6 months old! Morning Sickness

Many of the twin moms on ivfconnections feed babies at the same time
to conserve time. We have never done this. They eat "half" their
morning bottles together, then they stop and I hold one at a time and
feed them the rest. It would allow me more time, but feeding is my "
one on one" time!

We also sing constantly! At first because I didn't know exactly what
to "talk about" to newborns, and now because it makes whoever isn't
being held feel included. Their favorite song is "Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer" which might become comical later on!

They even now are starting to enjoy their time alone (unlike before).
In fact, right now they are in their jumperoo and exersaucer talking
and babbling while jumping up and down. They face each other and jump
up and down babbling to one another.

Do you know if twins are as connected to their parents as singletons
later in life? Before we had any idea I was pregnant, we ran into an
adult twin at the farmers market. She was telling me about her sister,
and then asked if I wanted another baby. I told her I did, but Duane
was a bit undecided (ha!). She says "Oh, you have to have another
baby. Twins are for EACH OTHER. You need a singleton for YOU".

I have since wondered how much truth is in that!

Lucas has been waking up when his pain meds where off about 1:30 every
night. The last few nights, I start feeling nausea when I try to go
back to sleep after giving him more tylenol and a drink of water.

Well, last night it wouldn't go away, and I ended up vomiting five
times!!!

I took a phenegran, then felt drugged all night and Duane ended up
tending to Lucas.

Is it normal for morning sickness to be this strong at 7 weeks??? I
know its a good pregnancy sign, but, with my last twin pregnancy, I
would feel nausea, but it would subside if I sneezed, laid still, or
munched on crackers.

I also have been experiencing nausea during the day, but its not as
bad then as it is when I nap/sleep.

7w 0d twins
Lucas and Matilda 6 months

Two sacs!

They've been putting me through the ectopic drill because my numbers were so odd with this pregnancy. Because of a weird dream I had, I would not consent to a DNC or lap.

We went into Piedmont today and they repeated my hcg, did a cbc, and
we went ahead and agreed to a u/s.

My hcg was 2626 on Friday, today it was over 8700!!!

They found one sac immediately, and I jokingly told them to look for another and
guess what?

Two sacs.

Its so early (I am 5 weeks today) that they aren't ruling out that its
a hematoma from implantation of the other sac. On Friday we will go in
to see if this is a twin gestation or not although the high betas
would make sense now... The nurse told me his wife had two sacs on a
five week u/s, but only one by 8 weeks. He said they thought she had a
vanishing twin.

What did Duane say? "I am not going near you without a lead condom".

I can't say we are excited. A bit shellshocked. Relieved to not have a
tubal, but a little confused and overwhelmed at the prospect of a
second set of twins.

As far as Lucas and Tilly:

right before 5 months of age, I will say that Matilda couldn't wake herself up to eat any more middle of the night. Lucas was always the one who woke up, then I just went ahead and fed both. She always ate her bottle and even acted excited for it, once awoken- but, she didn't stir unless something else woke her up. It could be that he is just pretty comfortable with a good nights rest!

Now, they are skipping that bedtime bottle, and don't act particularly
hungry at 8!!! I don't know what thats about... all they eat is 3
ounces, then we sit and sing songs and play for ten minutes, then
Matilda will eat the other 3, but I have to really work with Lucas to
finish his.

With all the height talk I measured Lucas this a.m.- its bee exactly
one month since his exam, and he is 25 3/4 inches tall. Matilda was 26
even! I figured they measured her wrong last time!

She IS a big girl!!!

No- they aren't taking in more formula at other feedings. They now
take four bottles a day- 5 to 6 ounces each. So, they are just barely
if even getting in their requirements. Thats why we added the baby
food- nothing we did could push them to eat an 8 ounce bottle... even
trying to go back to 3 hour feeds to get in more formula didn't work
! They ACT very hungry at the 4 hour mark, but only eat half their
bottles at every meal, then want to sit and squeal and play.

Rolling over:

Tilly rolled over on December 24th, and Lucas on December 27th!

Since then neither have shown interest in doing it again until
yesterday when Lucas flipped again. :-)

Lucas and Tilly still sleep swaddled- but with one arm "free".

Twice in two days I have went into our room and found Lucas teething...

On Tillys foot!!!

It gives him some relief, but she doesn't like it very much!

Freaky!

This morning I gathered up the twins and headed to walmart.

