Gender Results

We had 3 CCS normal embryos created 5 years ago. We transferred two 5 years ago and had our twins who are now 4yrs old….a boy and a girl. CCRM would not reveal the genders of the embryos at anytime during the pregnancy. We had to find out the usual way most people do at the anatomy ultrasound.

5 years later CCRM's policy has changed and they will reveal the gender of your embryo(s) after the first u/s if all looks good. So I asked my nurse yesterday since she finally got my u/s results. She gave me the number to the genetics line. I called the line many times, but no answer. Ughh. Called and called. No voicemail either. Found my CCRM info folder and found the genetics office email, and emailed. Called again, called again… just rang.
Called one last time on my way to work yesterday and someone picked up!!!  A very nice woman looked at my chart in the computer syste and made sure I had my first u/s and all was good. Then she revealed the gender of our last embryo…. embryo #7!!!!! It's a……………………………..
…………………………GIRL!!!!!!  I was hoping for a girl…. we have two boys and a girl now. I would love this little baby either way, but to even things out I was hoping for a girl…. seemed to good to be true that it would be!! We are very excited! CCRM did say that the testing is 95% correct, so there's a 5% chance of error.

We aren't going to tell our family yet. We are thinking of revealing it in a fun way maybe at Thanksgiving since everyone will be together. We'll see if I can hold it in that long!!

As far as symptoms go… symptoms come and go. Sometimes feel blegh nausea feeling which is reassuring. Definitely more tired this last week. But otherwise it's really hard to believe it's real. The u/s was reassuring, but it's easy to wonder if all is ok after a couple days. I might want that second u/s… so nice get reassurance!!

Ultrasound Results!

My ultrasound was yesterday, at 7wks 3days. I had my ultrasound late since we were out of town. CCRM says you can have your u/s as soon as 6.5wks. All looked good on the ultrasound. Baby is measuring on track at 7wks 3days. Heart rate was 170 bpm. :) Next u/s is the NT scan around 12wks and a general OB check up in 4 more weeks.

CCRM wants another u/s in 2wks from the first to monitor the growth but my OB doesn't think it's necessary. I'm ok not having another u/s… CCS and seeing all looks good at 7wks3days… I feel content. But we will see if CCRM will allow me to skip it. 5 years ago they did not ask for a second u/s, just one. I ended up having a second around 8wks because I had a gush of bright red bleeding.

I will talk to CCRM tomorrow (they still didn't have my results from my OB) hopefully they will have my u/s results!!

Doesn't feel real….

This pregnancy doesn't feel real yet. Overall, I feel pretty normal and wonder if things are progressing in there? In the past, I've had lots of reassurance with continued hcg tests. This time just the two betas from CCRM and that's it. My estrogen was on the low side again this past Monday.. so I added another estrace orally. That worries me a bit. Progesterone levels have been fine. No bleeding. I did have some brown spotting initially, but nothing. No cramping either. I had more cramping that first week. It's pretty quiet here so it's easy to wonder if nothing is happening in there. Was supposed to have the first u/s Sep 4… but will have to drag out the wait since we will be out of town. Ughh.

Looking good

2nd hcg level was 150! Looking good! My nurse said I should have the first u/s at 6.5weeks and then another one at 8.5weeks. They will start weaning me from the meds after the second u/s.  I will have my hormone levels checked weekly.  September 4th would be the earliest I could have the first u/s… but we are headed out of town for a family wedding on the 2nd, so I will have to wait until Sep 8 at the soonest since we don't get home until the 7th. Since I am having my u/s late I would have the second one 2 weeks from the first because she said they want to see the growth over 2 weeks. She instructed me to call if any bright red bleeding. I've definitely had bright red bleeding with both normal successful pregnancies…. so I now know not to freak out!!! Its often ok!! But definitely important to check in with CCRM and OB.

I don't really feel pregnant at all at this point…. so anyone reading who gets pregnant and worries about symptoms…. don't be alarmed if you don't feel pregnant at all!!!!

It's positive!

