As the girls' birthday approaches, I've been finding myself reflecting back on the whole pregnancy, labor, birth, etc. So I thought I'd give you a little more insight as to what transpired using some facts and figures -- or by the numbers.
308 - the number of terbutaline pills I took for preterm labor (here I went into this pregnancy not even wanting to put a Tylenol in my mouth!)
112 - how fast my heart beat the entire time I was taking terbutaline
67 - we all know this by heart by now, the number of days I spent on bedrest
51 - inches around I measured by delivery day (a gain of a little more than 2 feet!)
47 - the number of weeks I measured if I had been pregnant with one baby
33 - pounds I gained
28 - minutes that separate the girls
19 - OB related office visits (16 of them with Dr L)
18 - exactly how many weeks I was when the contractions began
16 - the number of different nurses I had (I had several more than once!) from the first preterm labor admission to the day we were discharged home with the girls
13 - the number of combined pounds the girls weighed on delivery day (well, 1 ounce shy)
7 - the number of "big" ultrasounds I had to measure the babies' growth
5 - preterm labor admissions to the hospital
5 - injections of Terbulatine while in the hospital to stop contractions
4 - bags of IV fluids I received during my preterm labor stays (I had more during the actual labor and delivery, but I'm not exactly sure how many more!)
2 - steroid shots received to help the girls' lungs mature
2 - Fetal Fibronectin tests performed
2 - beautiful healthy little girls
1 - perfect outcome
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
One more step toward non-babyhood
We've started the process of weaning the girls off formula and onto whole milk. I gave them each a taste of whole milk straight and they loved it. So that's definitely not going to be the issue. I just want to make sure that their little tummies handle the transition with no vomiting, diarrhea, etc. I don't foresee any problems because they've never showed allergies or an intolerance to anything else. So we'll just mix bottles 50/50 until our stash of formula is gone...which isn't going to be much longer. We only have 3 large cans left!
And bless their little souls, but they've been sleeping quite a bit better at night (knock on wood). However, what I'm really appreciating is that when they wake up in the morning, I can hear them chit-chatting to each other from across the room. This little conversation usually gives me an extra 20 minutes or so in bed! When one becomes a little whiny, I walk into their bedroom to see two precious faces light up with excitement as they stand and jump in their cribs. Awwww. I scoop them both up and we walk out to the living room where we begin our day.
And bless their little souls, but they've been sleeping quite a bit better at night (knock on wood). However, what I'm really appreciating is that when they wake up in the morning, I can hear them chit-chatting to each other from across the room. This little conversation usually gives me an extra 20 minutes or so in bed! When one becomes a little whiny, I walk into their bedroom to see two precious faces light up with excitement as they stand and jump in their cribs. Awwww. I scoop them both up and we walk out to the living room where we begin our day.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Pillow Fight!!
Nate and I went on a little mini vacation this weekend with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. Nate's parents came to the house to watch the girls for us. And I actually don't think the girls were too terribly sad to see us go. The only thing they were sad about is that we picked the pillows up off the floor to take with us!
In other baby related news, Alivia is now clapping. And the smile that she flashes your way after doing it is enough to melt your heart! What a precious little doll. Oh, and brushing teeth has become a funny endeavor. I'm not exactly sure why, but the giggles break out when the toofers are being scrubbed. That toofer count still stands at 12 - Adalyn has four and Alivia has eight.
I never knew that pillows could be so entertaining! They were squealing and belly flopping onto the pillows and rolling and laughing like little maniacs. After a while, I just had to break out the video camera because they were moving and rolling far too fast to get any really good pics. But here are a couple of the pictures that turned out fairly decent.
