Sleeping

Jason and I have been working on getting Malia and Michael to sleep well at night and during naptimes. We seem to have done well with the nighttime sleeping (most important one). We get 4 or 5 hour stretches between feedings at night. Once they are 9 pounds each I will cut back on the amount of time they have at the nighttime feedings in order to completely eliminate the need for nighttime feedings at all. They will help out too, with sleeping for longer stretches. Basically they will get all they need during the day, and then at night just relax and grow.

For naptimes, we are now putting them in their room for naps. We just started this today. I expect there will be some protesting these first couple of days, but that's just how it goes. We have to get the kids to realize what the routine is in order for them to go with the flow. They are napping right now in their room.

I'm reading a book about getting your baby to sleep 12 hours by 12 weeks old. I have to wait until they are bigger before I can start implementing the tips, but I'm excited at the thought of babies sleeping twelve hours at night. The book says they don't need to sleep the entire time, if they wake up early they will lay quietly there either playing with a toy or entertaining themselves another way.

When they are older, we also are going to try and see if they can sleep without swaddles. There is a lot to come in the next month and hopeful it will go smoothly.

Cloth diapers have been going well. I love love love the bum genius pocket diapers for nighttime. I double stuff them so they will soak up all the nighttime business. Then during the day we use the flip system which has a waterproof outer cover and then I just swap out the insert unless it is a poopy diaper. Poopy diapers will have the outer cover put in the laundry. I think my stash of covers is good, and Jenna and Gigi have made some new inserts I'm excited to try. When the kids sleep longer stretches, I think I can do diaper laundry every other day. Right now I do it once a day (one load) in order to get my nighttime diapers cleaned for the next night.

So that's the update. This is an older picture, because I haven't hooked up the camera to the computer. I took a really cute video that I will post later this week of the kids in their bumbo seats.

Do you want to see the placentas?

My doula took a picture of my placentas before encapsulating them. I'm not posting the picture here. If you want to see it, just ask me and I'll send you the picture.

The placentas are what kept our babies healthy and alive for 9 months. It's wonderful and I'm so glad that the placentas did their job. It is very interesting to see the picture, because they are not two separate pieces, the placentas fused together into one.

Internal organs are not pretty looking, that's why they are on the inside of our bodies. A heart is not pretty, but it keeps us alive and we should not say "disgusting" or call it "gross". The same goes for the placenta.

6 weeks old!

Cloth Diapers and Snow

We still don't have our latching and eating totally mastered, but we are doing much better. Michael is a great eater but a bad latcher (he takes three or four attempts sometimes to get it right). Malia latches on pretty well the first time, but she gets lazy with eating and messes up the latch.

Anyway, I think it's time to try cloth diapers. We will start with only the daytime. Then we'll bring them in at night when we are ready. I have experimented with the different kinds of diapers here and there and found that right now I really like the pocket diapers. I put an absorbent insert into the fleece pocket. The liquid goes through the fleece and is absorbed by the insert. The kids seem to like these better right now, I think it's because they don't feel as wet when they do soil a diaper.

So I have 12 of these and we change them five times during the day (we change twice at night). So that means 10 diapers. I should be good for one day with my current stash. We'll do every other day of cloth and then I'll decide to either throw in some other varieties of diapers (Bum Genius Flip) or I might make a fleece pocket for the other diapers to keep them feeling drier. It makes them cry less severely. Or I guess I could do laundry every day - No!

In other news....

We got our first big snowstorm of the year.

Gigi and PopPop gave us their snowblower and we are so happy they did!

Lastly - we have a baptism date scheduled. March 6th. If you are interested in coming - let me know. I'm happy to have anyone come who wants to come. It will be in Hillard at St. Brendan's (same place Jason and I got married).

One Month Old

One month old

(we will use the monkey as a size comparison in all growth photos)

The kids had their one month checkup and they did great. The both weighed in around 8 pounds. Both are in the 50th percentile for height. Michael is in the 10th percentile for weight and Malia is between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight. The doc said that is expected for twins - lower weight. He also said in boy girl twins, the boy usually gains weight slower in the beginning and then it will switch and she will slow down on the weight gain.