So far so good!! First hcg result is 70 on Sunday 9 days after transfer. Had some difficulty getting the result to CCRM and didn't get the result until late afternoon Monday!! Geesh! Not CCRM's fault but the local lab and it being Sunday I guess. Today I go in to see if the hCG has risen appropriately.  CCRM is also checking my TSH today. On Beta day, they checked my progesterone and E2, still awaiting those results as well.

Schoolcraft's current progesterone regimen is endometrin 3x/day and PIO once a day every other day.
I keep begging them to change me over to just PIO. I really do not like the suppositories…. so messy. And gosh… they are expensive! Insurance does not cover!! Coupons thru the pharmacy help…. but combined with the cost of vivelle patches… It's just $$$$! Plus I just prefer the PIO anyway!! I did PIO with my previous successful pregnancy at CCRM and it was fine!! I'm going to keep bugging them about it!!! Sounds like they might give in if all looks good today.

Transfer 8-7-15

We flew to Colorado Wednesday afternoon to visit our very good friends in Fort Collins. The grandparents watched the kids at home. On Thursday evening we drove down to Lone Tree (about an hr 15 min south of Fort Collins). We stayed at the Element by Westin Hotels this time. We liked it! They had a CCRM rate, so if anyone is making plans make sure to get the CCRM rate which also allows you to cancel with no penalties up to a day before. The Element rooms have a kitchen and a couch…. modern decor and different (in a good way!) then your average hotel in this price range. They also provide free breakfast each  morning which we took advantage of one day.
Speaking of breakfast places….anyone visiting Lone Tree needs to try Snooze restaurant. They have the yummiest food ever!!! Our friends took us there in Fort Collins…. soooo good!! We wanted to go again in Lone Tree but didn't get the chance to! I guess the wait can get very long on the weekends and they don't take reservations.

So transfer was on Friday at 11:15am. The embryo thawed 100% and Dr Schoolcraft and John the embryologist seemed positive about our little embryo.  Transfer went really smooth and quick!  My E2 was low at 203 (want 300) so I added estrace orally. We spent some more time with our friends Sat evening and Sunday and flew home late Sunday night. Took it easy post transfer so it was a nice relaxing visit!

I don't feel symptoms except the symptoms caused probably from the meds- progesterone and estrogen.
But I don't think I ever had any significant symptoms at this point with any transfers negative or positive. Overall… don't feel pregnant!! I remember feeling this way when I have gotten pregnant. It's so strange!! I think I will do an at home pregnancy test Sunday morning. I rather just know myself before I get the call. I am not good with surprises!!!

Transfer August 7!!

I was supposed to have my transfer on July 27. But my cycle was totally off last month and my period came 10days late. I had a feeling and confirmed this with the progesterone check to start the lupron. I was getting the fertile mucus that you get during ovulation so I had them check my LH and E2 along with the progesterone. Progesterone was very low, LH was surging and E2 was high. So I was surging and was not able to start the lupron. I was quite frustrated since my cycles are usually very on time but so glad I  had them check the other hormone levels and confirmed I was surging…. at least I could then get an idea of when my period would probably come rather then just knowing my progesterone was low. Ever since my period came… things have been on schedule. Started the lupron when my progesterone went up about a week after the surge…. period started pretty much on time after calculating from my surge. But it was a bit frustrating with all of the planning. Planning an FET is not easy but once you have children too it's a lot more complicated. We don't have family that live in town near us so it really complicated things. Thankfully it's all worked out now… I just prayed everything stays on track. Which so far… it is!! (Knock on wood)!!

My first E2 check was good about a week ago. Today I had the lining check and e2 and progesterone levels checked. I went to a local clinic to get the lining checked and it's 11mm triple stripe. Still waiting on the hormone levels and the go ahead from CCRM. But I feel pretty confident since the ultrasound looked good. One of the grandma's is flying in today to help while we are gone!! My husband and I are flying out Wednesday!! Some of our best friends live in CO so we are staying some extra time to visit.
Can't believe we are doing this again 5 years later!! So amazing and crazy!!!

