put an internal lead on Leila's head to better monitor her heart rate and they monitored Alice's with the external dopplar. I got my epidural at about 10:30am and man does pitocin make contractions miserable. The epidural was a good thing. By 4:30 when my doctor checked me after his office hours, I had not progressed much at all and the talk of a c-section started up. I was all for it and ready to just have my babies. We decided that was the way to go. So off to the operating room and out came the babies. Leila was born first and was screaming and perfect. Alice came out a fast second, but had some troubles. Leila weight 5lbs 14oz and Alice weight 6lbs 2.5 oz. They were both born via c-section at 5:53pm. Alice's first breath was full of amniotic fluid and mucous. She was crying, but only scored a 3 on her apgar (not good at all). By the time she was in the nursery she was turning blue and needing some help. Thomas said they quickly got her under an oxygen hood, hooked up an oxygen saturation monitor, and started an IV. They also did a chest x-ray and realized that her right lung was pretty full of fluid. She was in the incubator with oxygen and IV until Saturday the 19th. She didn't get to eat anything until the 19th as well because she was breathing so hard and fast that she'd choke on more fluid. She pulled through and is doing great now. I'm feeding her and I think she's the better eater of the two. Leila is doing great as well. She's very loving and looks into my eyes the whole time she eats (unless she's too sleepy). Here are just a few of the pictures...I'll add more later.

Thomas and Leila
Leila (left) and Alice
Alice (left) and Leila
Alice (left) and Leila
Alice (left) and Leila
Leila

Alice in her incubator
Leila and Alice together in the nursery
Leila in deep thought
Mom and Leila

The baby quilts

As many of you know, my mother is an award winning quilter and has her own company quilting for the public (although she is on hiatus now that the babies are near). Here are some pictures of the quilts she made for Leila and Alice. I picked the pattern and we picked out the fabrics together.

Here is Leila's quilt top:


And her quilt back:


And her quilt label:


Here's Alice's quilt top:


Here's Alice's quilt back:


And Alice's quilt label:


Here's the strawberry pattern my mom quilted on both quilts:


A teacher that Thomas worked with at Midland High, Karen Dirks, suprised us with a package in the mail that contained two baby quilts! They are slightly different from each other.

We have a date!!!!!!!!!

It's true! We have a date for induction. How exciting! I had my 36 week 1 day appointment today. I gained 5 pounds from last week (wow, some of it is swelling though). I am now officially up to 45 pounds. My knees feel it! My blood pressure was ok today, but a little higher than it's been the past few weeks. Still no other signs of preeclampsia, but my OB is worried that it will turn into that quickly. He's gonna start checking me more often for blood pressure just to keep on the up and up with it. I'm still on bed rest until delivery so no shopping at the mall (I'm so disappointed....not). Well, on to the big day....we'll let you all know when it happens, but I'm not going to make it public in order to limit hospital visits. I think we'll have our hands full just trying to figure out what you do with babies and might want all the rest we can get. I'll say it's not soon enough, but at least it's a date that I can look forward to. We go back to see our OB on Monday and hopefully all will still be on track at that time. He can't change his mind at this point can he? I was prepared to beg or bribe him today if he didn't give me a date.... so I got to keep my dignity.

On to the babies, their heartbeats sounded good, we did a quick sonogram and they are both still head down. Their heads are at the same level in my hips which explains why my pelvis feels like it is going to split in half (two heads down there!!! ahhhh). He did another internal exam and I'm still just 1 cm dilated, but the heads had dropped a bit.

I've been feeling ok, since Friday, the 4th I have felt a little off. I just cannot get comfortable no matter what. I can hardly make it through a shower at this point b/c I can't stand for any longer than 5 minutes without excruciating back pain. I can't do baths b/c I can't get in and out of the bath..... Big bellies make life interesting. My mom came over today and put some shelf paper on some of the kitchen cabinets so we can have a place to keep bottles and baby accouterments.

I go in Friday to get my blood pressure checked and then again on Monday. Keep you all updated!!!! Thanks for reading.