We are doing much much better at understanding their needs. And we can tell the difference between a stinker and an actual poop (it's all in the sound of the toot, juicy = poop).

Jason goes back to work next week, so if you are available to visit in the daytime you can come and keep me company with the twins. I did really well on my first day home alone with them. The one hard part was when they both woke up at 4pm very hungry. I haven't figured out how to tandem feed when I am home alone. I'm suppose to practice that. I think the pillow I have is kind of crappy, so I'm going to try out Pam's (she has twins and has let us borrow tons of stuff). So at 4pm when they both woke up hungry at the same time, I had to feed one while the other one screamed at me. It's very difficult. I don't think they ate very well, which was probably due to me feeling stressed during the entire feed. Malia finally settled down to a nap, but Michael was fussy the entire time until the next feeding. Jason came home to Michael screaming his head off - "Welcome home honey!" He reassured me that he knows that will happen sometimes and it didn't bother him. I just felt bad, because we had a great day up until then.

Malia is smiling at us now. It doesn't happen all the time, but its great when it does. Michael is still working on it. He smiles in his sleep (which is how Malia started) and he laughs in his sleep. He should be smiling at us any day now. We can't wait. It's really such a touching feeling when your baby finally smiles at you. Malia is probably thinking "Finally, I'm first at something!"

I want to get pictures printed and put up in frames on the walls. So that is the task I am starting when I have time.

Thanks to all those who have visited and also those who have fed us. We truly needed the help and would not have survived if it weren't for all of our wonderful friends and family. We love you!

Professional Newborn Photos

Ok, Pam posted the newborn photos from Malia and Michael's photo shoot. They are adorable. I can't decide which ones I want to get framed. Check it out for yourselves.

Playtime on the play mat

Naptime

So I am able to type some stuff since the babies are both napping at the same time. We had the belly button stumps fall off two days before the two week mark for Michael and the following day for Malia. Today marks that they are three weeks old. Our multiples class said the first six weeks are the hardest, so we are halfway through the hardest part. I think the first two weeks were the hardest because we didn't know what we were doing. It's better now, and the babies aren't really doing anything different, we just know more about how to be mom and dad.

The next pediatrician appointment is Jan 6, their one month birthdate. That is the day I hope he tells us that the babies can sleep through the night, waking when they want to feed instead of us waking them up after 4 hours from the last feeding (usually 1 or 2am). We bought a baby scale for our home and this morning Malia weighed in at almost 8 pounds. Michael didn't get a weigh in this morning. That's just how it goes, take what you can get and be happy with it.

Jason and I are so happy with these two. We love them more than we could have ever imagined. When we are away for even the shortest period of time (grocery run, doctor appt) we miss them like crazy. Jason is working one day a week right now; he'll go back full time mid-January. I'm a little nervous for that part - being home alone with the babies. But I've got to learn sometime. Hopefully when they are 6 weeks old they will be easier and we'll have a system/schedule in place somewhat, so I feel like we aren't winging it all the time.

Feeding is getting better with the babies. I am still not producing enough to satisfy them completely so we have to supplement with formula. I'm reading up and doing lots to try and up my supply. We are now tandem feeding for all feedings but one. We have the 1/2am feeding which is pure formula to give me a break. I pump during that feeding after the babies go back to bed (and Jason goes back to bed, I'm a little jealous when I hear him get into bed). I'm getting enough to feed one baby and then a little more, when I pump, but that's not enough since I don't have 1.5 babies. :) Hopefully the tandem feeding, fenugreek pills, bread, and tea will all lead to more milk supply.

