Apr 28
Everyone,
Today was the boys 2 year old check up. They were so cute in the exam room waiting for the doctor. They were having hoping races across the room. This is a favorite game of theirs that they figured out on their own together. It’s cute.
Pirate’s stats: 27.7 lbs (50th %), 36 3/4th inches tall (110%), and 19 1/2 inch head. He shot up big time from last visit. They measured him twice because he is just so big. Long and skinny that one! He’s meeting all of his milestones great, except for his speech. What he says:
Mommy
Daddy
puppy
bubbles
mine
no
sisser (sister)
uh-oh
a-ha
Hi
cheese
He doesn’t say any words together. He’s not mimicking any noises that we make. He does a lot of pointing and grunting and a lot of sign language. So. They are sending me back to the county speech place to get re-evaluated. He is also borderline anemic so they need to test his blood at the lab and see if he needs some kind of medication. The doctor said that he probably just needs a daily vitamin with iron in it and he should be fine. His scar from his surgery is healing nicely, and he’s one happy healthy little guy. He did not see the inside of that office from his 18 month check to his 2 year check. Awesome!
Professor’s stats: 22.2 lbs (off the bottom of the charts), 34 3/4 inches (50%) tall, 19 1/2 inches head. (This is the last time they measure their heads!) Obviously his weight is an issue. He is tiny. It’s hard because I give him and Pirate the same foods but Professor will. not. eat. And it’s not like I can shove it down his throat (although I’ve wanted to several times). The doctor said it looks like he is not getting enough calories. So. That means I have to start giving him whole fat everything. Milk, cream, butter, oil, etc. I’m supposed to add MORE of everything whole fat to his regular diet. I mentally shook my head a little when she told me that because I can put food down in front of him. It doesn’t mean that he will actually put any in his mouth. And then, it’s a guess as to whether or not he will actually swallow. What a pain he is about food. Still, I guess I’ve got some research ahead of me to figure out some high calorie things for him to eat. And then there’s the problem of keeping it away from the others!
He is anemic so we are off to the lab for some serious blood work. I think I have 5 tests they are going to run on him; thyroid, liver function, hemoglobin, and a few more I can’t remember. They want to make sure that it really is just a caloric issue and not a body issue. Either way, it’s stressing me out ever so slightly.
Everything else is spot on for him. He is our little parrot and says pretty much anything we say now. His cutest phrases are “Where Mommy go?” and “Mommy go away!” I wish I heard them more. He also yells “MINE!” with a vengeance and can be attached to my leg 80% of the day. Still, he’s such a sunshine boy that I don’t mind (a lot).
So other than the tests, more food, and more Early Intervention, the boys are good! We go back to see them in 6 months (a new change for us…I thought we were free for a year) and they should be great.
They are such cute boys and we all love them so!
Safire
SafireP and P stats
Nov 02
Everyone,
Today is a day in which I over scheduled myself beautifully. For your perusal:
The day started later than I had hoped, 7:30am. I had hoped to rise by 6am with Juice. Juice did not get up at 6am; therefore, neither did I. Butterfly, however, did get up at 7:30am and so we started our day.
Playgroup for Butterfly this morning was great. We played outside. The boys went down Ms. K’s really big slide by themselves. Shocked looks and a few shy smiles followed. Also, lots of giggling girls and eating mummy hot dogs and home made doughnuts. It was great. I miss weekly playgroup with these girls.
A prompt departure at 12:45pm in order to make it to the boys’ 18 month old doctor visits. No matter that they are almost 19 months old. And no matter that this is the 4th time I’ve had to schedule this visit (first few times we were sick, then I was out of town). Arrival was prompt. Waiting room was full. The boys were charming. The rest of the visit as follows:
In which I was able to strip both boys to their diapers in less than 1 minute. The nurse timed me. He (the nurse) got a kick out of it and kept mentioning it.
In which Pirate weighs 24 lbs 1.5 oz, 33.5 inches long and has a nice 19 inch head. This puts him at 50th for weight, 95th for height!, and 75th for head.
In which Professor weighs 21 lbs, 5.5 oz, 32 3/8 inches long and another nice round 19 inch head. 5th percent for weight (yay we’re back on the charts), 50th for height and 75th for head.
In which both boys had two shots, hib and flu. Pirate did not cry in the slightest. Professor screamed during the second shot but was mollified by his binky and sticker.
In which Butterfly also received a shot in the arm for the flu. She threw a hissy fit. A sucker and a sticker did not placate her. I finally had to yell at her and put her in time out in the doctor’s office. Good times.
In which Pirate is probably going to have surgery!! He has a hernia that has not gone away. Off to Children’s Hospital we go!
In which we spent almost 2 hours at the doctor’s office.
In which I was grateful to have thrown Butterfly’s dance clothes in the car on the way out. We got to dance class in time to have a milk shake (the boys drank most of mine) and go to class.
In which I came home to dinner done in the crock pot. I love my crock pot.
In which I am now pooped and need to sleep. Night!
Safire
Safiredoctor visits, P and P stats, play group
Oct 20
Everyone,
This past Sunday the boys turned 18 months old! They are now closer to 2 than they are to 1 and it’s exciting! I am loving this stage I think because we have two very sweet little boys. I was curious and looked back at Butterfly’s 18 month old post and they are so different! Although I do have some of the same worries. I worry that the boys are not eating enough like I did with Butterfly this time in her life. I don’t know why I worried, she was enormous then! The boys are tiny compared to her.
We have not gone to the doctor for their check up yet because everyone here is sick. It started out with Butterfly complaining that her tummy hurt to a full blown snot ridden week. Both the boys have raging fevers today and I am typing this with a little furnace in my lap (aka Pirate). I am pretty sure they have the flu (piggy or non, I’m not sure). Wonderfully high fevers, cough, congestion, and Butterfly and Pirate have both thrown up. Amazingly, Professor seems to be the least affected by this and is stomping around the house. He does have his binkie and cries when I take it away so I figure he can have it while he is sick.