Out of the woods for high blood pressure

For now at least. My blood pressure has been great lately. Probably due to the strict bedrest that I stick pretty closely to. I went in to my OB yesterday and the babies heart beats sound good, my weight is good (40lb gain so far), blood pressue great, babies moving great, urine great, and the repeat of the 24 hour urine collection and blood work came back perfectly normal. My doctor just wants to see me once a week for now. We'll do another quick sonogram next week to make sure they are still both head down. I had the Group B strep culture taken and an internal exam. I'm 1cm dilated. Doctor says everything is perfectly normal. My belly is measuring 41 weeks (I was 35 weeks 1 day yesterday at the appt.). Doctor says it could be any day now. I'm betting I'll hold on a while more though.

My belly has been dancing with all the feet, hands, elbows, knees, butts, backs, etc. I love it and I know I'll be missing it soon.

Update on the girls and mom

Here is a picture of my belly at 34 weeks and 1 day.

I survived my 24 hour urine collection and fasting blood draw (it's so cruel to make a very pregnant woman fast for any amount of time). Went back to see my OB today and the urine and blood work look great. They don't have the evidence they need to diagnose preeclampsia, but the doctor is still concerned. My blood pressure was down today (128/80) so that is a big improvement. The babies heartbeats sound good at 151 and 152 bpm. My doctor wants me to repeat the 24 hour urine collection and blood work on Monday and see him Tuesday afternoon. He said he's planning on taking the babies as soon as it's safe for them which he said would be 37 weeks (July 14th!!!). So no date for sure yet, but a good idea. For now I am on strict, total bedrest with bathroom privileges. That's ok, that's all I feel like doing now that I am so big and probably have over 10lbs of baby in my tummy.

34 week 1 day appointment with OB

Today I had my 34 week and 1 day appointment with my OB. I gained 4 pounds over the past two weeks. I'm up to 37 pounds total. The doctor said to expect 40 - 45 pounds at the beginning of the pregnancy so I'm on track for that. Hopefully I won't go over it too much. They found the babies heart beats and said they sounded good. One was quieter than the other and the nurse thought a leg might be in the way. Sounds cute. :) They were concerned about my blood pressure today (140/90) and my swelling in ankles and hands. The doctor thinks it's probably pre-eclampsia which is a condition that all pregnant women are at risk for, but more so with multiples. I have to do a 24 hour urine collection starting tomorrow morning and then go in Thursday morning to have my urine analyzed and blook work done. Then I see my OB again Thursday afternoon for a blood pressure check. All of this will aid in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia or if I just have transient high blood pressure. He said that we'd probably be looking at delivery at 36 or 37 weeks if I have pre-e. Earlier if anything else comes up. I'll keep ya'll posted.

I feel pretty good. I am having contractions pretty frequently, but they are painless and not associated with any other significant symptoms so he's not concerned yet. I did call him on Saturday night right about dinner time (poor guy) just to double check because I was having them so frequently (every 3-5 minutes). He said to just wait them out unless they were painful or I was bleeding.

That's the news. I'll post a picture of me and the belly later tonight!

Nesting

Woke up today not feeling quite right. Lazy on couch until Thomas came home for lunch. Complained to poor Thomas about how messy things were in the house and he said he'd clean for me this afternoon. After he left for lunch I thought, hmm I'll just pick up a few things. Well, I changed the sheets in the guest bedroom (we had a visitor on Friday night), cleaned out the drawers in our bathroom and vacuumed out all the hair and dust, organized under the sink, changed decorations around the house to 4th of July stuff, put away some more baby clothes, cleaned the kitchen counters, cleaned the laundry room, picked up the living and dining rooms, had a snack for more energy, hot glued some decorations back on the front of one of our baby books that fell off, cleaned off piano, went through old magazines to trash, and am finally back on the couch. Thomas called and asked what I was up to. I had to admit I was nesting which doesn't make him too happy because he knows I'm supposed to be taking it easy. Sometimes I just can't help it.

Don't worry, I've had a few bouts of nesting and it never has led to any signs of labor so for those of you who think I might be delivering soon...I hope not! I want at least a few more weeks with the girls inside. For my own goal I'd like to get to 36.5 weeks. I feel like we would be able to avoid the NICU at that point.

