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 :)