So I have to brag a bit because I successfully nursed my kids by myself this afternoon! I measure a success by feeding them until they are full, not having to take a bottle afterwards and falling asleep because of the milk coma! There's hope!
My babies and me
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Merry Christmas Eve!
My kids are sleeping right now which means I should be sleeping, but I needed to eat too so I figured I'd multitask. I can't believe it's already Christmas Eve. Isn't it interesting how we generally look ahead throughout the year to certain holidays and then gauge time by them? Christmas is my gauge. It's always, 11 months 'til Christmas, 10 month's 'til Christmas, etc, etc. And now it's here! I kept thinking all throughout this year that by Christmas, I'll have my babies. I'll have the best gift anyone could ever ask or hope for in my arms...oh what a joy it will be!
I never really believed other mother's when they said how much they loved their children. Now let me clarify- I guess I didn't know how much love a person could feel for someone she just met. Of course I couldn't understand because I'd never experienced it to this degree before! But it is so true- I have so much love for my children I feel like I could burst sometimes. I would do anything for them! It's this kind of love that makes me think about the Reason for the Season. God sent His Son, His Everything to this earth as a baby boy to save the lost sinners. That's us. You and me. His children. He knew what it would cost; He knew that in order to save us all, He would have to sacrifice His Everything. God loves us so much, I'm sure He feels like he could burst sometimes too. He would do anything for us.
I hope this season, you can know you are loved by the One who created you. I hope you know you are not alone, there is always someone in your corner, there is always someone who wants you to be happy. Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine!
I never really believed other mother's when they said how much they loved their children. Now let me clarify- I guess I didn't know how much love a person could feel for someone she just met. Of course I couldn't understand because I'd never experienced it to this degree before! But it is so true- I have so much love for my children I feel like I could burst sometimes. I would do anything for them! It's this kind of love that makes me think about the Reason for the Season. God sent His Son, His Everything to this earth as a baby boy to save the lost sinners. That's us. You and me. His children. He knew what it would cost; He knew that in order to save us all, He would have to sacrifice His Everything. God loves us so much, I'm sure He feels like he could burst sometimes too. He would do anything for us.
I hope this season, you can know you are loved by the One who created you. I hope you know you are not alone, there is always someone in your corner, there is always someone who wants you to be happy. Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine!
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
7 weeks old!
So because I'm just starting this blog, it's going to jump around a lot in the beginning since I'll be backtracking with the pregnancy and birth story as well as keeping as up to date as possible with current events. Sorry for the lack of organization at this point...please bear with me!
So Cooper and Gemma were 7 weeks old yesterday! I can't believe my babies are already that old. They are growing so fast! I took Gemma to the doctor's yesterday because she had a rash that I wanted to have looked at. She is fine and the rash is clearing up, but they weighed her and she is already 8 lbs. 10 oz.! She's turning into a chunky monkey. Cooper is hovering near the 10 lb mark!
So far, they aren't on any real schedule. We feed them when they're hungry which is usually about every 3-4 hours and then they usually just sleep in between feedings. Since they were 5 1/2 weeks premature (born at 34 weeks 4 days gestation), they are a little behind on some milestones, such as tummy time, though they both have remarkably strong necks. They are always looking around when we're holding them up so it won't be much longer before we start in with tummy time adventures. They've definitely gone through some growth spurts. They both eat 4 oz. at each feeding which some days seems like a lot and some days seems like not enough. Since I'm breastfeeding, it's always daunting trying to keep up with their 4 oz. each habit! When they were still little and only eating 2 oz. each feeding, I was able to pump the rest and freeze it so I have a smallish milk stash stored up for when there isn't enough. Breastfeeding has been it's own journey! I'll write more about that later. For now, please just enjoy a few cute photos of my darlings on their 7 week birthday.
So Cooper and Gemma were 7 weeks old yesterday! I can't believe my babies are already that old. They are growing so fast! I took Gemma to the doctor's yesterday because she had a rash that I wanted to have looked at. She is fine and the rash is clearing up, but they weighed her and she is already 8 lbs. 10 oz.! She's turning into a chunky monkey. Cooper is hovering near the 10 lb mark!
So far, they aren't on any real schedule. We feed them when they're hungry which is usually about every 3-4 hours and then they usually just sleep in between feedings. Since they were 5 1/2 weeks premature (born at 34 weeks 4 days gestation), they are a little behind on some milestones, such as tummy time, though they both have remarkably strong necks. They are always looking around when we're holding them up so it won't be much longer before we start in with tummy time adventures. They've definitely gone through some growth spurts. They both eat 4 oz. at each feeding which some days seems like a lot and some days seems like not enough. Since I'm breastfeeding, it's always daunting trying to keep up with their 4 oz. each habit! When they were still little and only eating 2 oz. each feeding, I was able to pump the rest and freeze it so I have a smallish milk stash stored up for when there isn't enough. Breastfeeding has been it's own journey! I'll write more about that later. For now, please just enjoy a few cute photos of my darlings on their 7 week birthday.