We also met with our pediatrician last night. Dr. Watson. We had to wait a little bit in the waiting room, but what can you expect. On a bathroom run I actually ran into him and he appologized that we had to wait and promised he'd be with us soon. At least he acknowledged it. Dr. Watson comes very highly recommended, but we always get the disclaimer from people that he's an amazing doctor, but is hard on the parents. We take it that he just tells you what you're doing right and wrong without sugar coating it too much and some people get offended or take it personally. As far as we are concerned, we want him to just come out and say whatever he is thinking. He's the doctor after all. We also got the comments "Isn't he retired?" We were expecting a 75 year old man...not at all he's 58. People love to talk in Midland. We had a great meeting with him. He spoke with us for about an hour and answered all our questions, told us about his training, his plans for the future (not to retire for at least 10 years and add more ped.s to his practice), who is on call for him, how to get a hold of someone after hours, etc. After we left we were both very pleased with our decision of having him as our pediatrician. He was very personable and even quite funny. I think he will fit our needs with the girls great.

33 week appointment with perinatologist

Well, Thomas and I went to our 33 week appointment with our perinatologist (high risk pregnancy doctor) this morning. They do our indepth sonograms, track their growth, track their amniotic fluid, and assess all their functions. The girls look great. I cannot believe how big they are. Twin A (closer to cervix) is on my left and head down. She weighs 4 lbs 10oz. Everything looks great on her. Twin B is on my right head down also (yay!). She weighs 4lbs 8oz. Everything also looks great on her. I actually lost 4.5 pounds from last Wednesday. I don't know if it is water weight or if I just had a big lunch last week???!?! My hands and feet are getting a little deformed looking with all the swelling. What a cruel trick to have one of the hottest summers on record and be pregnant with twins! Thomas and I made it to the pool yesterday and that was so nice. I think I'll drag my mom to the pool tomorrow. Ok back to the appointment...my blood pressure is good (117/74) and no other complications. I am feeling more braxton hicks contractions, but the doctor said they are nothing to worry about unless my water breaks or I cannot breathe through them. I go back to see them in 4 weeks when I'll be 37 weeks, but they didn't think I'd make it that far. 50% of twins are born before 37 weeks. We'll see.

We get to meet our pediatrician tomorrow night and I'll update after the meeting. I'm anxious to meet him. Thanks for reading!

More sonogram pictures

Sonogram pictures finally

32 Week appointment with OB

So I went in to see my OB today. I look forward to these appointments so much. It's fun to get to talk about the babies and being pregnant! My blood pressure was good, my urine looks good, I gained 4.5 pounds in the past 2 weeks, and the babies' heartbeats sound good. From where the nurse heard the heartbeats she said they might still both be head down. I can't tell?!?!?! We'll see Monday after we have another sonogram with my peri. My belly measured 39 weeks today even though I'm only 32. That's twins for ya. So far it was all good news. I asked about my OB's philosophy on inductions and he said especially for twins he was a fan of inductions by about 38 weeks as long as there is some thinning of the cervix. He even hinted at possibly inducing before 38 weeks. YAY! I'm not sure I could take going any longer than 38 weeks. Hopefully I won't jinx myself by saying that. I go back in to see him in 2 weeks.

It's been way hot here lately. Most of the days we hit 100 or go over 100. I've gone to the pool some, but mainly try to stay in during the heat of the day. The heat doesn't help with my swelling either. My only defense is airconditioning and water, water, water. Oh, and my naps. Off to a nap right now!

Some pictures

This is my belly at 31 weeks 3 days pregnant. Compare it to the first post I made.
I have stretch marks even if you can't really see them from where you are.

We're famous!

Well, at least at our local HEB (grocery store). It seems that all of the checkers at the store were Thomas's students. I was in line buying some steaks/potatoes/salad when the checker asked how many months I was. I said "7 months with twin girls." She then said "Oh, you're having the LaFarellettes!" I laughed and said that was me. Thomas thinks he knows who it was. I like the nickname. We always seem to run into some of his previous students up there. I suspect that many of you don't know that Thomas has changed jobs recently. The last day of our school year was graduation day on Saturday the 31st. Thomas started his new job Monday of this week. He is a project manager for Nova Safety and Environmental. Yes, he made the move to the oil industry. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. He's been running around doing some training in New Mexico and I make him take his gallon of water everyday because we've had 105+ degree heat all week. At least I can stay home in the air conditioning. My back has been very tired and the babies feel very heavy, but other than that I've been good. I think they were taking turns doing somersaults this morning. They've been calmer this afternoon.