Each kid definitely has their own personality. Malia is quiet and subdued. She has a muffled cry which starts quiet and then slowly gets louder, but never is unbearable. Michael has a temper. He gets mad and shows it immediately. He goes from 0 to 60 in a second with his cry. His face turns bright red and then he just wails. There is no ramping up. Unfortunately, he gets himself so worked up, it's hard to get him to calm down. When it's feeding time, he cries so hard, he doesn't realize the food is touching his lips. He also is our gassy baby, which might be why his is the fussy/cranky one most evenings.

I really hope to get these kids off formula soon. Nothing against people that choose formula only, over breast milk. I don't like it because it smells, it stains, and their poops smell worse than I could have ever imagined. Jason and I describe it as rotten peanut butter. And it is a lot when they poop. They don't do it everyday, but when they do - it fills the diaper completely. We have only had one "blow out" so far. Unfortunately Michael was wearing white pants when it happened, so I'm trying to figure out how to get that stain out. I might have to resort to bleaching those pants. That brings me to the cloth diaper situation.

Since we had such a difficult time getting the kids on the breast successfully, we stuck with the disposables sent home with us from the hospital. When those were running low, I wasn't ready to make the switch to cloth yet, so I bought some more diapers from a website. We just opened the last box, so by the end of this week we should be out of diapers for these guys (we go through about 30 diapers a day). Then we will start cloth diapers. I'm excited, but also really nervous. Jason just installed the sprayer on the toilet, so we can spray out those mega poops when they occur. I don't have a wet bag though, so I have to figure something out where to put the diapers that are waiting for washing. I have special detergent for the cloth diapers, so I can't just through them in the washing machine. Or maybe I can. I would just have to remember that I am storing up for a diaper load. We'll see how it works once I get going.

So that's the update. I think that's pretty much all that's been going on. We are super thankful for all the items people have given us or let us borrow. The baby clothes, the swings, the bouncy chairs, the playmat, the swaddle blankets. All of these items are getting daily use. I'm excited for the kids to be able to hold their heads up so we can get into the next set of stuff - bumbo seats, jumperoos. But I won't rush them. They are only 3 weeks old!

So I'll keep posting random pictures, but a text entry won't come until I have time to sit down again. It's about time for the next feeding, so I am off to get Jason and wake up these sleeping babies. I can't wait to not have to wake the sleeping babies. But it's been 4 hours since their last feed and that's the rule right now.

First Christmas

Beautiful Babies!

Our friend Pam is a photographer and has been snapping some awesome shots of the babies when she visits them. I included a link and a couple photos below. She does great work and I can't wait to see the rest when she gets back from vacation.

malia in red, michael in green

malia, michael

http://pylesphotographs.smugmug.com/Portraits/Duffy-twins/14984416_c6TVQ#1119284773_u69Uj

michael

malia

malia, michael

Please visit us!

So it would be really great if those of you who wanted to visit us, would just let me know. We love visitors who will watch the babies while we do random stuff such as catching up on bills, taking a shower, taking a nap, just relaxing and eating a meal without worry about a baby suddenly needing picked up or changed.

Brook just visited us today and brought us lunch. It was great. She's so brave coming over alone. She has experience with twins though, so she wasn't scared. She was able to snap some cute pics of the babies while she was here and was kind enough to share them with me. She is coming again next month with her mom and I think we are going to dare leave the house while they are here.

Babies; They're Here!

Dad waiting to meet his kids.

Last full belly shot for Mom.

Hello Michael!

Hello Malia!

Photo Shoot

http://piecesofyouphotography.blogspot.com/2010/12/twin-goodness.html

1 day till due date

Here we are - 40 weeks! I can't believe it!

I'll be sure to post an after belly shot. I hear it's going to look like there is still a baby in there.

The weather monday is going to be the coldest day yet this winter. 27 degrees. it won't be hard to stay holed up in the house with the babies once we get home - brrrr! at least it won't be snowing too much. the forecast says some flurries, but nothing to create traffic troubles. plus we live four traffic lights away from the hospital. but i'm sure the drive home with the babies in the car will be the most carefully driven trip of our lives :)

I'm hoping the next post will be an introduction of these two to you all. Thanks for all your love and support. We can't wait to show them off! And of course, once we are home we welcome visitors. Just give us a heads up so everyone doesn't come at the same time.

