Eviction Notice

Dear Babies,

Tomorrow you are being "evicted" from your warm and cozy residence where you have grown for the past 37 weeks. The doctors have decided that your mom is so uncomfortable that it's time for you to come into the world! You have so many people (grandparents, noni's, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends) who are anxiously awaiting your arrival tomorrow. And I think you will be very comfortable in your new living accomodations that are all ready and waiting for you thanks to your dad, Aunt Jen and Aunt Jivvy.

On this very rainy day I had my last doctor's appointment where we saw you both moving around during the sonogram. After our appointment we went shopping and bought a video camera so we can video the day you are both born. Because your mom has been on partial bedrest for the past 7 weeks and can not walk very far or stand for more than a few minutes because you both are getting too big to be carried around, I had to shop at the store in a wheelchair. Here I am below the day before you were born.

It has been a very long journey to bring you both into this world and we still can't believe we get to meet you tomorrow. We love you so much already and are excited for this new chapter.

Love,
Your mom

p.s. Please take it easy on your big brother Winston. He has no idea what is in store for him after tomorrow :-)

Still Growing....

I guess there is a reason why I'm not a gambling woman. I would lose my shirt! I thought for sure these babies would be here by now, but as I am approaching 37 weeks this Tuesday, they show no signs of being ready to vacate the premises. Things can always change, but at my most recent doctors visit this week the nurse told me I was the poster woman for a twin pregnancy with "beautiful" blood pressure, perfect weight gain, etc. This definitely made me feel good mentally, but not so much physically.

We are pretty much ready for our babies to arrive. Brad loaded the car seats in the car a few weeks ago (after we were sent to labor and delivery for the 2nd time in 6 weeks), our bags are packed, cameras charged and one nursery is completely ready. Still waiting for our daughters furniture to arrive after 17 weeks now. I would not recommend the manufacturer Creations. Furniture is beautiful but they have quality control and shipping update issues. Luckily, our little guys nursery including furniture is all set and ready to accomodate both of them.

We were also very fortunate to inherit the changing table below from our sister in law. We now have a complete changing station in our formal living room. Doesn't everyone?!! She found it extremely helpful to have a complete changing station on the first floor so you're not always running up and down stairs changing diapers and outfits. Our station is stocked with onesies, outfits, diapers, wipes, butt paste, burp cloths, wash cloths, you name it, we've got it!

Today marks the end of my 2nd full week of being out of work and it's honestly been great to lie around and not be stressed about work emails and phone calls. B finished up his last project last Friday so he is now officially done with his contracts until the end of the year for the most part. We are just waiting for these babies to show up! I am trying to absorb all of this leisurely couch time and silence while I can because I know in just 11 short days our lives as we know it will be forever changed. Stay tuned!

Approaching Week 35

I can not believe that this Tuesday I'll be 35 weeks along! Last week, week 34, marked a huge milestone for the babies and I'm told every day after 34 is a bonus so we appear to be in good shape so far! Well, the babies are in good shape, I'm growing by the minute and more and more uncomfortable each day. But I keep reminding myself that they will be here before I know it.

We had a measurement sonogram last week and we are looking at some good size babies! Our little guy is measuring just shy of 5 lbs and his sister is a little smaller at 4lbs 9oz. He continues to take up most of the space and she is still very content in my right side. Only now, she is completely breech and her head is not meshing well with my rib cage these days. I continue to be on partial bedrest and so look forward to my doctor's appointments so I can get out of the house. It's amazed me how my husband has picked up all of the slack around here and turned into a chef (yes, that's right.. he makes a great chicken florentine casserole and pot roast), dog walker, mr. fix it, chauffeur, masseuse, errand runner and has read many books on caring for infants. On top of this, being a wonderful and supportive husband. Our babies are so lucky to have such a great dad and I can't wait for them to meet.

We have also made one of our first big decisions as parents; the hiring of a nanny. We interviewed 4 girls and offered the position to one of them this past Thursday. I couldn't believe how I was completely off my game so to speak when it came to interviewing. This pregnancy has made me lose my mind when it comes to thinking clearly, concentrating and being organized (hence why I am already out on maternity leave). Brad was the one who asked the majority of the important questions and facilitated the discussion and I was the parent who discussed finances. We are in complete roll reversal and I hope I get my old self back after the babies are born! Needless to say, we're confident in our decision and she will be starting in January part time before I go back to work and then full time once I go back the end of January.

I can honestly say that I will be amazed if I am able to make it to week 38. My gut feeling is that these babies will be here sometime in the next 2 weeks.... just my own intuition, but you never know. I will keep you all posted!

32 Weeks and Counting

Today marks my 32 week milestone! I am so happy to have made it this far and am happy that my babies are looking good and growing by the day. As of last week, my little guy was measuring around 3 lbs 7 ounces and his sister is a little smaller at 3 lbs 1 ounce. We go tomorrow again for another sonogram (1 a week now that we're on the home stretch) and I am very curious to see how much they've grown over a week if at all.