30 week appointment with OB

Tuesday this week (27th) I had my 30 week appointment with my OB. These appointments basically serve to check up on my vitals and get the baby's heartbeats. I have gained 6 pounds in the past two week. EEEeeek! So far I've gained 29 pounds. Initially my doctor said to expect 40 - 45 pounds of weight gain. I think I will reach that after all. My bp was 120 / 74. It had been high the last few weeks I was working, but it has come down since I've been on modified bed rest. The babies heart beats were 154 and 152 bpm. Doctor said everything is looking great. He was glad to hear that they were both head down at my last peri (perinatologist) appointment. I go again for another growth sonogram at 33 weeks so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they are both head down at that point as well. My OB says unless they are both head down at time of delivery that we'll do c-section. OB said to expect to feel more contractions, which have started as of last Thursday. Not so much fun. I go back to see my OB in two weeks. No update on when the babies will come. It's still a wait and see game. I seem to be doing so well I feel like I may have babies for another 10 weeks. I can't imagine carrying babies that are much bigger than they are already. I'm still cheering for 6 - 8 more weeks. I've started thinking about getting my hospital bag ready in the near future b/c you never know. I have a friend who is also carrying twin girls and she's been in the hospital recently for contractions. I hope we both hold out for at least a little bit longer. I don't want NICU babies if I can avoid it.

Sitting on the couch watching Thomas clean

Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying my bed rest and my body tells me I need it everytime I get up for more than 15 minutes, but it's hard watching Thomas do ALL the housework and work full time. He doesn't complain and is happy to do so, but I kinda enjoy the housework (it's in writing now, I can't deny I ever said that). I miss it, and am sure I'll get back to it soon.

This past week I had a baby shower from one of my elementary campuses that I've worked at for the past two years. All the ladies at Rusk Elementary are so much fun and very generous. We got some adorable outfits, baby toys, feeding supplies, DIAPERS!!!!, gift cards, wipes, socks, towels, etc. We have been so fortunate to have so much support. That was my 4th baby shower (each of my elementary schools gave me one, my sister in law and some family/friends gave me one, and my fellow speech language pathologists gave me one). We feel like we have some great stuff to help us out when the babies come and hopefully will make the transition a little bit easier. I know I've sent out thank you notes, but THANK YOU all again.

I had doctors appointments two weeks ago (May 13th with OB and May 14th with perinatologist for sonogram). They both went well. At the OB office, they heard the girls' heartbeats (154bpm and 152bpm), measured my belly (I measured 33 weeks at 28 weeks), took my bp, temp, etc. OB said to expect to start feeling more contractions. I'll be back to visit him on May 27th. The peri appointments are always fun because we get to see out baby girls. I cannot lay on my back at all due to all the weight so I have to flip and flop from right side to left side. The girls looked HUGE. They were both head down which was a first. I might be able to forego a C-section...we'll see. Twin A weighed 2lbs 11 oz and Twin B weighed 2lbs 9 oz. They are growing well. I'll see my peri again on June 16th.

Still working on getting those sonogram pictures scanned in... keep posted.

Nursery pre-babies

I'm a newbie

My aunt Judi has encouraged me to start my blog and I finally sat down to figure it out. I have a little extra time on my hands now that my doctor has put me on modified bed rest this week. I am enjoying it and can't imagine how I was able to work all day long without my 3 hour nap I've come accustomed to. I'd also like to introduce my pregnant belly and the passengers of the pregnant belly. Leila Grace and Alice Katherine are due on 8/4/08, but will probably come a bit sooner than that. I'm about 26 weeks in this picture. So far so good with the pregnancy. Thomas and I found out we were pregnant the Sunday after Thanksgiving and have been loving every second of the pregnancy since then. We couldn't wait for our first prenatal appointment at about 8.5 weeks when our doctor informed us he'd like us to come back the next week for a sonogram to see how many babies are in there. We thought he just said that to everyone....apparently not. Our sonogram at 9.5 weeks revealed two babies. I don't know how we didn't faint. He sent us for specialty care since multiples are high risk. We went for a sonogram at our perinatologists that next week at 10.5 weeks again confirmed the twin pregnancy. I'll get around to scanning the sonogram pictures soon for all to see. We've enjoyed getting frequent sonograms and checking up on the girls. Since then, all tests we've taken have come back normal for everything and we can't believe how well it's all gone. Thanks for reading my first blog. More to come!