I also have not taken their 18 month old pictures. There is no reason why they should have the glazed doughnut look and huge sunken eyes for them!
I just did a post on things they were doing a week ago but I’ll update just a few things.
Professor is my sunshine. What a sweet and happy little guy he is. And he is tiny. Some of his winter clothes from last year are still fitting him. He said his first two word sentence the day before he turned 18 months old while my parents were here. We were having Chinese food for dinner and Juice was eating Lo Mien. Professor crawled into his lap, looked at the plate and said, “Noodles Mama?” It was so cute and clear. Things that he says shoes (Shhh! while chucking one at you), cheese (zzzeee? always a question), Mama (maMA!), woof woof (ufff!), dog (da!), and uh-oh (uh-oh…this one is very clear), no. He says barely a third of what Butterfly said at this stage. The county came and assessed both the boys for speech therapy but they don’t qualify. Still, if they are not saying anything more in 6 months, I need to have them rechecked.
He is pushing boundaries this one and will constantly try to tip over the dog’s water or climb up where he shouldn’t. He almost always announces that he is going to do something by pointing at it and saying “noooooo”. I’m not always around to catch that and he ends up in the toilet or on top of the table or in a heap on the floor. He loves hats and wears his Halloween costume hat around just for fun. He will come over to Butterfly and chatter to her while she tries to block him from any toys she is playing with.
Pirate is my little snuggle bug. He loves to be held by mommy, sick or not. He has the best smile and the saddest face. He is getting better at walking but still runs head first into things several times a day. He loves to hold my hand and walk around. He always beams when he is doing this like he is the most important person in the world for holding my hand. He is sensitive and has been crying when Professor or Butterfly cry in earnest. He hates diaper changes and can really lock his legs and spin himself around while changing. Makes it very difficult to change him lately!
He is not saying much. Only uh-oh. He doesn’t babble a whole lot either. I’m just trying to go with it and he’ll talk when he’s ready. He loves to see how things work. My parents were visiting this week and he was fascinated with Grandpa’s camera. Grandpa was really nice and let him use the camera a little bit. He had shutter pushing down! He’s not afraid to ask you to help him with something he can’t do. He loves to hold remotes while movies are playing and actually is starting to watch them now. He is great with the Wii and gets all excited when it’s time to play. He loves to play peek-a-boo and to clap. He loves being the center of attention and applause. He is one tidy baby and loves to put things back into our toy bins, much to Butterfly’s annoyance when she has just dumped them out to play with.
The year is flying by so fast and soon they will be 2!
Safire
SafireP and P stats
Dec 18
Everyone,
The boys are 8 months old today. Which means that they are as old on the outside as they were on the inside now. I can’t believe how much has changed in 8 months. In ways I wish that I took pictures of them every single day and then I could have made a really cute yearly page(s) in my scrapbook (if I ever get back to doing that) but I didn’t. I’m just glad that I have the blog and these monthly pictures! They have gotten more mobile this month and it has made for interesting searches some times. Professor has taken to crawling on top of Pirate. While Pirate normally doesn’t care, Professor does it in their crib while Pirate is still asleep. And then Professor pokes eyes and wakes Pirate up who screams bloody murder for me. They don’t do this enough for me to think about moving them into separate beds (Juice wants to, I’m hesitant). I don’t want to because I do often find them snuggled together at night, arms across each other or heads next to each other. I think they sleep a little better because of it. They don’t know any different! Plus, it’s nice to have them both wake up happy in the morning and listen to them play. Yesterday I heard laughing from both of them and when I went in to see what they were doing, Pirate was rocking his head into Professor’s belly and they were both laughing. Cute cute. They really do like to play together, and have what I call the great toy chase. One will have a toy, the other will make their way over to the toy and wrestle it out of their brother’s hand. If it’s Professor, he immediately rolls away and leaves Pirate in the dust. But Pirate does hop on over to him eventually and takes it back. So far the coveted toy for today was a small plastic girl with long blond hair and a bright pink shirt.
Pirate is 17.8 lbs (clothes on, on my scale) and 28.5 inches long by my measuring tape. 
(Take these measurements with a grain of salt…I don’t know how accurate they are.) He has two teeth on the bottom and several on the top that keep threatening to come out. I was sure he had one of his front edge teeth about a week ago. Every time he smiled you could see a flash of white. It looked like a fang. Our little vampire. But it went back up into the gums and we are just at 2 teeth. He is starting to crawl, mostly hopping around like a frog. He moves his hands forward, then rocks his legs up to his hands, and does it over again. He is also doing real push ups. He gets himself up on his hands and toes and rocks as hard as he can. He still loves sucking his thumb and often takes breaks from rocking to just lay there and suck for a second. It’s so cute. He has the greatest expressions and is always so interested in anything that I am doing. He cries when ever I leave the room. Okay, whenever anyone leaves the room, including Soot. It’s hard to take sometimes. He has been very needy this past month, and I’ve been trying to spend more time holding him and talking to him. He had been loving the solid foods, but that has changed this past week. I’m not sure he enjoyed butternut squash or prunes. I’m going to do applesauce this week too so we shall see. He loves to be held and loves to give hugs. He grabs your arm, smashes himself into you and wraps his other hand around your neck or (if it’s me) in my hair. He also tries to rub his face into my shoulder a lot when I pick him up. He is fascinated with Butterfly and the dog and really enjoys trying to play with her little people. She actually lets him too. He really doesn’t like the exersaucer but loves our backpack or being in my sling. He looks so much like Butterfly. You can tell they are siblings no sweat.