In other baby related news, Alivia is now clapping. And the smile that she flashes your way after doing it is enough to melt your heart! What a precious little doll. Oh, and brushing teeth has become a funny endeavor. I'm not exactly sure why, but the giggles break out when the toofers are being scrubbed. That toofer count still stands at 12 - Adalyn has four and Alivia has eight.Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Cheese and Hot Dogs
We're on a feeding strike. The girls have refused to eat much of anything the past 4 days except for cheese and hot dogs. Yogurt? Nope. Pancake? Nope. Applesauce? Nope. Cereal? Nope. Tator tot hotdish? Nope. Sliced pears or peaches? Nope. Any other former favorites? Nope. And you can pretty much forget the spoon or fork. Unless they can feed it to themselves, it's not gonna happen.
I hope that means they're cutting some more teeth. Because if this is their new "normal" then I'll dread meal times till they're old enough to fix their own! It's been a challenge in this house the past several days. And to top it off, I think the lack of "real food" is making them wake up more in the middle of the night because their bellies feel empty. A few nights ago, they were up a combined 8 times in a 9 hour span. Two nights ago they were up 4 times in the same amount of time. And last night they were up 5 times.
So until this phase ends...I guess it's cheese and hot dogs (and the occassional handful of Cheerios!). Oh boy.
I hope that means they're cutting some more teeth. Because if this is their new "normal" then I'll dread meal times till they're old enough to fix their own! It's been a challenge in this house the past several days. And to top it off, I think the lack of "real food" is making them wake up more in the middle of the night because their bellies feel empty. A few nights ago, they were up a combined 8 times in a 9 hour span. Two nights ago they were up 4 times in the same amount of time. And last night they were up 5 times.
So until this phase ends...I guess it's cheese and hot dogs (and the occassional handful of Cheerios!). Oh boy.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
One month to go...
And my "babies" will be a year old. Yes, they are 11 months old today. How in the heck did that happen? I think I blinked and when I did, someone hit the fast forward button.
Adalyn has been able to string together 8-10 steps. She only does it when SHE wants to. If you try to encourage her, you can almost guarantee that she will take a step, drop to her knees, and crawl. Stubborn. Just like her dad. And okay, I'll admit it...just like me too. She's also waving. It's so cute. She holds both hands out in front of her and wiggles her little fingers like she's trying to work magic.
Alivia has become my little dancer. Any time she hears music from her toys, she gets a huge grin on her face and breaks into a little up and down wiggle. She also likes to wave, but instead of moving her little fingers like Addi, she flaps her arms ferociously until she tips over. It kind of looks like she's trying to fly away! It's so funny, especially when you can tell that she's so proud of herself.
Not much else to say tonight. The girls are in bed and I'm watching the Packer game! Just blogging during commercials, and even then, I'm not focused. ;)
Adalyn has been able to string together 8-10 steps. She only does it when SHE wants to. If you try to encourage her, you can almost guarantee that she will take a step, drop to her knees, and crawl. Stubborn. Just like her dad. And okay, I'll admit it...just like me too. She's also waving. It's so cute. She holds both hands out in front of her and wiggles her little fingers like she's trying to work magic.
Alivia has become my little dancer. Any time she hears music from her toys, she gets a huge grin on her face and breaks into a little up and down wiggle. She also likes to wave, but instead of moving her little fingers like Addi, she flaps her arms ferociously until she tips over. It kind of looks like she's trying to fly away! It's so funny, especially when you can tell that she's so proud of herself.
Not much else to say tonight. The girls are in bed and I'm watching the Packer game! Just blogging during commercials, and even then, I'm not focused. ;)
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Changing Tables
So this is completely random but I thought I'd share anyway. I was thinking about this the other night when I couldn't sleep. I used to have huge issues with insomnia for several years. But the girls seem to have cured that! I mean, we're still up with them several times a night...but when my head hits the pillow, I'm usually gone! Aaaanyway.
We have a changing table in the nursery (aka - the girls' shared bedroom). And I was thinking just how little it gets used lately. You see, there are a couple problems with its current location. If one of the girls is napping or it's the middle of the night, you can bet I'm not marching in there and flipping on a light to change a dirty diaper!! With as horrible as our girls sleep, I would be clinically insane to do that! So issue number one has essentially been an issue since the day they were born. But during the day and during non-napping hours, the changing table was used quite frequently.