FET update

We have a tentative transfer date set for July 27. It could vary based on my cycle… but within a day or so of this date most likely. I am on a FET protocol without BCP. I will start lupron day 21 of this cycle if lab work looks good (progesterone >5?).  I will start the estrogen patches day 1 of my next cycle. Hopefully everything stays on track cause there's a lot of planning involved…. flights, babysitters, work, etc!! Keeping my fingers crossed.

We celebrated our twins (via CCRM)  4th birthday yesterday. It's amazing to think about our one embryo left over that he/she was concieved the same day as our twins who are here with us now growing and loving life!! It will be pretty amazing if this works out too…. almost 5 years later!! We are excited to meet him/her if it's meant to be. 

In case anyone reads this who is doing the early process of CCRM… a heads up with the shipping kits!

We had to do the communicables for my husband via shipping kit. (I still don't understand why we need to do these communicables for frozen embryos?). But we just follow their rules. Anyway… be careful and read the instructions carefully! I followed everything so carefully…. I was so happy to get that kit shipped off.  I sent it out on a Thursday and it was supposed arrive Friday via overnight shipping. Unfortunately there was some weather delay and they didn't get the package until sunday!!

I was talking to them every single day.. Friday, Sat and Sunday about my package. We were all tracking it…. the CCRM lab and me. Everyone was very helpful. The lab was really kind about watching out for my package and doing there best to retrieve it. When they got the package on Sunday… the sample was at room temp :(. Thankfully communicables is the ONLY test that they will ok if it is no longer frozen. They did call me back to verify that I did indeed freeze the container (sarsedt) and freeze the sample separately and then put the sample inside the frozen sarsedt. They it will stay frozen at least 48 hrs if done correctly. So since I did freeze it correctly it was ok. So be really careful to follow the instructions in case your package has a delay. If you have a choice of when to send out. I would pick a day earlier in the week so if it is delayed a business day is probably better than a weekend. Also really good to call and check in on your package. The lab was very helpful and watched out for my package and tracked it themselves via fedex too. If I didn't call and assumed it would arrive it may have not been retrieved. Since it was delivered on a Sunday (and not many people were there) it was delivered across the street and they had to go find it there! I was so happy to hear they could use the sample. I was really dreading paying for that kit again and doing the whole process over!! The entire time I was thinking about someone's day 3 bloodwork…. and what a bummer that would be to have to redo that!!! I would definitely call the lab if you have any questions about the kit.

They were very helpful when I called just to double check I was doing it right!!! 

Something new that Schoolcraft does is-  changes in progesterone. When I did my FET 5 years ago he just ordered the suppositories. I hated those so I switched to PIO. Now he requires both!! Ughh. I really don't want to do both. I questioned the nurses about this but he feels he finds better results with both.

The suppositories are also very expensive and messy too! I argued that I had success with just PIO….  but oh well. I guess I'll follow their instructions.

Back to Colorado!!!

Wow it's been forever since I've posted. I couldn't remember how to log in to make a post!!! Just over a year ago I spoke with Schoolcraft about transferring our one remaining CCS normal embryo. We planned to transfer last spring/summer but we ended up moving to a city one hr north. Life just got busy and it didn't happen. Here we are about a year later and finally going to do it!!!

So I went to back Colorado for my ODWU this past Friday. The last couple of months I've been talking to a nurse at CCRM getting all of my labwork and required exams like Pap smear, physical and mammogram. I wanted to make sure all was good before spending the time and money to go for the work up.

I was in Colorado for just 24hrs. Flew in at 1130pm Denver time, got my rental car and headed to hotel in Lone Tree area. Didn't sleep well being alone and nerves I guess. Then got up fairly early at 8am to get ready for appt at 9:30am. I was done at about 1pm. Then I got to meet up with a friend for lunch. A fellow CCRM graduate and mommy of twins who lives nearby. Such a special treat! After that, I still had time to kill... So I shopped around at the mall and got dinner. Headed back to the airport at 7pm, my flight home was at 10pm.