Professor is 17.2 lbs, although .2 of those pounds could be the prunes I fed him tonight. 
He ate a ton of them. And yes, he needs prunes. (Side note, you should have seen the faces Pirate was pulling with those prunes! And Butterfly thought we were feeding them chocolate.) He is 27 inches long. He is just now starting to grow out of the 6 month old size of clothes so I’ve been taking all of them out of their wardrobe and moving onto 12 month size. He is Mr. Independent and always wants to be down on the floor exploring. He is seriously on the move. I have found him under the computer desk, in the kitchen, under a chair in the kitchen, and in my closet. He has a fascination with doors and loves to hold on to them and move them back and forth. He is very very close to crawling on all fours but often topples over. He is a master at army crawling and is starting to get fast. When he is happy, he smiles a huge smile and waves all of his limbs. He has a cute dimple like Butterfly does, but on the right while hers is on the left. He loves to be picked up but I think he loves to be put down more. He is always crawling out of my arms the minute he sees something interesting. He has 4 teeth, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. Those top teeth are huge. I don’t remember Butterfly’s being that big. He is our loud one still. He has this great thing he does to his pacifier. He pulls it out of his mouth, looks it over, sings to it (a very long ha-aaaaaaaaaaaaaa), looks at it, sings again, and then puts it back in his mouth. It is so stinking cute it makes me smile every time I hear it. He loves to put both of his hands on your face and has funny or serious conversations with you. He is the bane of Butterfly’s existence right now because he can get around and loves her toys. He also loves books, dolls, balls, and cars. Basically anything he can get his hands on he likes.
We are looking forward to their very first Christmas next week. I can’t wait to see how they deal with wrapping paper!
Safire
Safire2 boys-double trouble, P and P stats
Nov 21
Everyone,
The boys turned 7 months old on Tuesday. 7 MONTHS! Wow time really does fly. I think I hit the twin jackpot because they are just easy going happy boys. 
(Now that I’ve said that, things will change.) They play really well on the floor and with others. Butterfly is a great entertainer and they think she is the most wonderful thing besides Mommy. They will even not eat if she is in the room because they insist on watching her. Makes for interesting times at our house. They are starting to really notice each other and I hear them chatting to each other in their crib in the morning. Yes, they are still sleeping together in the same crib. I do have 2 cribs, both up even. But I find they sleep a little better with the other there. On the down side, they do wake each other up at night. Mostly I think it’s Pirate waking Professor up who then cries. I go get Professor because I hear him and then Pirate cries like I’ve taken his best friend away. They are both getting up at night lately. I think they must be growing. They down at 5:30pm these days, up at 11pm, up at 3am, up at 5am and then up at 7am to start the day. And really, those moments of them being up is about 6 or 7 minutes and back down. I have been feeding them but not feeding them as long as they want at night. Occasionally they will skip one or all of the feedings depending on their sleep during the day.
Pirate is my happy happy boy. He still laughs all the time, but has been a little more serious these past few days. I think he’s getting a little bit of separation anxiety because he cries whenever we leave the room. He still does not sit up. Nor does he have any interest in it. He is up on his hands and knees a lot rocking furiously. Most of the time he is also crying when he rocks. He so wants to be able to move! He does scoot back and back himself into corners or away from toys. He still does the superman move which is very cute. The only thing touching the floor is his belly and his arms and legs move furiously. I keep trying to get a video of this but my movies are chaos. Kind of like life right now.
He weighs 17.5 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. This is according to my scale and tape measure since no doctor visit this month. I really feel like he grew all of a sudden this month. He seems a lot bigger than Professor. His eyes are also going through some drastic change in color. They used to be a blue with a brown ring near the pupil. Now, the brown is spreading out through the rest of the eye. He will have brown eyes like Butterfly and Juice. His hair also grows straight down like Butterfly’s did. Butterfly and Pirate have the same coloring. I imagine they will grow up looking quite similar. He is my little thumb sucker and it’s just so cute! He has a major fascination with Professor’s binkie and swipes it all the time.
Professor is a mama’s boy. He does not like to be very far away from me. Since he is moving, he always moves in my direction. He still leans in my direction whenever someone else is holding him. And when I hold him, he hooks his arm around mine and holds onto my shirt for dear life. Like I said, he is a mover. He has the rolling around the floor thing down pat. He can get wherever he wants to by rolling. He also does the army crawl thing. Elbow, elbow, hip in the air with leg flung forward, drag other leg up. It’s still very early in his crawling and he gets tired and frustrated more often than not but he does do it.
He is 16.7 lbs and is 26 inches long. With my tape measure. And all of his clothes on too. 
He has 2 teeth on the bottom and bright blue eyes. When we give him a bath, he just looks so bright after. His hair is that bright shiny blond. And he’s got a serious cowlick that makes his hair go over to one side. He has discovered his tongue and it’s almost constantly out of his mouth lately. He is pretty emotional and cries/talks/moans/screams more often than Pirate. He is fascinated with paper and cups. He really really wants a drink out of any cup you put near him. He also is in love with food. I have given them little bits of bread to gnaw on during dinner and he cries big sobbing tears whenever his bread is gone.
Cute cute boys!
Safire
PS- We got our first snow today! It fell but nothing stuck.
PPS- Still no other signs of mice. Hmm…maybe a fluke? Maybe they moved next door? Maybe word got around that Soot is a mighty mouse killer and they don’t come over anymore? Please let one of these be the case. I’m sick of tiptoeing around the house.
Safiremonthly stats, NaBloPoMo, P and P stats, pests and critters
Oct 20
Everyone,
Really? The boys are a whole half a year? Wow. I just can’t believe that we are now closer to their first birthday than their actual birth day. I tried to take their 6 month old shots today but they turned out pretty bad. The light was low and they were moving. Laura, help! I did get a few choice ones. Like this.