But then we come to issue number two. And that is the fact that we have two babies (duh, right?). Well now that the girls are highly mobile, it's kinda scary leaving the room for 3 minutes to change a diaper. Once I come back, I really have no idea where I'll be able to find the other baby or what she's been able to get into in those short 3 minutes. So it's much safer to just change the diapers in the living room at our little make-shift changing station. Meanwhile, our poor changing table is collecting dust. Oh well.
And speaking of not being able to sleep the other night, I moved myself out to the couch...yes, the same couch where I spent 67 days of my pregnancy. This is really the first time I've slept on the couch (or attempted to sleep) since the girls were born. And wouldn't ya know it, the couch still fits my body like a glove!! I definitely left my imprint on that thing. You can't see any indentations and it's not sagging or anything (I'm surprised given the big old belly I had), but once I lay on it, I just sink right in. Ahhhh.
We have a changing table in the nursery (aka - the girls' shared bedroom). And I was thinking just how little it gets used lately. You see, there are a couple problems with its current location. If one of the girls is napping or it's the middle of the night, you can bet I'm not marching in there and flipping on a light to change a dirty diaper!! With as horrible as our girls sleep, I would be clinically insane to do that! So issue number one has essentially been an issue since the day they were born. But during the day and during non-napping hours, the changing table was used quite frequently.
But then we come to issue number two. And that is the fact that we have two babies (duh, right?). Well now that the girls are highly mobile, it's kinda scary leaving the room for 3 minutes to change a diaper. Once I come back, I really have no idea where I'll be able to find the other baby or what she's been able to get into in those short 3 minutes. So it's much safer to just change the diapers in the living room at our little make-shift changing station. Meanwhile, our poor changing table is collecting dust. Oh well.
And speaking of not being able to sleep the other night, I moved myself out to the couch...yes, the same couch where I spent 67 days of my pregnancy. This is really the first time I've slept on the couch (or attempted to sleep) since the girls were born. And wouldn't ya know it, the couch still fits my body like a glove!! I definitely left my imprint on that thing. You can't see any indentations and it's not sagging or anything (I'm surprised given the big old belly I had), but once I lay on it, I just sink right in. Ahhhh.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The "joy" of having two babies...
Okay, so I love almost everything about having two babies, but what I really don't like is that they bite each other. Hard. How in the heck do you punish a 10 month old? We're using the stern "no" and removing the biter away from the bitten. But what else can we do at this age? Luckily, it hasn't been a daily occurrence. In fact, it hadn't happened for a while. But today, the biter struck twice - once on a leg and several hours later on an arm. And speaking of the teeth that inflict pain, our total tooth count is standing at 12 and has been for a while. Alivia has 8 (4 top, 4 bottom) while Adalyn only has 4 (2 top, 2 bottom).
In better news, Adalyn is *this close* to walking. One of these days she's just going to take off. She just needs to gain a little more confidence in herself. And Alivia is now standing without support for brief periods of time. I'm in no hurry to have two walkers, but it looks like we're headed in that direction. Look out world!! As if my living room hasn't been rearranged enough!
I forgot to ever mention that we moved the girls into convertible car seats over a month ago now. They absolutely love being able to sit more upright because their view is better. So they're now in the Evenflo Triumph Advance LX. I'll have to get a picture of the girls in them, but here is the exact model that we purchased.
In better news, Adalyn is *this close* to walking. One of these days she's just going to take off. She just needs to gain a little more confidence in herself. And Alivia is now standing without support for brief periods of time. I'm in no hurry to have two walkers, but it looks like we're headed in that direction. Look out world!! As if my living room hasn't been rearranged enough!
I forgot to ever mention that we moved the girls into convertible car seats over a month ago now. They absolutely love being able to sit more upright because their view is better. So they're now in the Evenflo Triumph Advance LX. I'll have to get a picture of the girls in them, but here is the exact model that we purchased.
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