2 days till due date

Since this is the last weekend without babies in our house we have been getting two pieces of advice over and over. Rest & Relax and Live It Up.

We are going to rest and relax. And shop online for xmas presents.

I don't really understand the live it up advice. I mean, haven't I had enough time to "live it up"? And how exactly am i suppose to live it up? Have you seen me lately? I probably could have a drink since the babies are full term, but I'll wait 3 days (or more) for that. It just makes me laugh. Thinking of myself showing up to a nightclub or bar and "living it up."

3 days till due date

The induction is scheduled for Monday, my due date! We are going to meet the babies soon! This is really exciting and we can't wait. I can't believe I'm carrying twins a full 40 weeks. My doctor said this is very rare and all the nurses in the office think i'm unbelievable. The babies looked very healthy today and I'm only 2cm dilated. The boy has dropped lower into the pelvis, so hopefully that means he will make some moves before monday. I think it was the long walk that Jason and I did yesterday. It was painful but it made some progress which is worth it. I like pain with results.

4 days till due date

so....things are going to start happening. either natural (because of my long walk and hot wings) or with some interventions. it kind of makes sense that these babies don't want to come out without medicine, because they didn't get where they are without medicine. hopefully the medicine to get them out will be as effective as the medicine that got them where they are in the first place.

i don't have an induction date scheduled yet, but I will have a date tomorrow. the doctor, whom i trust and know wouldn't recommend something unless it was truly needed, would like me to have an induction sometime soon. i'm meeting with him tomorrow to schedule a date and time. it's exciting to know that these babies will be here in our arms very soon. it's a little scary, because it's been so easy to take care of them this long so i hope the trend continues. my friend with twins said if you expect the worst you will be pleasantly surprised. so i'm going to expect the 6 weeks of complete hell that the multiples class told us about. hopefully my idea of what it will be like will be far worse than it actually will be. we have tons of friends and family to help us, so i think i will be pleasantly surprised.

so, tomorrow will be the big announcement of when the action will begin. i am not going to be able to keep everyone constantly updated, so i hope that you all can talk to each other and to our family members to get the info you desire if you do not hear it from us. we will try our best to keep everyone informed, but i have to break it to you (read this quick like ripping off a bandaid) our #1 priority will be these babies and ourselves. it's hard to hear, but you are not our #1 priority.

we do love you all and have really appreciated all the love and support we receive from you. we are truly blessed and we are thankful everyday for it.

talk to you tomorrow!

5 days till due date

A tip someone gave me was to go somewhere where i wouldn't want my water to break, like the movies. So Jason and I ventured out last night to the theater and saw the harry potter movie. We had some popcorn and enjoyed the show. The kids must like harry potter or popcorn because they were both moving like crazy. No water breaking though.

Tonight I'm going to a 31 gifts party, Jenna is now selling those products. Hopefully this will be another chance to have an embarrassing water breakage situation. If not, at least I can check out the neat stuff Jenna is selling.

Tomorrow is the big day, I've got the non stress test and will talk with the doctor again. We'll see how it goes. I won't post until the evening, so don't worry if you don't hear anything right away.

Wish us luck! I'm having Jason join me for this appointment since it could be a pretty big one. I said could be - it also could show everyone being happy and the doctor saying we can wait longer if we want. I'm not sure of what I will decide just yet.

6 days till due date

39 weeks! can you believe it? Jason says from behind I don't look pregnant. So I'm posting a back view and a side view this time.

Weeks Down: 39.15 weeks

Days Left: 6 days

Percentage completed: 97.85%

Weight Gained: 40 pounds

Waist Size: 49"

It's probably easier for someone else to see it. I feel pregnant no matter the angle. Today was my last acupuncture session. Since there was so much rain here today, I didn't get out for a walk, but I will tomorrow. I did have hot wings last night (sadly not very spicy) and hot sauce on my burrito at lunch. Maybe that will do something?