Cooper
Me & Gemma
Playtime
Monday, December 22, 2014
We're pregnant!
So I'm going to backtrack a bit and start at the beginning of things. About a year ago, Matt and I decided we wanted to try to start our family. We are both around 30 and since we waited until we were a bit older than most people we know to get married, now was as good a time as any to try. Without going into great detail, we stopped preventing pregnancy in November of 2013. I had read that it usually takes a month to get the hormones of birth control to cycle out of one's system so I didn't think we'd get pregnant right away.
It took us a couple of months to actually conceive and get pregnant. I don't remember the exact day we found out we were pregnant. It was sometime the second week of April 2013. I remember I was late by about a week so I told Matt I needed to take a pregnancy test to find out. I bought the test on my way to work but didn't take it until later that night. I usually get nervous and over-think things so it took me a while to feel the urge to go to the bathroom and take the test. I sneaked away though at some point in the evening and took the test. Having to wait the three minutes was the worst! When I looked at the results, I wasn't sure if it was positive since the second line looked so faint. I read and reread the box and instructions to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. It was positive!!
Looking back, I should have come up with some creative way to surprise Matt with the news, but I was just so happy, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from him. So I went back downstairs and announced that I had taken the test and it was positive to which he replied with an enthusiastic, albeit unsure, "Okay". I said I'd call my doctor's office in the morning to schedule an appointment so we could go in and make sure I was in fact pregnant. I called the next morning and we scheduled our appointment for what we thought was around 8 weeks, May 2nd.
It's interesting how one knows one's own body. I could tell, even early on, that there was something different with me. I knew I was pregnant. Matt was pretty sure because I was sure that I was pregnant. Nevertheless, we waited. I think we waited 3 weeks before our first appointment. It was pretty strange going about our daily lives knowing I was pregnant but not telling anyone. We wanted to wait until we knew for sure before we told very many people. I think we told our parent's we were pregnant, but it didn't go much beyond that.
When May 2nd finally came, we were both pretty excited for the appointment. I had been feeling some discomfort in my tummy, some light cramping was pretty much it and I was really tired, but nothing was too out of the ordinary. We checked in and when the nurse called us back, Matt got settled in our room while I gave a urine sample. When I joined him, I remember we were joking about the initial ultrasound- the procedure is rather uncomfortable (most of you ladies know what I'm talking about) and to have my husband in the room made it that much more weird. When my doctor came in the room, she asked me some basic questions about how I was feeling, what kind of symptoms I was experiencing, etc. Then she did the ultrasound and we finally got to see what had waited weeks to have confirmed...there was a baby on the screen. And not just one baby, but two!!
At first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing was true. She asked us, "Do you see that?" And we both said haphazardly, "Yes...." she said, "There's one heart beat and there's the second heart beat." Our response, "What?!?!?!" We were in complete and utter disbelief and shock! Neither of us have twins in our family so we were completely surprised by the news.
Before the doctor began the ultrasound, we discussed the possibility of doing a VBAC for this pregnancy. I'd had a baby 7 years ago who was delivered via c-section so I wanted to try to have a natural delivery if I could. She said we'd monitor how the baby was doing throughout the pregnancy before we decided as a VBAC can come with some complications. Well, with the twins, it was definitely off the table! After she said it was twins, I just looked at her and said, "Well I guess we didn't need to have that conversation." She said she didn't want to risk not being able to get the babies delivered fast enough if there ended up being any complications. I was crushed, but knew it would be the best decision in the long run.
Because it was twins, we were automatically considered "high-risk", though there were no real threats at the beginning. She referred us to a Maternal-Fetal Specialist whom we scheduled an appointment with a couple weeks later. I'll go in to more detail about those appointments later.
Once our appointment was over, Matt and I still had to go to work and finish out our days. Driving to work is kind of a blur as I was still just overwhelmed with the whole news of being pregnant with twins. Once I got to my office, I knew there was no way I would be able to go the whole afternoon without saying something. I started to get very worked up and emotional (I think the news was finally settling in my mind) and I just asked everyone at my office if they had a minute because I wanted to tell them something. So through tears streaming down my face, I announced I was pregnant and we just found out it is twins. My bosses and co-workers were so relieved by the news (I think they thought I was going to say I had cancer or something since I was so overwhelmed). They all congratulated me and thus began The Journey of Twinsmith. :)
It took us a couple of months to actually conceive and get pregnant. I don't remember the exact day we found out we were pregnant. It was sometime the second week of April 2013. I remember I was late by about a week so I told Matt I needed to take a pregnancy test to find out. I bought the test on my way to work but didn't take it until later that night. I usually get nervous and over-think things so it took me a while to feel the urge to go to the bathroom and take the test. I sneaked away though at some point in the evening and took the test. Having to wait the three minutes was the worst! When I looked at the results, I wasn't sure if it was positive since the second line looked so faint. I read and reread the box and instructions to make sure I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. It was positive!!