Maybe I should do pictures before bedtime. And then there is this one.
Every time I pointed the camera at Pirate, he grabbed for it. So almost every shot of him has his blurred hands in front of his face. I did manage to get a few cute ones. And here’s an update on their stats.
What cute boys we have! They are so happy. Easy going. I guess they have to be with 2 other kids in the house, one of whom is the exact same age (plus or minus 6 minutes). They are on a good sleeping schedule, which helps me actually get through the day. They also go to bed around 6pm, are up only once or twice, and are up for the day around 7:30am. They also have a cute puppy. They have just gotten interested in her and Pirate especially will laugh when she walks past. Of course, he laughs at pretty much anything so I don’t know how good of an indicator that is. You decide. They have discovered toys this past month or so. Juice pulled all of our infant toys from the attic the other day and now our house is covered in them. Who knew that they would also be entertainment for the 3 year old as well? She thinks up these elaborate games with them. They are drowning in the pool and someone has to save them. They can’t find their parents and are on a quest to search for them. They are in the jungle and need to get home. The boys so far just bat, grab, mash, maul their toys. You know, play with them like they are supposed to be played with.
Professor continues to be my little sweetheart. If someone else is holding him, he will lean in my direction. Not lunge, just lean slow and steady. If he is unhappy and sees me not holding him, he flings back his head and arms and shuts his eyes and cries red faced. This instantly stops as soon as I pick him up and he almost always wants to eat at that time. He is a comfort nurser. He is just starting to be wary of strangers. He recognizes Juice and gives him huge smiles when he comes home from work. 
On Friday the 17th (day before they were 6 months old), he weighed 15 lbs, 1.5 oz and was 26.5 inches long. His head was 17 inches. This puts him solidly in the 50th percentile for height and weight. He gained exactly 2 lbs which I find interesting. They got 4 shots plus a oral vaccine on Friday. Poor kids. He also has one tooth (the bottom left) all the way through and the bottom right one just barely coming up. He still does not sit up on his own, but has been on his elbows and knees a lot. I have found him on his hands and knees a handful of times. He tries to move his legs when he is up and ends up belly flopping. He rolls like a mad man and prefers to be on his belly. He is still the loud one and chats on long car rides. Or any car rides for that matter. He loves his binkie. You can tell he is smiling because of his really really cute dimples that appear around his binkie. And you can tell he’s really happy when he smiles so big his binkie falls out of his mouth. He still wakes up at night to eat (Pirate does not) but I don’t mind it too much. I feel like it’s our little special alone time and he is just so sweet.
Pirate laughs. He laughs when you pick him up. He laughs when you change his diaper. He laughed at Juice when he shaved his goatee down to a mustache for the Ren Faire. (Juice says to be concise Pirate did a double take and then BELLY laughed when saw that Juice had shaved.) He laughs when you take him out of the car in his car seat. He has this enormous Muppet smile to go along with the laughing. He also opens his eyes really big when he sees something that interests him. His focus and concentration are amazing! He is not easily distracted when he decides he wants something.
On the 17th, he was 15 lbs, 15 oz. Up exactly 2 lbs from last check up. Guess they are getting the same amount of food, huh? His head is also 17 inches around. And he is a whopping 27 and 3/4 inches long. Which means he grew almost 3 inches from his last check. The nurse measured him three times because it’s a huge jump for him. (From the 25th percentile to the 80th.) Already he is growing out of the length in the 6-9 month old clothes, but the 12 month old clothes swamp him. Sounds like he got my dad’s long torso and our long legs. He is long and skinny already! He doesn’t have any teeth, and he really does not sit up on his own. He prefers to be on his belly doing the superman rock. He lifts arms and legs off the ground and kicks his legs to rock forward on his belly. He can push himself up straight armed and often travels backwards this way. He hates it but can’t figure out how to change it. He reaches for EVERYTHING. (See above picture.) He is fascinated by food and we will be starting them both on solids soon.
Safire
Safiremonthly stats, P and P stats
Sep 20
Everyone,
The boys turned 5 months old on Thursday. I can’t believe they are getting to be so big! The pregnancy and the worry and the boredom has all pretty much faded away. The boys and Butterfly fill my life up so completely there’s not much room for anything else. Juice was asking me what I wanted for my birthday the other day and I couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t kid related. He apparently thought of something else and it should arrive in 5-10 business days. I’ll let you know when it does.
Back to the boys. Remember the cute pictures I got when they were 4 months old? No? Probably because I didn’t post them until a few days ago. (Distracted Mommy, what can I say.) The link is here. And I’ll pause to let you go read that. I’ll go feed Pirate and we’ll meet back here in say, 15. Okay? Good.
Well, it is more than 2 hours later. Thank you for waiting while I had a nap too. 
Let’s get on with it, shall we?
Pirate has discovered toys! He get bored easily and cries if he’s left alone. He is working on mastering the grab and pull to mouth thing that all babies do. He gets it about 80% of the time. I also see the beginnings of a pincher grasp starting up.
When he rolls on his belly, he is no longer content to just look around. He is pushing himself up with straight arms or scooting himself up onto his knees (no arms involved). I get the feeling it won’t be long until he’s mobile! He is easy to smile, and even easier to make laugh. He holds his mouth wide open and his whole face lights up when he sees me. It’s so cute. He is looking more and more like Butterfly these days. I noticed just today that his eyelashes seem to have darkened and thickened so he may have gotten Jeff’s super awesome lashes. He’s sorry but I’m not. I love them. He weighs 15 lbs, 7 oz and is 25 and a half inches long by my calculations. He is still in 3-6 month old clothes but I put a long sleeve/long pant outfit on him today that was 6-9 months and it fits perfectly. He sleeps through the night (typically from about 7:30-6am) but getting him to go to sleep is a chore. I get him all settled, all asleep in his bassinet (yes, still sleeping in my room) and about 10 minutes later, he wakes up inconsolable. Juice has been in there patting and rocking back to sleep for 30 minutes or more because I won’t nurse him back down. But once he’s down after he cries, he’s down for good.