I left with them dressed in their fleece pj's as they prefer sleepers
best and their comfort ranks above "cuteness" for me.

I packed a diaper bag full of bottles, spare outfits, can of formula,
and blankies.

And, I took a cup of urine in a gladware container because I figured I
might need to go straight on to my OB's office pending results and
didn't want to have to unpack the twins several more times in testing
at home.

Twenty minutes later I sat in the car in the parking lot having just
shopped indoors and returned with two jars of baby food, two bottles
of "Kids N Pets" carpet deoderizer (awesome) and a package of Answer
Plus tests.

Dipped my test into the cup I took to Walmart, and before the urine
had completely passed over the window, I had two dark pink lines- time
elapsed- 5 seconds.

I then went to the OB's office and they tested a new urine sample
twice and came up with the same result. I am very pregnant. Seeing how
I have been having unprotected sex since 1992 without ever being late
or seeing pink lines (even with the twins I gave up at 12dp3dt because
my second pink line was only a tad darker than an evaporation line), I
am a bit shocked. That might be putting things *very* mildly.

I go in tomorrow to see an OB to start on lovenox and find out what
tests we need to do and what the game plan is.

EDD 9-16-2007
4 weeks pregnant
Lucas and Matilda 5m 1w

Teething woes

Babies are 5 months and 1 week old!

Last night these babies were up nearly every hour in teething pain. We
give them pacis, we put them in bed with us, we give them tylenol, and
we give them "teething tablets".

During the day, Lucas won't eat. He is down from his usual 25-30
ounces a day to closer to 20 now. He wants to chomp and teeth on the
bottle.

Here is what we have tried besides the above:
teething rings (hate them)
chewing on a clean knuckle of ours (briefly satisfies)
chewing a cloth (seems to make them more irritable)
baby orajel (seemed useless)

WHAT can we do? We are soooo exhausted and feeding the babies lately
has been hard for me because Lucas kicks and screams the entire time.
We reluctantly started him on baby food this week just so he would
take something. He will eat that well once a day.

Why no motrin until 6 months?

Tender Tilly

I have read that separation/stranger anxiety usually starts around 6-7
months. Well, our Tilly started this at 4 months.

She no longer allows anyone but Duane and I to old her. Whats strange
is shes NOT a clingy baby in general. She only wants to be held if she
is bounced at the same time on your knee, or for about 15 minutes
following her bottles. The rest of the time shes extremely
independent, unlike Lucas whose snuggley.

If anyone- even people she should somewhat know talks to her, she
laughs and coos and giggles. But, if they try and pick her up, she
screams something terrible, and cries huge crocodile tears until given
back to Duane or me.

Also, she startles easily. If Duane sneezes when he holds her, she
screams and cries. If we laugh loudly when holding her, she screams
and cries. Both of us have soft voices, so its not like we are ear
piercing.

Today, Duane was playing with her, and for the first time, started
speaking fluently in spanish to her. THIS made her scream and cry. She
didn't stop until Duane started speaking english again.

Will she grow out of this??? Is this normal??? My mom said both my
sister and I refused to let anyone else hold us... Lucas, on the other
hand, loves to be held by anyone with a set of arms and a warm smile.

And about cosleeping:

This is how I feel. I don't sleep well when not in the room with the
babies. I sleep better and more rested with them. Their little
inhalations, their sweet scent, the way they touch me (or kick me in
the back!)- really, I feel they are spoiling *me*. Its the best
feeling in the world.

cosleeping, etc

Lucas and Matilda have been in our
room for the past two months (Before we all three slept in the living
room), and they are about to transition out of their cradles and
either to their cribs or our bed. We've already been putting them into
our bed about 4 a.m. when they start wanting their pacifyers every
twenty minutes. Our babies have no problems getting themselves to sleep, or putting
themselves back to sleep. Its all the paci. If they don't have a paci
stuck in their mouths when they begin to rouse in the early a.m., they
start waking up, then they scream for it *which wakes up the other twin*. At this point we aren't willing to do CIO, so its
either climbing out of bed and to the crib every twenty minutes, or,
just letting them into our bed. The crib will also be put in our room.
Either we cosleep in the same room, or we will all share a bed. We use
sleep positioners when they are in the bed with protective bolsters at
their hips to prevent them or us from rolling over.