Looking back, I should have come up with some creative way to surprise Matt with the news, but I was just so happy, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it from him. So I went back downstairs and announced that I had taken the test and it was positive to which he replied with an enthusiastic, albeit unsure, "Okay". I said I'd call my doctor's office in the morning to schedule an appointment so we could go in and make sure I was in fact pregnant. I called the next morning and we scheduled our appointment for what we thought was around 8 weeks, May 2nd.
It's interesting how one knows one's own body. I could tell, even early on, that there was something different with me. I knew I was pregnant. Matt was pretty sure because I was sure that I was pregnant. Nevertheless, we waited. I think we waited 3 weeks before our first appointment. It was pretty strange going about our daily lives knowing I was pregnant but not telling anyone. We wanted to wait until we knew for sure before we told very many people. I think we told our parent's we were pregnant, but it didn't go much beyond that.
When May 2nd finally came, we were both pretty excited for the appointment. I had been feeling some discomfort in my tummy, some light cramping was pretty much it and I was really tired, but nothing was too out of the ordinary. We checked in and when the nurse called us back, Matt got settled in our room while I gave a urine sample. When I joined him, I remember we were joking about the initial ultrasound- the procedure is rather uncomfortable (most of you ladies know what I'm talking about) and to have my husband in the room made it that much more weird. When my doctor came in the room, she asked me some basic questions about how I was feeling, what kind of symptoms I was experiencing, etc. Then she did the ultrasound and we finally got to see what had waited weeks to have confirmed...there was a baby on the screen. And not just one baby, but two!!
At first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing was true. She asked us, "Do you see that?" And we both said haphazardly, "Yes...." she said, "There's one heart beat and there's the second heart beat." Our response, "What?!?!?!" We were in complete and utter disbelief and shock! Neither of us have twins in our family so we were completely surprised by the news.
Before the doctor began the ultrasound, we discussed the possibility of doing a VBAC for this pregnancy. I'd had a baby 7 years ago who was delivered via c-section so I wanted to try to have a natural delivery if I could. She said we'd monitor how the baby was doing throughout the pregnancy before we decided as a VBAC can come with some complications. Well, with the twins, it was definitely off the table! After she said it was twins, I just looked at her and said, "Well I guess we didn't need to have that conversation." She said she didn't want to risk not being able to get the babies delivered fast enough if there ended up being any complications. I was crushed, but knew it would be the best decision in the long run.
Because it was twins, we were automatically considered "high-risk", though there were no real threats at the beginning. She referred us to a Maternal-Fetal Specialist whom we scheduled an appointment with a couple weeks later. I'll go in to more detail about those appointments later.
Once our appointment was over, Matt and I still had to go to work and finish out our days. Driving to work is kind of a blur as I was still just overwhelmed with the whole news of being pregnant with twins. Once I got to my office, I knew there was no way I would be able to go the whole afternoon without saying something. I started to get very worked up and emotional (I think the news was finally settling in my mind) and I just asked everyone at my office if they had a minute because I wanted to tell them something. So through tears streaming down my face, I announced I was pregnant and we just found out it is twins. My bosses and co-workers were so relieved by the news (I think they thought I was going to say I had cancer or something since I was so overwhelmed). They all congratulated me and thus began The Journey of Twinsmith. :)
Sunday, December 21, 2014
My first ever blog post
Today, I'm embarking on a new journey. I've never been much for journaling, though I've tried time and time again. I always set out with good intentions telling myself it'll be so neat to look back down the road and reminisce over all of the things that have happened in my life. The few journals I have kept and have been able to look back on are quite comical. Suffice it to say, I was a silly, lovestruck 20-something with her priorities all out of whack!
Now that I'm older and wiser (snicker, snicker), I feel like it might be a good time to try again since I'll have so much more to write about. I'm a wife going on 4+ years and a new mommy to twins so I've definitely got a few topics to write about that are worthwhile and much more worth remembering. So here it goes...
Now that I'm older and wiser (snicker, snicker), I feel like it might be a good time to try again since I'll have so much more to write about. I'm a wife going on 4+ years and a new mommy to twins so I've definitely got a few topics to write about that are worthwhile and much more worth remembering. So here it goes...
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