Professor is so easy going these days. We’ve been calling him the velociraptor lately because he has this cry and growl together that sounds like a very angry animal. 
Mostly it’s when he has lost his pacifier. Every time he is on the floor he flips himself on to his belly and stays there most of the time. He can roll from his back to his front and front to back any time he wants but he’s been on his belly by choice. Last night I even caught him sleeping on his belly with his bottom in the air. So cute! He can get himself up on his knees very easily. He’s interested in toys but they are quickly discarded for his binkie. He loves to ‘talk’ and babbles to whatever he’s looking at if he’s in a good mood. He has the sweetest smile with a distinguished dimple and a deep slow chuckle. He’s hard to get to laugh but it’s very cute when it happens. He is eating a little more regularly now that we are home and I think he is gaining a few ounces. He weighs 14 lbs, 7 oz on my scale and is 26 inches long. I put him in a little footed outfit today and his feet barely fit in them. He looks a little lost in the 6-9 month old clothes unless they are long. The 3-6 month old long outfits are starting to look short. He is up at least 3 times in the night to eat. He is sleeping on his belly full time and seems to be helping some. He is easy to get to sleep but still seems to need those nightly feedings. And since he is small, I let him eat.
As twins they are starting to interact with each other. They love to lay next to each other and will hold hands or try to eat each other’s hands. They discovered each other’s feet before their own.
(Meaning they will stare or try and grab feet when they are close but are just now starting to hold their own feet.) They do smile at each other sometimes. They sleep through each other screaming. They even sleep through Butterfly screaming so I have no idea why they wake up when I say something in a whisper in the room. I am going to move them into their own room as soon as I get all of their bedding washed. Well, Pirate anyway. I think I may keep Professor with me for awhile until he stops waking up so much at night. I am excited to move some furniture around and get every situated in their own rooms.
Safire
Safiremonthly stats, P and P stats
Aug 21
Everyone,
The boys are 4 months old! Wow! They are growing and changing every day. They are starting to notice each other and will give each other big smiles when they are both in the mood. They also love to be near each other and frequently ‘check in’ with each other as they roll around on the floor. Yes, they are rolling! Not very far and not too fast but they are rolling as much as I expected them to. They just did their first plane ride a few days ago and passed it with flying colors. They are well traveled little boys and are easy to take places as long as they are fed promptly and mommy is around. They both have a very easy going sweet nature and together make a fun set of twins.
Pirate is my big boy. He loves to eat and will eat all day long if I let him. (No weights or heights as we are in Utah.) He is ticklish and laughs when you bounce him up and down. He is easy to laugh, even easier to smile and is very happy go lucky. He sleeps through the night (most nights). He has a longer torso than Professor so I find that a lot of clothes that Professor fits in, Pirate does not. It looks like his hair is going to be brown as well as his eyes (like Daddy and Butterfly). Butterfly must have him sit next to her in the car (no ideas why). He does not take a binky but seems to have found his thumb in the past few days. He rolls onto his stomach all the time but I don’t think I’ve seen him roll to his back. I frequently have to go save him from evil belly time.
Professor is my snuggle baby. Boy does he love to be held and held and held. He also tucks so nicely into the crook of your arm. It’s easy to hold him. He is my binky baby and loves that thing. I worry sometimes about later when I’ll have to take it away from him but I’m trying not to think about it. Another thing with the binky, is that he only eats as much as he has to. He is not a comfort nurser and would perfer the binky for that. Which is probably why he weighs close to a pound less than his brother. But he’s happy with clear bright blue eyes and a huge face splitting grin. It looks like he has the dimple that Butterfly has but it’s shallower (maybe his cheeks aren’t as chubby). He has bright blond hair that swoops nicely to the right already. Thank you daddy for that hair line. He can roll front to back and is already trying to get up on his knees on his belly.
And a cute picture of Butterfly to leave you with!
Safire
Safiremonthly stats, P and P, P and P stats
Jul 18
Everyone,
The boys are 3 months old today. Can you believe it? Time has flown. Probably because I get very little sleep and things just kind of run together. Anyway, here is an update on each boy.
Pirate is my chunky monkey. He weighs in at 13 lbs even and is 24 inches by my measuring tape. His head is just shy of 16 inches. He is serious about eating and will eat at great lengths and with gusto. He also would probably sleep through the night if I would let him. Yes, I wake him up to eat. I only do this because I’m up feeding Professor and I may as well feed Pirate too since I’m already awake. He is also the great diaper escaper and is the one that leaks out all over me (3 times today!). He loves to smile and will smile and giggle at anyone who is talking to him. (Makes Butterfly’s day.) If you tap him gently on the mouth, he will break into a huge Muppet smile (you know, where the mouth opens and the head flings back) and laugh. An endless source of entertainment for me and Juice. He also thinks it’s pretty funny when you wipe his mouth off. He has rolled over once about a week ago from front to back. And he has the sweetest smile that really comes out in his eyes. What a cute boy he is!