BTW, anyone who hears we want to cosleep, says "You are going to spoil
them". In what way? My sister coslept with her son until he was 15
months old, and my aunt co-slept with my grandma. Neither were
spoiled, but both confident, secure, independent and very loving
children and adults. I do not feel that meeting their needs spoils them.

I had been letting the twins swing and watch baby
einstein one half hour a day while I prepared dinner.Then I read the
AAP stuff. Now I only let them listen to music choice classical music
or holiday music. But, when *I* watch t.v., Lucas will turn and try to
see it, so I am wondering if I should just keep it on classical music
all day.

What about toys? Right now we have a lot of interactive battery toys,
and I am considering going against all battery toys. I really don't
buy all this "think up" crap. None of the toys I see for young
children seem geared toward imagination. Everything is push a button
and tell type stuff. What happened to lincoln logs and little
people??? Plus, I think if we rely on battery toys, it will mean less
interaction as right now I am down on the floor with them in play
whenever they are playing. I don't want them staring at a screen
playing alone... I want them to be active and outdoorsy like Duane and
I were as children.

My babies are NEVER still. They would NEVER sit and watch their
mobile. Ack! They won't even swing anymore unless they are exhausted.
They hate car seats, they hate strollers. The only way we can shop
with them is in snuglis. We bought an exersaucer, and they are too
small for it so we prop them in with pillows, and they do like this
for twenty minutes. Basically, they are with me all day long. Me
singing to them, showing them toys, etc. The only time I am not
playing with them is when they sleep! I can't even imagine putting
them in daycare, I am certain they would require two daycare workers
constant attention. Both also want to move constantly. Matilda won't
sit on my lap unless she is being bounced up and down constantly.
Lucas wants to snuggle, but he wants you to walk around while you do
it. My mom says I was the same way, that I exhausted her and my father
with movement and action. My twins hate rocking and won't sit on my
lap and be rocked to sleep. :-(

The upside is they are both good at going down for naps and sleep.
They are so exhausted- I lay them down wide awake, and they are out in
ten minutes tops.

I really don't think we created this situation- Duane and I are both
very active, too.

Back to baby einstein... from what I have heard/read, what the AAP
says is that the constant movement and action of childrens television
rewrites the childs brain pathways. Babies are meant to study things
slowly and observe slowly, but childrens television moves too quickly,
so their minds "speed up" to try and adapt to it. This results in less
attention spans.

Well, once I read this I started studying childrens television and I
noted that t.v. does move way too quickly (we need mr. rogers
neighborhood tapes!), and the only thing I have found that moves at a
snails pace *is* baby einstein. I do not feel its going to make me
babies braniacs (nor do I care about that aspect), but Julie does show
them things at a similar pace as I would.

Baby Shakespeare is my favorite. *I* would watch it. I love the poetry
in it, and she has a soothing voice. Plus, this is the ONLY time the
babies will just "swing" if its on. However, we are down to them only
watching t.v. one half an hour every other day- except that I do watch
Spike during the day, so Lucas will crane his head to watch Star Trek.
Atleast the pace is slow???

I swear, when Duane gets home from work on weekdays, I am ready to
collapse. I feel mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. More
now than I did in the first three months.

Differences in personalities

My babies are 16 weeks old!

Here is the difference between Matilda and Lucas in a nutshell...

Last night I had Matilda, and Duane had Lucas. I was bouncing one
knee up and down rather violently, and singing equally loud. Matilda
was thrashing her arms up and down, and whenever I stopped, she
kicked and screamed.

Lucas was reclining on Duanes lap while Duane read a magazine. Lucas
was quietly studying the pages. I looked at him and said "Can we
swap babies yet?" :-P

Matilda and Lucas were lying on the floor together. Matilda stared
at the light fixture above her, squealing and "ooohing". Lucas had
his head turned watching CNN.

Sometimes I worry about how introspective Lucas is, but, he is very
engaging, too. Matilda will get on our laps, lock eyes and squeal.
But, Lucas will make very strong eye contact, wait for pauses in the
conversation and then "talk". He tries so hard and we sit and
say "Oh really? Is that so?" Etc. He also smiles at us more
frequently than Matilda. She would rather smile at things that
please her, and us when WE please her... but, Lucas will smile
everytime you make eye contact with him.

VERY different babies! (And my mom says I was just like her, and
Duanes mom says he was just like Lucas!)