It was strange to be at the clinic again!! Brought back lots of memories and just so glad we are past that sad place in our lives. The stakes aren't high like last time. It's not all or nothing. First, I had the u/s and Doppler which looked good. Normal blood flow even though I forgot to restrict the caffeine. Met with my nurse mostly about consents and the protocol I will be on for the FET.... Same protocol as last time. Had some required labwork done. Dr Schoolcraft did the hysteroscopy- uterus looks fine. Lastly, I met with Dr Schoolcraft in his office and we discussed the transfer. Not much to discuss. He was much more friendly and mostly we just chatted. I shared photos of the kids, we talked about my twin pregnancy. He asked about where I live and what I do for work, he was very friendly and kind. It was nice to not have to discuss tests results and success rates and be all emotional and worried. I thanked him for helping us conceive our twins. We had a nice talk :)  I tried one last time to ask him to reveal the gender of our embryo......he would not!!! Right now they reveal at 10wks pregnancy. It won't influence our decision, knowing would only make it more real.

So our plan is to transfer as early as my next cycle or within the next couple months!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!

It's my Birthday today!! Today I was remembering my Birthday two years ago.... the day I received our CCS results!! What a special Birthday gift it was to find out we had 3/5 normal embryos. Two of those embryos are in their cribs napping right now!! Today I am thankful for these gifts.... the best Birthday gifts I could ask for. Gosh it's been forever since I've updated. The babies are now 14.5 months old! Their first Birthday party was so much fun... we had lots friends and family over to celebrate :) Layla has been walking since just after her first birthday. Alec is still not walking independently!! He has taken a few steps but still is not walking on his own completely. He uses the walker to get around. Here's a cute story...Layla steals the walker away from him (poor Alec!)... he'll cry since she took it and she'll see he's crying and pat him on the back to console him. He gets up and starts to use the walker again and she steals it away again. He cries again and then she stops to console him again. The cycle repeats itself. It's too funny! The twins are a lot of work. After having a singleton and now twins... I'd definitely say twins are more work and more exhaustion. But life is good. We really want to use all of our embryos so I guess it's better we got two out of the way at once anyway!! I noticed the blogger has new features and it looks like people actually do read or check my blog. Usually from ccrm journey or ivf flygirl's blog. I hope my blog is helpful to others and gives other's hope. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions about my cycle at CCRM or any IVF questions! It gives purpose to our IF struggle. Lately...I've had quite a few friends of friends contacting me for IF advice. IF is and will always be a part of me and I am more than happy to help anyone out.

Nine months!!

Today, our babies turned nine months. It's been way too long since I've updated!!!! Life is good, but super busy!! The twins are finally both sleeping thru the night in their own room....finally! They are also napping much better and more on a schedule now. I completely stopped nursing last month.. it's been a gradual weaning over the last 2 months or so. They aren't crawling yet... but I see it getting close! Gotta start baby proofing the house soon!! It will be interesting to see how life changes when they become mobile!!! I'm afraid I won't be getting out of the house as much with two mobile babies either... so I"m going to have to adjust my routines!! Probably lots more online grocery shopping and other shopping! Thank goodness for the internet, huh!?? Overall, life is good...busy and overwhelming at times, but soo good! And I'll add some pictures later. Or maybe start a new baby blog as a separate continuation of this blog. But maybe still blog here for topics like embryo donation below. I'd hate to upset anyone coming to my blog seeing pics of the babies. I hope my blog can give some help and inspiration to others if they come across it. I always found it helpful to find blogs with similar situations to mine and would read back from the start. Many of these blogs helped me decide to go to CCRM. I"m so thankful for that.

