Lucas is a SMOOCHER!

The first time was- of all days, Valentines Day.

I was holding Lucas on my lap after Duane and I ate dinner, and he
gets this weird look in his eye. I said to Duane "Whats wrong with
him?" and I started laughing when all at once he took some hair in one
hand, my ear in the other, and lunged at me open mouthed and smooched
a big sloppy wet one all over my face.

He has sense started kissing me in the morning, when he gets happy
about something, and when he is tired.

And last night he grabbed Daddy. I told Duane "He has his smooch
look", Lucas had had his hand on Duanes shirt collar and on Duanes
hair, and was looking for a place to lay a smooch on Duane, and Duane
got so excited he said "Lay a big sloppy one on me" and turned his
cheek to the side and boy did Lucas get him! He lunged in and smooch
slurped Duanes cheek and left some nice drool there to show for it.

:-P

I have an odd feeling his smooches might become bites later on. He
sort of grabs your face and sucks on it. LOL But, if I kiss him, he
does his version of a smooch back like he has been giving us.

NOT teething

Remember when my twins had so much teething problems?

Everyone said they were teething. They chewed on everything. They
soaked three bibs a day. They needed tylenol round the clock.

They weren't teething.

I had been letting them sleep half an hour in their swing in the a.m.,
three hours in the late afternoon in their cribs, and then another
half an hour in their swings in the evening. They only rubbed their
eyes prior to these naps. Then, at night they would go to bed about
7:30 and get up around 7:00 the next morning. 15 hours a day sleeping
is the norm at 4-6 months, so we were doing everything right.

Well, one day Matilda stopped being able to nap in her swing- she was
too distracted by everything going on around her. So, I decided to
start laying them down in their cribs for the morning and evening half
hour naps. The first day I just let them sleep, thinking they would
wake me up. Two and a half hours later!

They now nap 2.5 hours in the a.m.
They nap 1.5-2 hours in the afternoon
And 45 minutes in the evening.

Then sleep from 8:00 to 8:00!

These babies are sleeping 17 hours a day!!!

And they are no longer teething! Matilda is a NEW baby. Duane even
said last night "She has become the baby you dreamed of". For the
longest time Tilly and I just pushed each others buttons all day long.
She was cranky- I thought from teething, it turns out she was tired.
Now that shes sleeping 17 hours a day, shes the happiest baby ever.
She smiles all the time, sings, coos and babbles... shes pure joy!

Lucas is the same... I get the impression he doesn't need as much
sleep, but he also is no longer taking pain meds for "teething".

Now, as soon as Tilly starts fussing at a toy, we pick her up and put her down for a nap.

Lucas and Matilda 6 months 3 weeks
10w 1d twins

Nap!

We had a nice afternoon!

Duane and I decided to lay down when the babies did at 10 for what is
usually a two hour nap, and we all slept two hours and 45 minutes
uninterrupted! :-P

Then Tilly showed us her new "words" (she tries to say "la la" while
pursing her lips and spitting) and Lucas played pogo on Duanes tummy.

Hope everyone else is having a nice Sunday, too

Babies leaving our room

I had been wanting to keep Lucas and Matilda in our room awhile
longer. They sleep in a shared crib in our room, and take turns
climbing in bed with us when they feel bad (teething) or on Saturday
and Sunday mornings. I even feed them both breakfast in our bed while
we sing and cuddle.

Lucas hasn't been a good sleeper for a long time, but I kept thinking
we could get him "over the hump". He was waking up once every 45
minutes from midnight until 7 wanting his paci! Sunday night I was up
EIGHT times with him between 1-7 a.m.! I swear, I have been more sleep
deprived than when they were newborns.

Well, I have been making up for my sleep when they nap, only now he no
longer naps either. Yesterday after trying every five minutes for half
an hour to get him to take his paci, I broke down and started sobbing.
I was so exhausted and sleep deprived that my vision was blurred.

There other crib is in the nursery. I picked him up, took off his
swaddle, removed his sleep positioner, and laid him down on his back
in the crib. I gave him a sound machine and he was still whining and
sobbing (he had been given tylenol) and even though I hate to hear him
cry, I collapsed on our bed in the other room with Tilly beside me and
I slept through his crying!!! I have never done anything like that!!!

Last night Duane brought home a monitor and we did put him in the
nursery for the night. Tilly will be moved tonight. He only woke up
twice from 9 to 7:30! Can you believe that? And sweet Duane- he felt
so sorry for me that he put the monitor on his side of the bed and he
was the one who got up with him.

My only worry is that now he is rolling to his stomach to sleep. The
peditricians office says that its normal at this age and not to roll
him back, but we worry because he rolls to his stomach better than his
back. So, we put him back in his sleep positioner for now. We woke up
once and he had wiggled out and still found his tummy, but his head
was nicely turned and his fists under his face so we left him alone.

The funny thing is I feel like I have went on a vacation from just one
night of sleep!

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