My, How the Time Flies

It has been a while since I last posted but I think the reason for that is probably fairly obvious. We had a wonderful holiday season. My Mom came for a couple of weeks to help out and Dad joined us all for Christmas. He always brings some gadget or toy and this time, he brought a remote control bee that he flew around while Abby tried to catch it with her hands or pretended to shoot it down with her pop gun. It was really funny.


Paul and I still can't agree on when to open presents. My family always opened them Christmas Eve (except for the one from Santa, of course, which we got with our filled stockings the next morning) and Paul's family always opened all of theirs on Christmas morning. We compromised and we opened one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest the next morning... I'm still not sure I'm completely satisfied with the arrangement... 'till next year! We let Abby and Lily open the package that had their matching jammies in it. Abby was so excited to match her little sister.

The kids had so many gifts under the tree there was barely room in our tiny house for them. Abby spent all of Christmas day playing with Play Dough and leaving all the rest of the toys for later. Also, this was the first year she looked visibly disappointed when she got clothing... she's growing up!

The twins are now 2 months old and are doing better at night... or Paul and I are. We sort of take turns with them so we can get a little more sleep. They are at least mostly tired during the night now. Liam can sleep for longer than Lily at night. I think that is due to the fact that he is heavier than her. Last week, Liam weighed in at 10lbs 3oz and Lily at 8lbs 15oz. So Liam is a pound and a quarter heavier, but Lily is actually a bit taller than him. Oh, and by the way, Paul was right about their birth weights. When we got their birth certificates, they were both recorded as weighing 5lbs 8oz. And if you're interested, I have now lost about 70lbs total. Not bad for 2 months, eh?




Now, we're on our own and I think we can handle it. We have had so much help, we honestly don't know how we could have coped without it but I think we're ready to do it all on our own. No doubt, our house will not be as tidy and the laundry done as quickly, but we can do it. I remember last year at about this time, Paul and I decided we would do whatever it took to have another baby this year... wow, what a difference a year makes! We are so blessed to have such happy, healthy children and we look forward to what this New Year brings.

Family Portraits

Yeah, well, the whole picture thing is pretty funny. This first one is, by far, the best as it is taken from so far away and has the temple in it. I have many, wonderful, talented friends who take the most beautiful photos. I just cannot seem to get a good photo of everyone together... whether it is one of us taking the photo, or someone else. It is hard to find a time when both babies are awake and happy. Also, Abby has been on a "I'm going to only take photos with different silly faces and poses" phase. Some of these are Paul's dad's photos and he's a good photog, so I don't feel so bad. Here are some of our attempts:
Aren't you loving the peace sign sweats?
Here is "Ringo, the friendly dragon"
This is definitely a future family classic.

Blessings

I cannot believe how slow the days go (especially at night) and how quickly the weeks pass. Paul's Mum and Dad left Thursday and we've been going at it on our own. There are a few things we've done that have made our lives easier. I just couldn't keep up with the breastfeeding demands of 2 children while trying to keep my relative sanity so I have cut back to breastfeeding one and formula feeding the other (so others can help out and cut the time). I switch off which baby gets what every other feeding.

Last Sunday (so, I'm a week late with the post), the babies had their blessings at church. It was such a wonderful, spiritual experience. It re-confirmed how much Heavenly Father loves us and how he really does know each of us personally; how he knows my little patient Lily and brave little Liam. Of course, getting cute photos of the both of them is nearly impossible. My favourite is the one where Lily has spat up all over her beautiful dress. FYI: Liam had actually peed all over his somehow so he wasn't a happy camper either. Ah, someday we will have decent photos of them both.

Feed, Eat, Feed, Change Nappy, Feed, Maybe Sleep, etc.

So, that is life with 2 newborns. I have just reread the previous posts and must apologize for my lack of brain cells. I know there were typos and redundant words as well as other grammatical no-nos, but I just can't be bothered to change anything. It is an actual reflection of how I am thinking right now... disjointed and random. Here are some photos from the last week I thought were cute:
Here is Abigail (holding Liam); big sister extraordinaire. She is very helpful and sings songs to the babies when they cry. She has been extremely patient as her whole world has changed. We are very lucky to have such a happy, adaptable little girl. And she was only one of 2 children in our entire primary to have her lines memorized for the Primary program. Way to go, Abby!