I am also thrilled to have some of my bed rest restrictions lifted. I am now able to move around my house a little more now (still can only do the stairs once, maybe twice a day) and I was even able to get out to the mall this past Saturday to do some returns and exchanges with Brad. The only stipulation was that I had to ride around on a motorized scooter. It was pretty funny but it got me around quite comfortably I might add.

We are lucky to have such great friends and my family taking care of us. Winston is not lacking any walks and my family is wonderful bringing us meals almost every day and calling to check in on us. Even though Brad is home with me, he's working and has had to pick up all the household chores in my absence so we appreciate all the help we have been getting. My friends and SIL have been checking in on a regular basis offering their services to help out in getting me organized and offered to bring lunch and dinner. We feel very lucky to have such a great support system around us.

We are on the home stretch with 6 weeks until my official scheduled delivery date. I've been told by my doctor that if I were to go into labor anytime after 34 weeks they will not stop me. They are also pretty confident I'll make it pretty close to 38 weeks. So, I'll keep resting and accepting help from everyone and soak in the peacefullness and quiet of the house because I know things will never be the same again very soon!

31 Week Update

Today I am 31 weeks pregnant and I can't believe the last time I posted an update was over 4 weeks ago. In some aspects time seems to fly but these days I feel like I'm hearing the clock ticking. We had a bit of a scare this past Friday. My family was all headed into town this weekend to celebrate my baby shower that my sister in law and friend Lauren were planning for me on Saturday. Friday morning, I picked up my sister at the train station and we went to lunch and then on to Whole Foods. After being in Whole Foods for no more than a few minutes, I went back out to the car because I just didn't feel good. When I came home, I lied down and noticed I was having contractions and cramping every 5 minutes for almost an hour so I called my doctor and she asked me to come in to the hospital to labor and delivery so she could check me out. With twins they always want to be safer than sorry because you are at such a higher risk for pre term labor. A long story short, they hooked me up to the monitors and realized I was contracting a good amount and on top of that I was 1 cm dialated. Before I knew it, 3 nurses were in the room all coming at me with needles and IV's. It was a little overwhelming but the level of care at our hospital is phenominal and I feel like I was in the best of hands. They first gave me a shot of a drug called Terbutaline to stop the contractions. I was then hooked up to an IV with an antibiotic drip and saline drip. The antibiotics was a precaution in case I had an infection that was causing the contractions. Next, I had a steroid shot right in my butt to help speed up with babies lung development. This was a precautionary measure in case they come any time soon. I was also given a test that helps predict somewhat if I was in pre term labor. The good news is that test came back negative. After spending a very long night in the hospital, I was realeased 24 hours later (after my 2nd steroid shot) home on bed rest. By bed rest, my doctor means literally just that. There is no getting up and going anywhere other than taking a shower and using the bathroom.

This unexpected hiccup put a bit of a damper on my shower, but my SIL and friend made immediate arrangments to move it to Sunday without skipping a beat. My doctor gave me the green light to attend as long as I was on a couch with my feet up the entire time. It was such a beautiful shower and I am so touched by all the love, thoughtfullness and generosity that went into it. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive group of family and friends. The cake was AMAZING and I actually ate the leftover piece the girls sent me home with for Brad. Sorry Brad, but I just couldn't part with that. It matches the theme of my little girls room which is pink and beachy with tropical flowers.

The lovely hostesses, Jen and Lauren.

So, today, Tuesday, September 30th marks my 3rd officialy day on bedrest and my first official day back to work on bedrest. Not only has this been a big adjustment for Brad and I, but little Winston is completely out of sorts. He is pictured below sitting across from me just staring at me as if to say "When are you going to get off your lazy arse lady and walk me?" Fortunately, we have family and friends around that have been walking Winston for me every day, however this is not stopping him from rebelling. Just an FYI for anyone that receives a thank you note from me that has teeth marks on the envelope; not me but the furry one below.

Stay tuned. Now that I am bedridden I will have plenty of time to update!

Approaching 27 weeks

I can't believe I am already 26 1/2 weeks prego. I feel so lucky to have made it this far without any complications at all and I pray that the next 11 weeks remain quiet in there :-) My high risk doctor continues to remind me that things can change on a dime with a twin pregnancy so I've definitely slowed myself down and am making sure to get plenty of rest.