7 days till due date

that's right, one week until the official due date. the doctor asked for another non stress test on thursday to make sure everyone is still happy and healthy. we'll see if i make it to thursday.

i'm having jason take an updated picture tonight when he gets home, so i'll post that tomorrow.

8 days till due date

today was my guess date for the babies' birthday, although the day is not over, it is very unlikely that i will be correct. natalie guessed tomorrow and i hope she's right. there is a whole slew of people that guessed wed. nobody guessed tuesday, which makes me think that is the most likely date.

tomorrow i have a doctor's appointment and i'm interested to see what he says about the upcoming week. i don't know if he will want to discuss induction or if he will let me keep going on my own. as much as i want to let nature run its course, i'm getting very uncomfortable moving around. i might just spend the next week laying in bed all the time.

a woman i know with twins boys gave birth at 39 weeks, so i keep using her as motivation. i'm a big believer in "if so-and-so can do it then so can i!" as a motivational phrase.

9 days till due date

Still waiting...

10 days till due date

We are now 10 days away from the official due date. Crazy! Jason's side of the family had thanksgiving today and his aunt and uncle from NC came in for it. Jenna hosted and it was a really great time. The turkey was not cooperating, but in the end it came out wonderfully.

I rescheduled my last acupuncture session for Monday because I wanted to enjoy today and not have to run out on dinner early to make an appointment. Hopefully I'll have to cancel due to having babies.

Go Buckeyes!

11 days till due date

We are now at 11 days until the due date. We had thanksgiving with my side of the family today and it went wonderfully. I spent a little too long upright and my feet showed it. But I'm taking a rest for the remainder of the evening, so that will help. Tomorrow is another thanksgiving with Jason's side of the family. I'm going to keep an eye on my feet so i don't overdo it.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Of course we are thankful for family, friends, health, and financial stability. But this year we are thankful for the upcoming additions to our family and the strength we have for getting to this point. Infertility can strain a relationship, but it can also make it stronger. I feel that Jason and I have become closer in our marriage and in our friendship due to this path we had to go down. We have an exciting journey ahead of us and I can't wait for it to begin.

12 days till the official due date

There are 12 days till my due date and it makes me think of the 12 days of christmas. Not really sure what kind of spin I can do on that theme, so if I think of something I'll start doing that. Until then, I'll just post pics from the song.

I've tried some acupuncture treatments to get things moving, but it turns out nothing has really happened so far. It is a very weird experience, but it's fun to try new things. I don't think I'll go for other things, but I have one more session left in my attempt. I know it has worked on some people, but they are usually past their due date when they have it done.

There is no food comparison change in baby size, so they are still watermelons. The latest measurements from the ultra sound are 7 pounds each. Two weeks before that they were 6 pounds and 7 pounds, so that makes me think this week's measurement is truly accurate. Jason and I have been taking walks recently to try and work with gravity, but of course these babies are stubborn and will not be swayed. I think they get this characteristic from me.

Disclaimer: if I don't post every day for this 12 days till the due date, it doesn't necessarily mean I'm in the hospital. Sometimes I get lazy and don't want to do anything but lay in bed and watch tv and movies.

I think I'll use some of these....(no babies still)

38 weeks

We did it! We made it to 38 weeks. That was my personal goal. I am very surprised I made it. We are getting more measurements at tomorrow's ultrasound, so we'll see what the guess is for the latest weights. I'm thinking of doing acupuncture to encourage natural labor if the doctor is concerned about me carrying them longer. We'll find out at tomorrow's appointment. He's been saying if everyone is healthy, then we can wait. But the weight difference is a problem if it's 15% or more between the two babies. Two weeks ago it was a 14% difference and that's why we are doing all the non stress tests (every 3 days). We are very excited to meet Michael and Malia, but we also think it would be nice to have Thanksgiving and the Michigan football game with the babies still in the belly. Although, it sure would be nice to be able to bend over and walk again. :)

Chewy has been following me around a lot more than usual lately. I think he's finally realizing something's up. He's a little slow.

