Joel has a helmet!

On tuesday, we picked up Joel's cranial remolding helmet. He will need to wear it 23 hours a day for approximately 3 months. He is doing pretty well with it, I must say. He's quite the little trooper.
:)

4 month well visit

The boys had their 4 month well visit on Friday and they are, well, well. :) They both weighed in at 13 lbs even, and Joel is only a 1/4 inch taller than Roman now--2 inches to Roman's 23 3/4. They survived immunizations, and they are doing great.

We decided to move them into separate cribs, which means they moved into their own room last night. I will miss looking over and seeing them asleep just a few feet away, but I'm sure I'll be glad for this milestone soon.

Oh no, we're not sleep deprived...

Last night, Mark changed Roe's diaper at midnight. He fussed a little while I fed Joel, but by the time I put Joel back in the crib, Roman was sound asleep.

At 3:30, he woke to eat again, so I brought him into bed to feed him. I kept his legs covered with his blanket, only freeing his arms from the swaddle to keep him warm. When he finished eating and I removed the blanket, I was in for quite the surprise. Mark had put his diaper on OUTSIDE his clothes!!!

Poor Roe! Poor Mark! Ah well, we had a good laugh over it this morning, and Roe is napping like a champ.

3 months old

Boys, please stop growing up for just a moment. Let me hold you and snuggle you and love you just as you are without feeling like every precious minute is one we'll never have again. Please be small and lovely and infinitely cuddly and cooing and enchanting.

I am so blessed but suddenly realizing how bittersweet parenting can be. I look at my sweet boys and how quickly they have grown and are growing and while I am fiercely proud of every smile and coo they produce, I feel a tightness in my chest and throat because they will never be this little again, and time is going so very fast. I just want to freeze these perfect moments.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Mama!!!

We're on day three of sleep training with HSHHC, and it is going great. When you pay attention to babies' natural sleepy cues, you realize exactly how much sleep babies actually need. And it is WAY more than they were getting.

They've been going down for naps easily. Though they still have the evening fussies, they've had an earlier bed time, more frequent naps, some of which are quite long. We're getting into a good routine and seeing lots of smiles, and very little fussiness or crankiness during awake time.

We have smiles!!!

Who needs sleep when you've got smiles?

The boys are doing great! Roe seems to be moving out of his grumpy stage (I refuse to call it "colicky") and is soothing to sleep better. They aren't napping well during the day, but they are happy.

I've just ordered the book "healthy sleep habits, happy child" from Amazon and am hoping for some ideas on getting them to nap better. Right now they are on an all-out nap strike, which is exhausting. It may be time to transition them into crib naps, rather than just having them nap in the swing, bouncy seat, or car seats. It seems they associate the swing and the bouncy with play-with-mommy time and they aren't so interested in sleeping in them anymore. I don't know how they will respond to being swaddled and laid in the crib in the middle of the day, but it could be the only way I'll get them to nap!

We've got a good weekday routine in the early morning--I get up after the early morning feeding and they stay in bed until 8 or 9. Then they get up, Roman gets his reflux meds, both eat, and we go downstairs and, in theory, read or play until they fall asleep. Except, they haven't been falling asleep, so I need to alter that theory!

This is one of those frustrating things about being a first time mom--I want to instill good sleep habits, but have no idea how to do it!

8 week photos

The boys will be two months old tomorrow!
Photos taken at 8 weeks old...

One month appt!

The doctor says both boys are just beautiful! :)

They are both growing really well--Roman is 19 3/4 inches long and 8lbs 2 oz. Joel is 20 3/4 inches long and 8 lbs. 4 oz. Yay for milk!

Joel has been diagnosed with torticullis and plagiocephaly, so we are going in for physical therapy and cranial remolding next week. He will need to be in PT for a few months, and may need to wear a skull-shaping helmet for a little while. But he was diagnosed early and is receiving prompt treatment, so he is not likely to have any long-term problems.

4 weeks!

I can't believe they are four weeks old! They have their one month appointment on February 12th, we'll find out how much they weigh, and I'll probably take some portraits of them.

They are doing SO well. Both are chubbing up, and Roman has the cutest of little round cheeks. He is still smaller then Joel (who is a TANK) but maybe he'll catch up soon.

Its possible the boys have reflux, so we need to talk with Dr. F about that. I hope they don't--I hope its just normal frequent spit-ups. We'll see!

The boys are also spacing their feeds longer and longer apart at night. Last night they went 6 hours without waking up for a feeding! When they get to 8-10 hours, they'll start spending the night in their room instead of ours. To prepare for that, I'm going to start having them nap upstairs in their crib at least one nap per day so that they can get used to it.

I can't believe how much and how quickly they grow...

Elbow suckage

I heard some noises from the crib.

As all new moms must, I jumped up to check it out. What do i find, but Joel, sucking on Roman's elbow. (no, he's not hungry--I checked--nearest I can figure, it was just close to his mouth, it fit, he started sucking). So I separate them a bit, offer him a pacifier (he didn't take it) and Roman starts crying!!! I guess he likes having his elbow sucked?

So all of a sudden, both formerly placid babies are fussing--what's a mom to do? I pushed them both back together and let the sucking continue. I really don't know what else I should have done...this seems to make them happy...but I think I will probably laugh later if Roe has a hickey on his elbow.

The Benson Twins are 15 days old!

Two weeks, one day!

The boys are doing great. They are gaining weight, staying awake longer after feedings, and both are lifting their heads and turning their necks when they lay on their tummies on my chest.