My friend, FLYGIRL, has a blog which I'm sure most of you know. She's donating her frosties to a wonderful family. What an amazing gift...... and I agree, can't think of a better gift you can give someone!! My husband and I are in a dilemma about what to do with our lone frostie left. If we had more than one... then we'd probably donate because we don't think we can manage 5+ kids. And I know many of you have TONS of frosties which would be impossible to use them all!! We can't handle twins again either! Since it is only one left we feel like we "could" handle one more kid! (it's crazy to even be in this dilemma after years of infertility!!). But when I look at our precious twins (2 of our 3 CCS normals) I think of our one left. We could donate him/her... but since she/he has no potential sibling... I feel bad just leaving him/her out....like he/she belongs with us. I often wonder if it is a boy or a girl. But knowing (if CCRM would tell us) would make it even harder to let he/she go. My husband keeps reminding me this embryo in the freezer is just 2 weeks away from a heartbeat. My heart aches to not give it life either by donation or to us. (not sure if we'd be able to donate just one CCS normal... I know CCRM has more strict criteria). We haven't decided what to do. And we could attempt an FET and it could not work.... but it's a high quality 5 day old CCS normal embryo... and I'm sure it has a VERY good chance. Thankfully, we don't have to decide just now. We have some time.

4 months

The twins are now about 4 months old! Time is flying by!! We've been busy... been on a few little trips. In late September we went on a houseboat trip with my husband's family for 4 days. I would have never decided to take 3 month old twins houseboating, but my brother in law won this trip. I was a little apprehensive about going. But it ended up being really relaxing and fun. We had lots of extra hands too so that gave me a break!!



We went to Southern CA to visit my sister and family last weekend for about 4 days. We braved the airplane with our three kids!! It went ok! The babies were good. Other passengers were frequently commenting on how we have our hands full but many of them also offering to help :) We went to Disneyland one day while my parents stayed home with the twins, it was a fun day! Disneyland has a nice and comfortable baby center where I could pump :)

The babies had their 4 month appointment yesterday. The pedi was very pleased. Alec weighs 12lbs 8oz and Layla is 11lbs 13oz....both are about 24 inches. She said once they hit about 12lbs they should sleep most if the night (if you dream feed around 10pm-which we do). Alec is often sleeping thru the night from his 10pm dream feed until 8am! Layla wakes up around 5am on average. Napping is going ok... some days they nap really well. They really like to nap on their tummies. My pedi says this is ok since they hold their heads up so well and I'm right there for the nap. But at night we put them on their backs to sleep. They really love sleeping on their tummies :) but sometimes I worry since they are supposed to be on their backs. The pedi also says we can start solids when they are about 5 months old. She said to start putting them in their high chairs so they get used to sitting in there and watching us eat at meal times. When starting solids they should start to sleep deeper longer naps and can be more on a schedule during the day... they should sleep longer at night too :) Looking forward to that!!!


I went back to work last week. It's weird being back to work after 6 months off. I thought I would forget everything, but so far remembering it pretty easily like riding a bike! It's kind of nice to get away and get back to work... I work 24hr/weekly... so it's not too bad. I can often get more days off if we're not busy...so right now we're going to take advantage of that. My hubby is learning to care for them all on his own... this weekend will be his longest stretch with them since it's my first weekend back to work. Should be interesting!! ha ha!

Lots of coos and smiles these days.... it just melts my heart. Such a joy! The babies do notice each other sometimes and "talk" to one another. TOO CUTE! Alec is rolling over from back to tummy and tummy to back. But not very often yet. Layla hasn't rolled much... just tummy to back a couple times.



A year ago I was planning my FET of these little ones! So crazy all that has happened this last year. Such a joy and relief that our family is complete (at least we think? we still haven't decided about our one last CCS normal in the freezer- but I'll save that for another post!)

More pics :)

Thanks to my IVFC friends I finally got my camera out and have been taking pictures of my cuties!! We were supposed to have a photo shoot today (a free follow-up pic from our hospital package) but the lady cancelled. I had them all dressed up in these cute outfits my mom got them.... oh well, did my own little shoot instead :)

A few pics!

I need to be better about taking pictures!!! I don't have that many good ones! I have some on my phone, but I need to try to take pics more often with my normal camera. Took some tonight since it was big brother's fourth birthday!

2 month appt!

Our babies had their 2 month appointment this past Thursday Aug 18th at 9 1/2 wks old. Alec weighed in at 10lbs 4oz and Layla is 9lbs 15oz. Alec is also longer and his head is bigger than Layla. Their pediatrician thought they look very healthy and is very pleased :) We're very thankful too.