37 week - full term babies

36 weeks - forgot to post this one in that last entry

And now:

(prob shouldn't have worn black)

We made it to 37 weeks! That means full term babies. As much as I wanted to get to full term; this was totally out of my control. I am very thankful that we have made it to this point. A lot of risks are now very unlikely since the babies have stayed on the inside so long. My personal thoughts have always been wanting to make it to 38 weeks. I can't believe that is only 7 days away. So each baby is about the size of a small watermelon. They are the length of swiss chard, but seriously - who wants to use that as their measurement food?

I spend most of my time laying in bed or laying on the couch. If I go out of the house, I limit it to once a day. I tire out very easily, so I put these restrictions on myself. The only restriction the doctor has given me is making sure to lay down often to keep the swelling in my feet and legs to a minimum.

Relax! Non Stress Test

Today I had my first non stress test of many more to come. There was a fetal heart monitor for each baby and a monitor for contractions. So I looked like the following picture, only with one more monitor strapped to me and a much bigger belly.

Everything looked wonderful. The heartbeats were great, there was lots of baby movement, and there were no significant contractions detected. Sometimes the top monitor slipped and when I would readjust it, it would look like a contraction, but it was just me messing with the monitor. I let the nurse know, so it wasn't a problem. After two hours of monitoring, I really wished for a non stress test like this picture:

But I could only imagine this in my head. I had some blood drawn as well, but they wouldn't release me until the blood results came back. The lab was backed up so it took another 2 hours to get the results. I was there for 4 hours, chilling in a shared hospital room with a knocked up teen and her dysfunctional family members. It was fun to listen to them for the first 10 minutes. After 2 hours of listening to them I wanted to throw something. I tried my best to escape back to my imaginary oasis in my head. Difficult, but I managed to block them out.

So I get to do this test again on Friday, but no blood will be drawn. Hopefully it will go much quicker on Friday. I will bring a snack though, just in case. I am really wanting to make it to my next goal, which is 37 weeks. If I make it to Sunday I will have success reaching goal #3.

Another week bites the dust! (36 wks)

Another week bites the dust!

I'm at 36 weeks! Very exciting. Goal #2 is completed and my next goal is 37 weeks (full-term). I've been seeing a chiropractor who is trained in the Webster Technique for turning babies. Since Baby B, aka Malia, is transverse and lying horizontally under my ribs, I decided I'll give it a try and hopefully she will turn head down. As long as Baby A, aka Michael, stays head down and everyone looks healthy we will go ahead with a vaginal delivery. The risks come once he is out. Will Malia turn head down? Will she be delivered breech? Will she need to come out via c-section? These are all the unknowns that will occur in the moments after Michael is born. The path with the least risk is if she is head down. She may turn on her own once there is more room, but I'd love for her to turn before labor even begins. Hence the chiropractor appointments. Even if I don't get the outcome I want, these appointments have made me feel better and sleep better.

Malia is measuring at 7 pounds and Michael is measuring at 6 pounds! I'm also starting a countdown until my maternity leave begins. My last day of work before maternity leave is Nov 19th. Since I have one more vacation day, that means only 9 more work days until my leave begins! I really should call the short term disability company to make sure my countdown is correct. How disappointing would that be if I had to add 5 more days?

In other good news, my doctor agreed to be on call for me and I have his direct phone number. He only asks that I not go into labor while he is enjoying his mother's thanksgiving dinner. I told him I'd try my best.

Pop-Up Timer

Depending on where the babies are positioned, my belly button pops out a little. It's only about a 20% popout. Nothing obvious; it doesn't pop out from underneath a shirt. Anyway, it's just another indicator of how far along we are. I'm not grossed out by outtie belly buttons; my little sister has always had an outtie belly button. I think it's interesting to see the changes in my body and the belly button is a really good one to watch.