Professor is one sweet kid. He is a little more high strung that Pirate and is, as always, the louder of the two. He wakes up every day around 6 am, happy as a lark and singing like one too. He is full of cute baby sighs, grunts, ahhhs and ohhhs. He talks talks talks all the day long. He also has a dimple in his left cheek that makes his face cute and sweet and oh so kissable. Yesterday he was crying next to me while I was nursing his brother and he reached up, grabbed Pirate’s hand and hung onto it for dear life. He calmed right down and fell asleep holding hands. So cute. I think his eyes are going to stay blue because they are bright bright blue. He is 24 inches and 12 lbs, 5 oz. His head is just shy of 16 inches as well. He is rolling back to front more and more. Today he did it twice to sleep on his belly. I can’t wait until he does it every time because this kid has some serious startle reflexes. He sleeps best with us in bed, specifically with me curled around him. He is the reason I get very little sleep.
As twins, they are fairly easy going babies. I’m amazed at how much work they are together. There are a lot of diapers (at least 6 per kid per day…about 84 diapers a week) and a lot of feeding time. My butt goes to sleep on a regular basis and I eat tons to keep up with them. I have been reading other twin blogs and something stood out for me. Her twins were sleeping awful and so she read a book (something about healthy sleep, happy child) and it said to put the kids to bed early early. So she started putting her twins to bed around 6pm and treating any other waking after that as night waking. So I did it. And boy does it work! They sleep between 12-14 hours now. Going to sleep around 6-7pm and sleeping until 8-9pm. They are also having some regular naps 2 hours after they wake, and every 2 hours after they wake no matter what. It works for us and they are happier since I started it.
Juice wants to interject that they are cute. That’s all.
Butterfly as a big sister is doing well. She is in panties pretty much full time at home but she is asking for diapers on a daily basis. I am not giving in. She treats the babies okay…pats them and likes to hold them for about .5 seconds. She also asks me to put them down on a regular basis or she says things like “There goes Professor.” When he starts to cry. It’s very cute. She is liking them more and more since they started smiling at her and watching her like an adoring fan base.
Safire
Safire2 boys-double trouble, big sister, P and P stats
Jul 14
Everyone,
Currently Juice is on the floor holding both boys (who are sucking furiously on their hands…I see a feeding in my future) and playing with Butterfly and her barn and ponies. Wow is he talented or what? And cute besides.
Ahem. Back to the matter at hand. The Birth Story of Pirate and Professor! It’s 3 months later (can you believe it’s been that long already?!) but I wrote it out about 2 weeks after birth. Most of you know the back story (since I got all the details from the blog) but since it has been 3 months, I will leave it in.
Friday April 11th I went to my normal doctor’s visit. I was 35 weeks, 6 days. As the midwife checked my cervix, she found I was 5 cm dilated and Baby A was so low that things were headed towards delivery. She said not to wait if I felt something going on. Also, my blood pressure was up, 167/ 113. Ouch. The whole office did not expect me to last the weekend. I did not expect to last the weekend. The midwife hugged me on the way out and asked me to really not wait. Okay!
Saturday came and went. Sunday. Then Monday. Then Tuesday. I had another doctor’s visit that day. The doctor checked me and I was still at a 5 and my blood pressure was climbing. 168/113. But there was no protein in my urine and they weren’t terribly worried about it. In fact, if I had not brought it up, I don’t think my doctor would have said anything about it. But I brought it to his attention and he asked me to come into the office again later that week and get it checked again. He told me that he honestly didn’t expect me to last the next couple of days. Neither did I. Or anyone in the office. Again.
I was so uncomfortable. I could barely move and my hips had stretched out so much my ligaments were starting to burn. Wednesday came with a lot of contractions and we considered going into the hospital and just being done with it. But I worried for the boys. I worried that they would not be ready (even though I was)! I worried that they wouldn’t be big enough, be able to breath well, have the suck/swallow reflux that I hear only comes late in pregnancy for them. I worried that they would not be able to come home with me and I so wanted them to. So I drank a ton of water, put my feet up and was miserable for the entire day.
On Thursday, I had another doctor’s appointment. This time at my perinatologist’s office. He saw me checking in and wanted to know what I was doing there! I said I had no idea. Both boys were looking great on the ultrasound and he was concerned more about the fact that I was 5 cm walking around with high blood pressure. He told me that if I did not go into labor by next Wednesday, he would schedule my induction for me. Fine by me! There was no more room for anyone and I was more than ready. I had already decided to go into the hospital on Sunday when my mom got into town so I knew I was not going to make it to Wednesday. I knew birth was close. It just had to be.
Slowly all the worries I had about the boys being healthy melted away that day. I knew that if I were to go into labor, they would be fine. I knew that even if they weren’t fine and had to stay in the NICU for awhile, they would still turn out okay. I had done all I could, and now, it was time for them to come.
On Friday, April 18th, I had yet another doctor’s visit. This was the one my OB asked me to make to check my blood pressure again. 170/119. And I had the maximum amount of protein in my urine. The first thing the midwife said to me when she walked in the room was, “Guess where you are going?” Of course I knew. I knew I was going to be admitted as soon as the nurse had told me my blood pressure. I had already made peace with it. But I was so nervous. How was I going to handle labor again? I admit I didn’t do very well with Butterfly’s birth and I felt totally out of control and ripped in half. With these boys’ birth hours away, I wondered how it was going to go to deliver two! I had progressed to 6 cm so it was time to go.
We spent the next hour at home gathering up all the last minute things I needed, and arranging child care for Butterfly. I have some really sweet friends in the ward who helped out. I was really relieved that she was going to be so well taken care of and that allowed me to focus on getting these boys here safely. Once we dropped her off, we drove down to the hospital about 10 minutes away. We got closer and closer and I got more nervous! How was this supposed to go? Would I be okay with the epidural? Would the boys be okay? I also felt them moving a lot and thought about how in a matter of hours I was going to see them on the outside. I would see their faces. I would see these movements on the outside! Juice was ready. He kept getting more excited as we got closer. He said I would do wonderfully, and he was so excited to hold these boys. I guess I forget that parenthood kind of starts at the birth for him. He doesn’t get to be kicked and bond with the boys before they are born as much as I do. We said a prayer before we went in, and up the elevator we went.