On cloth diapering:

Both are wearing cloth diapers during the day, and I have to say, the sight of their fluffy little butts in big cloth diapers warms my heart. They are just too cute for words! Joel lives in bumgenius diapers, and Roman has been wearing prefolds and covers--he's still too small to fill out a pocket diaper. I'm going to become a cloth-diaper evangelist if I don't watch out. I just love the way they look on the boys, and they catch the pee better than the disposables for sure. Roman rarely leaks out of a cloth diaper, but put a pampers on him and you are taking a serious risk of baby pee out the backside of the diaper blowout.

I'm also learning when NOT to change a diaper. Believe it or not, there are times when its best to just let them sit and work it all on out. Right after a poop is the WRONG time to change a diaper. Its best to let it sit for about 15 minutes--because more is often on the way. I learned this the hard way when I changed Roe's diaper 4 times in a half hour. I filled a laundry basket pretty quickly that day.

The nursery nurses at Northside Hospital are kindly invited to Go to Hell...

We went to the pediatrician yesterday to get the boys weights checked, and each baby has gained 12 oz. in the past week. That's enough to put them both well over their birth weights, and they have been exclusively breastfed since last Wednesday.

So, all those nasty nurses who didn't think it was possible to breastfeed twins can bite me. And then they can Go to Hell.

One week and three days old

We're getting into a nice predictable nighttime sleep/wake pattern. The boys like to sleep from 10:30 at night until 1:30 in the morning and then until 5:00 when Mark gets up for work. They eat every two hours during the day and sleep between, so I am so glad their "longer" stretch is at night. Its nice that we can still get up and enjoy our morning cup of coffee together. Usually by the time Mark is showered and dressed I am finishing up the morning feeding and getting ready to get out of bed.

Loving my boys so much more each day. :)

We're Home!

A week ago today I was trying to get some sleep while waiting for the hospital to call and tell me that my bed was ready. Finally at 1:30 in the morning, I called to find out if the induction had been cancelled or if we were still a go. They said to come on down.

So we went to the hospital at one thirty in the morning and they started the induction around 4:00 AM. Labor progressed smoothly, and at 10:00 I was put on a pitocin drip to escalate the contractions. Within a few hours my dilation had increased and my water was broken at 3 in the afternoon. By four o'clock, things were starting to feel a little rough so I asked for an epidural. At that time, The anesthesiologist came in and they were missing some bloodwork, so my epidural was postponed while they rushed some blood to the lab to get the information they needed. Around 5 pm, my epidural went in and I slept for a few hours. When I woke up, I started having progressively harder and faster contractions. I was feeling feverish and complained that my epidural had stopped working (it had, actually, run out). I was given three doses of medication through the epidural but still felt the contractions just as strongly as ever, and was shaking and throwing up. I repeated that I felt feverish and was given tylenol for a headache. I tried to sleep some more, and later in the evening the midwife came in and told me I had a fever. She ordered everyone but Mark out of the room and packed me with ice packs. She lowered the thermostat in the room just as low as it would go.

For the next few hours, I labored under ice. It was pretty weird and surreal feeling, I know I was awake and aware, but the fever made it seem dreamlike. At 2 am the midwife checked my cervix and I was dilated to 9 cm. She informed me that I was not ready to push, but that the boys needed out--she apologized profusely as she told me I needed a c-section. I had no problem with this. I'd been in labor close to 24 hours and was tired, fevered, and packed in ice. I just couldn't wait to be warm again.

I was awake for the surgery--they wrapped my legs in warm blankets and tied me down to calm my shaking. I watched as they prepped my belly for surgery right up until they drew the curtain across my belly. I didn't feel them start to cut, but eventually felt the tugging and pulling sensations as they pulled my organs out and rearranged them on my abdomen. They let Mark stand up and watch as they pulled Joel out at 2:49AM. A moment later, Roman followed.

Both boys are absolutely wonderful, and we are all happy to be home and healthy.

Decision Day

And those New Hampshire voters thought THEY had a big week.

I'm 38 weeks pregnant today! Back in May, I was told to be prepared to deliver between 34-36 weeks, in other words, within the second half of the month of December.

My hospital bags have been packed since October. They've been in the car since November. The nursery's been done, the clothes have been washed (along with 7 dozen cloth diapers for their little tushies!), and everything has been ready for weeks and weeks, just in case.

Today I have my last prenatal appointment/groping. I will have an ultrasound to determine first of all what position the babies are in. Baby B has been wriggling and writhing and may have turned this week--its possible he just rolled over, but with his trend over the last six weeks from vertex to vertex/oblique, to vertex/transverse, its possible he's pulled his head up and is now fully transverse. Before an induction is done, they will want to verify his position. If all looks good at the ultrasound, one of three things will happen: I'll either be sent to the hospital after my appointment for the induction, or I'll go home, get a good dinner and a good night's sleep and go to the hospital in the morning, or they will schedule my induction for sometime next week--we really hope it's one of the first two. If Baby B has indeed turned transverse, we will most likely opt to schedule a c-section.

I am so relieved to have made it to the point where there is no question that these guys are fully cooked. I probably won't need the preemie onesies I bought, but I'll bring them to the hospital just in case. I feel stretched beyond capacity, and this week my belly button has finally popped up like a turkey timer.

we're done, we're done, we're done

2 days and counting

It looks like an induction is all but a foregone conclusion.
Mama is going to rest up, drink lots of fluids, and try to sleep as much as possible between now and Thursday. Here's hoping the hospital won't make us wait until Monday to be induced!

3 days and counting

...fingers tapping....

5 days and counting to induction deadline...

Midwife says if Roman and Joel don't come out by 1/10, they are going in after them!

Come on guys, don't you want to pick your own birthday?

Still waiting!

It's cold outside, so we decided to stay inside where it's warm another day...