B and I took an infant care class at our local hospital today and it ended up being very helpful. I used to babysit and ton but things change all the time in the baby caring department so I'm glad we took the class. Some highlights I took away that may surprise you are:

• Babies do not need to have their bottles warmed. This just makes more work for the parents. Regardless of if you start off breastfeeding, using breastmilk or not. When making a bottle the recommended way (ironically this is the way we were prepared to do it. Kudos to us!) is to fill the bottle with purified water of room temperature and then mix in your formula, shake it up and feed. Our instructor said that breastmilk is room temp, the same as the bottle and this makes for an easier transition on their little stomaches when you start to serve them regular milk in a sippy cup that has been in the fridge. It is easier on parents too, especially when you're on the go and have 2 hungry babies!
• Dreft is a big scam! This surprised me the most. The ingredients in Dreft are the same exact ingredients as in Tide fragrant free. There is no need to buy dreft other than if you want to buy into it. The fabric dryer sheets are debatable. They take the fire retardency out of clothes so we probably won't use these but I will stick to my Tide fragrant free.
• Swaddle, swaddle, swaddle! I have just started reading Harvey Karps book, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" that a friend let me borrow and after watching the DVD of the swaddling technique I am amazed. I have seen this in action by several of my close friends so I was already a believer. I was given 2 miracle blankets for my little boy and I've already bargain shopped online and bought 2 for my girl.
• Sssshing. This goes with the swaddling and is one of Harvey Karps 5 S's. It appears that babies are soothed by the loud shhhshhing noise because it sounds like when they were in the womb. I've seen friends do this and thought they were crazy but I'm willing to give it a try, coupled with turning them on their side as recommended.
• Baby Food: When comparing ingredients between regular jar baby food and organic, the carbs and sugar amount were the exact same. This may not be true for all organic brands, but be sure to check the labels.

I'm excited to have all these suggestions and it will be interesting to see what works for our little ones and what doesn't. One thing I know for sure is that my house is definitely NOT baby proof. We had some friends over for a happy hour last night and we had a toddler, a crawler and a 4 month old. I was able to accomodate the 4 month old with my playmats and swing, however we did end up moving quite a few things and with a broken dog bowl. Very eye opening for me and especially B who was convinced we would not need to make the extra room in our basement a playroom. I think he's certainly changed his opinion on that after last night.

Lots of Decisions

When I announced I was pregnant I had a friend tell me to prepare myself for the baby advice and critiquing that would start to pour in. I had no idea how opinionated people would be about decisions that only affect me, B and the babies. Everything from bottles to C sections! I won't even get into the whole breast feeding vs. not opinions.



I didn't think I would have to start making decisions that affect my babies until after they were born but boy was I wrong. The first decision that I've made was to have a scheduled C section and this was not one I took lightly. After talking with several doctors at my OB's office including my OB who I trust and my high risk doctor and after talking with many twin moms, I have decided that there is just too high of a risk to Baby B with trying to deliver vaginally (not to mention several moms I spoke with who wanted a V birth, had one for Baby A and then ended up having a C section for B, so then stuck recovering from both!) Sure there are twin moms out there who have had a succesfull V birth for both babies but there are some pretty upsetting stories I've heard as well. So, do I want a C section? Heck no! I'm tired of hearing from people that they can't believe I would want one! Who would want major surgery! Am I willing to do what I think is best and safest for my babies? Absolutely, even if that means major surgery. Whatever will get them both out safely is what I'm willing to do and I feel very good about my decision.



I think I am most surprised when a fellow mom passes judgement on a mom or a mom to be. I don't see why my decisions should have an impact on anyone but B, me and the babies. I've always noticed how all of my friends and family do things slightly differently from one another and never have I judged one way or the other. Some parents let their kids watch a lot of tv, some don't, some only feed theirs organic food, some allow cookies and soda, some kids have pacifiers, some don't and the list goes on and on. Everyone is entitled to making their own parenting decisions and I don't care one way or another because it does not directly affect me. We will make our own decisions as B and I see fit. I feel fortunate to be surrounded by all of these great moms with different styles, tips and tricks so I can take a little bit of wisdom and ideas from each of them and decide what works best for me and my babies.



The bottom line is both B and I are educated people. If we have a plan to do something one way and it doesn't work for us then we will change it. For any moms reading this, remember not to judge a fellow mom. Some things may work or have worked great for you and you may think it's the best way, but it may not work for someone else for whatever reason. I am certainly open to suggestions and advice but when someone pushes something on me or passes judgement for my decision, that is where I have a problem.

My last gripe and then I'll get off line and finish organizing my linen closet. Why do moms feel the need to share their negative pregnancy / birth experience with pregnant women when not asked for such information???? I was at my community pool a few weeks ago and I ran into a fellow twin mom who proceeded to go on and on about how bad I was going to feel the last month of my pregnancy. Shame on you! You've been in my shoes and that is the last thing I want to hear! I solemly swear to never, ever share with a pregnant person how sick I was or any other pain stories. This is just cruel! I now stop people and ask "Is this a good story or a bad story?" If they say bad then I politely say I would rather not hear it!