Here is Lily; bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and (surprise) ready to eat. She is actually pretty mellow and can fall asleep in the crib by herself and can wait a little while for her brother to finish when she's a little hungry... that is until she's had it and then she has the loudest cry in the house.

Here is Liam during a rare moment of satiation. He is constantly hungry and gulps down his milk (lucky me, eh?). He also has gas. Lots and lots of gas, poor lad. He loves to cuddle into a little ball and snuggle... especially under one's chin and he has the softest little head. Lily's shoulder still is another favourite place to lay his head.

Hospital Stay and Homecoming

Liam stayed in the well-baby nursery and Lily in the NICU the rest of the hospital stay. I have such amazing and wonderful friends who were able to come and visit through the recovery (the same amazing and wonderful friends who helped my sanity by bringing me great food and movie nights and taking Abby out on play dates so she wouldn't go crazy.) The whole experience was such a double-edged sword though as I was able to feed and bond and show off Liam, Lily was hooked up to machines and wires and IVs on a different floor and I had never spent a night away from Abby before this hospital stay and I really missed her so much as well. I wished I could spend so much more time with little Lily, but I still had to be wheeled everywhere due to the weight gain and surgery and had to do it in between taking care of Liam. It was a couple of days before I could hold her and I was finally able to nurse her on Friday. She was a real trooper and latched on right away. That was a real turning point in her recovery I think... but more on that later.

Liam was a real entertainer and enjoyed all the attention I think. He nursed well at first, and then forgot what he was doing. The Nazi lactation consultant was no help whatsoever, but we eventually got back on track after a few emotional breakdowns by his mother. The water in my body started coming out every possible way it could and very often... I couldn't notice any change at first and finally, after a few days there was some change. I think that recovering from the c-section was actually a little easier than recovering from Abby's birth... not to give away too many gory details, but let's just say that it took a lot more than 6 weeks to recover from that one. Abby REALLY was so excited to meet her brother and got to hold him which was what she had been dreaming about since she found out I was pregnant. I have to give her major props for her patience.

I CANNOT tell you how nice it was to have Paul's mum here! I never had to worry about Paul or Abigail the whole time I was in hospital and she, of course, is completely in love with her new grandchildren and we are so glad that she is here to share this experience with us. Abby finally got to meet Lily on Saturday, the day Liam and I were discharged. She fell in instant love and it was such a great experience. It was still one of the hardest things I ever had to do to leave one baby at the hospital while taking the other one home. I wondered if they missed one another. We are more fortunate than most people as we live just a couple of blocks from the hospital. That would REALLY be nice over the next few days.

Lily was never too bad compared to many of the others there. The leg started looking more and more normal everyday and now, they are just a little worried about the hip joint, but we have an appointment at Children's Primary Hospital (one of the very best children's hospitals in the world) at the end of the month just to make sure it doesn't need further work. Worst case scenario: She'll need surgery, but everything is 100% fixable. The other issue she had that kept her in the NICU- the main reason- was an air bubble that was outside the lung... not uncommon. They had to wait to see if it would get bigger- which would indicate a larger issue- or get smaller. Hers stayed the same, didn't seem to affect her breathing and finally got smaller toward the end of the week. Except for the first day, she was on room air the entire time and mostly on observation. The last step was to get her to gain weight and nurse and she was finally able to come home on Monday, November 6.

When we first came home, my schedule went something like this: Feed Liam, pump, go to the hospital and feed Lily, come home and maybe eat or nap for a second, then start all over again all day and all night. My milk finally came in the day Lily came home. Paul and I were so happy to reunite our twins and have our entire little family together for the first time. At first, there didn't seem to be any difference, but as soon as it was time for them to sleep, we put them down together and they (especially Liam) cuddled up together and went straight down. They are still sleeping that way today. He loves putting his head on her shoulder and when I thought about it, that was exactly how they were in the womb for the last few months.
They are just so precious and I CANNOT believe that I- that this little body of mine- actually grew them and that we have been given this great blessing. Our family feels complete now and I am constantly overwhelmed by the amazing gifts Heavenly Father gave to us... our 3 wonderful, healthy children and amazing extended family and friends without whom we could have never done what we've done.