We got lost trying to find the check in desk because the ladies at the information desk told me to go up the main elevator rather than the back elevator (which is what I had taken the 2 times I went to Labor and Delivery before). But the nurses were nice and directed us to the desk where I checked in. We waited in the waiting room and exchanged small talk with a lady who was waiting for a grandchild to be born. I had a momentary pang that my mom couldn’t be there for the birth and sitting in that very waiting room.
When they called my name, we followed the nurse to room #12 and met our labor nurse, Maryanne. She was wonderful! She listened to my concerns that things would go very fast like they did with Butterfly. She and I worked out a plan of epidural first, then water breaking, then delivery to present to the doctor. My doctor was Dr. Newbie, a new doctor in my practice. I don’t think she was new to OB care, just new to the practice. She was nice, said okay to the plan, and told me that I would be delivering in the OR in case of an emergency. Okay.
It was around noon by the time I got all hooked up to the monitors and things started going. I got an IV with fluid, and we waited for me to be hydrated. We chatted to Maryanne, watched my contractions, and just waited for these boys to be born. Baby B had the hiccoughs so bad that the bed was shaking with each hiccough. They couldn’t monitor their heart rates on the monitors because the hiccoughs were so loud. Juice kept asking if I wanted to be read to, watch tv, do something. I couldn’t focus my mind on anything but the fact that soon, TODAY, I would be the mother of 3 kids, not just one. I was doing something. I was in labor! Frankly I was a little overwhelmed and just couldn’t focus on anything else.
The anaesthesiologist came in and discussed the epidural to me. This was my very first one and I was very nervous. Down the hall, we could hear a lady screaming in pain, and the anaesthesiologist decided to go help her first, and come back and do mine after. Fine with me. We watched my contractions (every 4-3 minutes) and waited some more. My blood pressure was still very high. They were giving me a lot of fluid which normally brings it down. This time it wasn’t. Probably because I was so worked up about the birth. I sent Juice to the cafeteria to get some lunch for him since it was around 2pm. I figured nothing was happening and I needed him to be able to focus on me later.
At this point they started me on some magnesium sulfate to try and get my blood pressure down. I was hoping that they would be able to get it to a reasonable level so that they would actually let me have the vaginal birth I wanted. They did tell me at this point, I would have to be on the magnesium sulfate for 24 hours after the birth and I wouldn’t be allowed out of bed for those 24 hours. Okay then.
As Juice was finishing his lunch of hamburger and fries, the anaesthesiologist came back and started in on my epidural. I sat up, rounded my back, and shut my eyes. Maryanne held my shoulders and she started. Wow, she was fast and it hurt a little but not as much as I thought it might. I was actually impressed at how easy it was and wondered what I was afraid of. About 4 or 5 minutes later, my feet started to feel tingly and my legs started to feel heavy. It was working! It was actually kind of amazing because at one point I put my hand on my leg and had to look down to make sure what I was touching was my leg. I couldn’t feel it in my leg but I could with my hand. Weird!
We were now waiting for the epidural to take full effect. We were visited by Nancy, our bishop’s wife who is a baby nurse at the hospital. I was SO HAPPY she was there and was going to be watching out for my babies when they were born. She was also there to cheer me on, and I was surprised at how much I needed someone to just cheer me on that I knew. Yes, Juice was there and he was helpful, but there is something about having another woman there. Besides, she knew where the ice chips were and I didn’t ever have to be alone.
About 20 minutes after the epidural, we decided it had taken enough effect. I could still feel the contractions on the top of my uterus and Maryanne showed me how to push the button for more pain relief. Something else that also started to take full effect was the magnesium. My contractions stopped (normal for mag) and we decided to start on some pitocin. Now, I didn’t want the pitocin because I think that’s why I had such a fast labor with Butterfly. But my contractions went from every 4 to 5 minutes to every 10-12. I was started off on the lowest dose, and immediately my contractions went back up to 3-4 minutes apart. I started to feel some trickling and she checked me. I had a lot of bloody show, and I was close to 8 cm dilated. My doctor came in then and we decided to break my water. Yes! Let’s really get this going!
Dr. Newbie broke my water and it was a pressurized stream instead of a huge gush like with Butterfly. And like Butterfly’s birth, my contractions suddenly ramped up in intensity. They hurt. Badly. I thought the epidural was supposed to help with this. So did everyone else. I spent a lot of time focusing through the contractions. Maryanne checked me about 10 minutes later when I felt a lot of pressure. Still 8 cm dilated. Only a few contractions later, I started feeling like I needed to move around and couldn’t handle the pain any more. I heard Juice say that this is what he remembers from Butterfly’s birth, and Maryanne checks me immediately. I am 10 cm and Baby A is starting to crown. They page Dr. Newbie for delivery, and shove scrubs into Juice’s hands. He changes quickly and between contractions we take one last picture. Dr. Newbie wanted to deliver in the OR so they get the bed all ready to push me down the hall.
From here, things get a little fuzzy. I remember being wheeled down the hall to the OR and having several back to back contractions on the way. I remember thinking that the breeze they were making while pushing me was nice. I lost track of Juice. (Juice says he got lost!) When we got to the OR they wanted me to move from my bed to the OR table. Yeah, right! I could sit up and lay down and that was it. They helped me slide over, and it wasn’t without a lot of pain and determination on my part that I moved a foot to the right. At that point I was in tears and just crying while they moved me around and got situated. The anaesthesiologist showed up at my head and I saw her pushing more medicine into my epidural pump. Juice finally took my hand and having him there made me start to cry even harder.