Today I was looking back on this blog to where I was at about a year ago today.... a year ago on Aug 13 we had our egg retrieval, and about this time last year we had just received our day 6 blast report and I was obsessing over the grades of our embryos and awaiting the CCS report. What a stressful time it was.... such uncertainty, some dissapointment over the grades of our embryos and the number of blasts we had after 19 fertilized (only 5 blasts!). And look where we are today... two beautiful babies... from grades 5BA and 4BB embryos. I was so jealous of those perfect 5AAs and felt like there was something wrong with our embryos.... but who cares now what the grades were. All that matters is that we have our beautiful healthy babies :)

I promise... pics to come in the next few days!!

Been busy....exhausted!

It's been busy here! I finally have a moment to write while both babies are asleep, big brother is asleep too! It's been especially busy since our oldest, Garrett, is out of school for two weeks since summer school ended and preschool hasn't started up again yet. Also our babysitter is out on vacation! So I am all on my own with three kids all day long! On top of that, I think the lack of sleep is really catching up to me... and I'm exhausted.

I am finding out that getting out of the house makes my day a little easier since the babies fall asleep in the car and usually stay asleep for a few hours in their infant carseats. Garrett also does well if we get out and do something. He goes crazy being home all day long. We get out to the park, the mall, the jumpy place, or maybe one easy errand. Getting out of the house keeps me sane too!!

Tomorrow is the babies 2 month appt (a week late). I'm curious to find out how much they weigh in at! They are definitely getting bigger... our little boy, Alec, seems to eat ALOT!! Nursing more often...and I think he feels heavier. When we give him a bottle at night he'll usually take 4 oz and sometimes wants more. Our little girl, Layla, takes about 3 oz... not usually 4. Alec is so grunty and gassy!! He farts ALOT! and stinky ones! I'm going to ask about this tomorrow! It seems like he's constantly farting! Such a boy!! ha ha!

I'm recovering pretty well. Seeing progress with my weight loss and staring to feel more like my normal self. Still have about 10lbs to lose. Trying to be careful not to go too fast with the weight loss since I am concerned it could affect my milk supply. Fitting into more of my normal clothes now. I know it takes time.... trying to be patient!! I'm still bleeding lightly on and off bright red. My OB says she'll do an ultrasound to check for any tissue or a clot. I was supposed to call last week if I was still bleeding.... I just keep ignoring it... hoping it will go away. Maybe I'll call tomorrow. Ughh. There's a possibility I would need a d&c..... if they see something in there. What a pain that would be! And the memories it would bring back since I've had two miscarriages with d&c. Ughh.

I'll update again in the next few days since we have their 2 month appt tomorrow... and I will add some pics since my IVFC buddies have been asking :)

1 month update

Yesterday, we had the babies 1 month appointment. Actually, it was at about 5wks of age, but all looked perfect! Babies are growing like weeds :) Layla is now 8lb 10oz and 20.25 inches long. Alec is 8lb 8oz and 21.75 inches long. They are breastfeeding well and it was a nice reassurance to know they are gaining well 90% breastfed. Sometimes breastfeeding can be so confusing cause you just don't know how much they are getting!! I walked out of that appointment feeling so thankful. Thankful these twins are healthy as an be, are feeding and gaining well. It's going sooo much smoother than I ever imagined with twins. A lot of my worries were around feeding and gaining weight....I really thought it would be much much more difficult. A big part of the success was that I was able to carry them to 37 wks and they were a good size for being twins. We really got off to a great start. I do think it helps being a second time mom. I'm more familiar with everything and have done it all before!!

My little boy seems to be the noiser of the two- often makes grunting noises and burps much more easily than the girl. My little girl takes forever to get a burp out.... such a polite little miss:) They are good babies, can be fussy at times but usually just want to be held! They rarely seem to be inconsolable, thankfully. We hope it stays that way!

My mom left about a week and a half ago (after being here since April!!!), so I am on my own!! AHHH! I think the biggest challenge is managing my oldest child on top having the twins. Our oldest, Garrett, wakes up early and wants breakfast and attention. Thankfully, my husband has been helpful and gets up with him! Garrett goes to pre-school 3 days a week, so on those days I have to get up and going by 830am. My husband has been a great helper here too- helping get the oldest ready and get the babies into the car. Although, it can be rushed to get out the door... it is nice to get home to a quiet house just with the twins and I for a few hours. It's also good for Garrett to get some socialization and run off some energy at school otherwise he drives me nuts being at home with him all day!!! I do have a babysitter that comes two afternoons a week as well.... so she usually plays with my oldest and I can get a break!! I've even been getting out of the house with the twins- going to the mall and running a few easy errands.

I now am doing lots of online shopping.....grocery delivery is a life saver!!!! Another great thing I found is amazon mom. It's a club on amazon and you get 30% off certain baby items. We get 30% off our diapers and wipes. You have to set up a subscription to get the 30% off... you set up a quantity and frequency for delivery which you can change at any time. The delivery is also free :) We really need this saving since we use about 16 diapers per day!!!

We had a photo shoot done when the twins were about 2wks old. The photos turned out just gorgeous!!! Here are just a few of them:

My due date!

Today was my due date for the babies!!! I can't imagine being pregnant to 40wks with twins, I would have been sooo uncomfortable and HUGE! The little ones are almost 3 weeks old now and things are going great. They both weighed 6lbs even at their one week appt and 6lb 8oz (boy) and 6lb 7oz (girl) at their two week appt.... so pretty much back to their birth weights. Their Dr is so pleased on how healthy they are for twins... no complications from being a twin gestation at all.... just perfectly healthy babies!! Such a blessing!
They are 90% exclusively breastfeeding. Feeding has been going way better than I ever imagined it to. I struggled to breastfeed my oldest but was able to after a month of hard work to get him to latch. So I was expecting much more challenges this time around especially with two! But they've both latched on well, I feed tandem majority of the time and it's going very smoothly. To get more sleep during the night we give them a bottle of formula around 11pm and since formula doesn't digest as easily they sleep longer.... they usually wake around 5am. I get up and feed them then- it takes about 45min to breastfeed and change their diapers. Then we sleep another 3hrs.... fortunately my mom is still here to deal with my oldest who wakes up pretty early. It's going to be a lot more challenging when my help leaves and I have all three kids to take care of. But it's nice to get the rest now while I can and while my body is still healing from major surgery.

Here's some photos from the hospital. I think this was when they were about 3 days old....

Update with pictures!

Thanks for all the congrats messages!!

We came home Friday afternoon and things are going pretty well. It's nice to be home, but we've always enjoyed our hospital stay....one on one time with my husband and the babies. Such a special time :) The c-section was ok.... but the spinal anesthesia was the strangest feeling- felt like I couldn't breathe and so restless. I asked the anesthesiologist to put me out!! But he didn't. Ughh! Last time I was alseep for the c-section so I didn't know how it would be being awake. I was soo glad when it was over and I had recovered... but it was very special to hear their first cries and get to see them just as they came out. My husband took a video and it is so neat to see. My little girl breastfed in the recovery room.... she just latched on so easily, she's been an easy one as far as feeding goes. My son has been more of a struggle, but he's breastfeeding ok. The babies never needed NICU time and all has looked healthy with them- such a blessing. Sleep is not the best, but could be worse...but maybe it hasn't caught up to me yet! Big brother has taken to our new family members surprisingly well (so far!) Overall, things went soo smooth and we are soo in love with our two new little ones.

Warning: Below is a picture overload!! :)



My HUGE belly on the operating table!!!























Big brother asleep beside his new brother and sister :)

Babies are here!!!

Hi!!! Just a quick update- Layla and Alec were born at 0956 and 0958 weighing 6lb 9oz and 6lb 7oz! I can't believe I had that much baby in my belly!!!!!! Both babies and momma are doing well! No nicu time needed!! They are in the room with us now :) So wonderful!!!
Will update more later and add some pictures!!!!!