The lights came down out of the ceiling, Dr. Newbie was there and dressed and they had me hold my legs up to start pushing. Oh it hurt! I couldn’t push the full count to 10 and I do remember trying to roll over to the left. Juice held my head up. Maryanne was holding my left leg, and some guy I had no idea who he was was on my right. Maryanne told him you can’t be nice to them. She was a good helper, and didn’t make me mad and just tried to support me in what I could do. Dr. Newbie was stretching out things and that hurt worse than the pushing. I think I pushed about 10-15 times. I do remember them saying to stop pushing at one point, when I’m assuming Baby A’s head was out. Reading the birth report after, he had his cord wrapped around his neck once. One more push and out he came. He did not cry and all I saw of him was the nurses whisking him off to the warmer on the left. I put my head down on the bed, and waited to hear him cry. I do vaguely remember thinking that I was only pregnant with one baby right now, but there was nothing beyond that thought. Pirate finally started to cry and Juice got up to go and see him.
They wheeled the ultrasound machine around to my belly and did a quick look at Baby B to make sure that he was still head down. Dr. Newbie said, “Okay, he’s still head down. We need to do this before he turns.” She looked right at me and said, “You have to push him down NOW. I will guide his head so we make sure he stays head down.” Okay. Juice came back to sit by my head again. Dr. Newbie broke the other bag of water and again, it came out in a pressurized stream. I pushed hard for one contraction. Dr. Newbie nodded and said he’s down. I pushed for one more push and suddenly, she had a baby. She scrambled to catch him and Maryanne said, “Sunny side up! He was looking up!” Dr. Newbie had to call to the nurses to come and get Professor. He was very blue and very long. As the nurses took him from Dr. Newbie, he started to squall. And he cried and cried and cried. They had to deep suction out his lungs and he gurgled and choked through the whole thing.
They were 6 minutes apart. Pirate weighed 5 lbs, 13 oz and was 19 and a half inches long at 4:03pm. Professor was 6 lbs, 3 oz and was 19 and a half inches long at 4:09pm. They checked their blood sugar immediately because of my gestational diabetes and both boys were in normal ranges. They put the goop in their eyes and checked their apgar’s (9 and 9 for Pirate, 7 and 9 for Professor).
Juice went to look at our sons, and I put my head back and was very thankful that we were able to have the vaginal birth that we had been praying for. I was pretty sure that my epidural did not work as I was in a lot of pain the whole time. The placentas came out in one huge whoosh and I felt instantly 20 lbs lighter. Dr. Newbie started to fix a few minor tears I had. Ouch! I felt that needle. OUCH! OUCH! Okay, she finally got the picture and asked for some local anaesthetic and gave me a shot. OUCH! About a minute later, another poke of a stitch. Yes, I still feel it. Another shot (another OUCH) and finally I couldn’t feel anything. Finally.
They moved me back to the other bed, and brought me both boys. They told me how much they weighed, we rejoiced in their being. Wow, twins! They had an A and a B on their hats, and were just so comforting to have in my arms and not in my belly. They took me back to my delivery room and Nancy came in to check them over and give them their first baths. She then asked if I was going to nurse them and we started with Pirate. No problems for either boy. They each got their first shot and were doing fabulously.
After about an hour, they moved me to another room. Apparently, this was the old maternity ward of the hospital. (They are remodeling.) I wasn’t allowed to go to the normal mom and baby wing because of my magnesium. They couldn’t let me go but they needed the delivery room. So I was in a half way house. Our new nurse came in, told me I was only allowed liquids and brought me a tray with broth, water, and jello on it. Yum. Juice called our babysitter to tell Butterfly she was a big sister (he left a message, they had been at the park) and went home. At that point, they told me I was not allowed to have the boys by myself while I was confined to bed so they took them to the nursery. Juice went home to let the dog out and get something to eat and whatever else he needed to do at home. (Upload a few pictures! You can see them here.)
I don’t remember much about the first night. I do remember getting up a few times, Juice sleeping in a very small bed next to me, and enjoying the boys. They were so tiny and perfect. But I was so sleepy and trying to recover. They took my blood pressure every 10 minutes all night long. They took my blood at 3am and again at 6 am. (This was to check the level of magnesium in my blood to make sure that it was doing what it was supposed to do.) I had another lovely breakfast of broth, water, and jello. I sent Juice home as soon as possible to get Butterfly to meet her baby brothers. I tried to sleep while he and the boys were gone, but I couldn’t. I was too excited for her to meet them.
The first words out of her mouth when she came in the room was, “Hi Mommy, where are the baby brothers?” She and I snuggled on the bed for a few minutes while Juice went to the nursery to gather the babies. When they came, she held them and did not want to let them go. We finally convinced her to let me feed them and we continued to oh and ah over them. Nana and Grandpa came from Utah this afternoon, and they got to see them when they were about 24 hours old. We had a few more visitors from the ward and talked to a lot of people on the phone. Finally, after 24 hours on the magnesium, they moved me to the mother baby wing and into a really nice room. My blood pressure was coming down, but not very fast. My upper arm had tiny bruises all over it from them taking my blood pressure so much. The only thing I wanted to do was take a shower because I was all sweaty and sticky. They didn’t want me to take a shower until the morning because I had just spent a day in bed and had twins and didn’t want me to stand up for that long until the morning.
Another very busy and fuzzy night. I do remember Juice telling me the other bed was better than the pull out couch they had for him here and how happy he was for his pillow that he forgot the first night. I don’t remember much else. Sunday in the hosptial went very well and we actually took some naps. I watched a few movies on my ipod. We oh and ahed over the babies again. I was finally allowed a shower and felt so much better. That evening, just after dinner, they sent me home. I was so happy to be home and sleep in my own bed.
I just can’t believe that we were able to have these babies and they came so healthy and strong. What amazing blessings!
Safire
SafireP and P birth story, P and P stats
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