A busy couple of weeks

Last week was quite eventful (at least by our new standards) and as we approach Christmas, this week is bound to be as well.

Aside from the fact that I was sick on Thursday night and all day Friday (fever and flu-like symptoms), last week was a good week. Amelia and Penelope met a lot of new people and made a few trips out of the house, which broke up the normal routine and the days just flew by - although most of them do lately regardless if we go anywhere or not. :D Last Sunday, the 14th, one of my good friends (and roommate) from Ashland University, Kristy, stopped over to meet the girls. It was great to see her and I'm so happy she got to meet the babies while they are still so little. Then on Tuesday afternoon, I made my first trip out with them. Yes, that's right, me and 2 babies! OK, so Paul was home that day and helped me get them in their car seats and in the car... But once we backed out of the driveway, it was just the 3 of us!! I couldn't believe that they were 6 weeks old, my maternity leave was half over and I had yet to venture out alone with them. It was starting to feel like a "now or never" situation so I took them to Chase and introduced them to all my co-workers. It was a fun - and successful - trip. This was also the first time I used the double stroller and that felt a little awkward. Not only did it seem to draw lots of second glances and a few stares, but I think it will also take some time getting used to pushing something so long. I barely fit in the elevator! :D On Wednesday afternoon, we had another outing and this time I was home alone and did manage to get both babies and all their supplies packed up and out the door on time. It took about 2 and 1/2 hours to feed and dress them, get myself dressed and fed and then feed them again right before leaving but we managed to do it AND even got to the appt a couple minutes early. I had my 6 week post partum check up with my Dr and am happy to report that all is well with me. My blood pressure is back to normal and I got the "ok" to start being more active and exercising again (or at least as soon as I can find both the time and energy). The girls and I ended up meeting Paul at the doctor's office, so I did have some help with that trip as well. It was so nice though to be able to take Amelia and Penelope with me and let my Dr and all the nurses that we'd gotten to know over the past 9 months see just how well our family is doing. I'm so grateful that I found such a warm and caring Doctor and staff to take care of all 3 of us throughout my entire pregnancy. I don't think I have a single complaint about him or his office and I'm a little sad about the fact that I don't get to go in there every week anymore. :D Anyway, I'm off the subject... Back to our busy week... Amelia and Penelope both did great on the trips out. Penelope fussed a little during our visit to Chase, but who can blame her?? I get fussy when I'm there too. :-} She must have sensed my true feelings for working and knows that eventually I have to spend my days there instead of hanging out at home with her. And at my doctor's appt, they slept in their carriers the whole time and were perfect little angels.

All the activity on Tuesday and Wednesday must have caught up with me on Thursday because by that evening, I was feeling pretty rotten. I had a horrible headache, my neck and shoulders ached and I couldn't stop shivering. I ended up having a temp of 102 that was still around on Friday morning. I got in touch with my Dr right away and got started on an antibiotic by that afternoon. I'm guessing that I was in the early stages of mastitis and was lucky to have caught it so quickly. I took it pretty easy all day Friday and Saturday, even getting an extra nap Friday afternoon while Grandma Clopton and Aunt Sarah babysat (and put up our Christmas tree!!). Hopefully the infection will be all cleared up by the time I finish the prescription.

On Sunday, Grandma Clopton came over to babysit again for a couple hours, letting Paul and I make what seems to be a monthly trek to Babies R Us. We got stocked up on a few items, bought a Christmas present for our babies and generally enjoyed being out of the house for a little bit (even though it was bitterly cold and windy). I took some time Sunday afternoon to do a little online shopping and am happy to report that my Christmas shopping is done! Granted I didn't have that much to buy thanks to some "big ticket" gifts that were purchased for various family members some time ago. It still feels good to cross "shopping" off my list though! Now I just need to wrap a few things and put some decorations on the tree. Maybe I'll get everything done by Thursday after all... :D

Exciting baby news from Sunday - Penelope rolled herself from her tummy to her back during our "tummy time"! Well, the first and third time she did it, it was just sort of onto her shoulder and side, but that 2nd time, she definitely went from tummy to back. I sort of missed the first time as I looked away to tell Paul something and when I looked back at her, she was on her side instead of her belly! Paul didn't believe it and had to come in the room to see for himself and she did it again. After that, we realized we needed the video camera (we're new at this "gotta record every moment" thing!!). By then you could tell she was getting tired and a little frustrated being on her tummy but she still did her best (with a little nudge or two from me) to do it again. What a fun moment for Mommy and Daddy! Now I see what everyone means when they tell us that once the girls start to do new things (smile, laugh, roll, etc) the sleep deprivation seems to disappear. :-)

And now here we are - Amelia and Penelope are 7 weeks old and all of us are getting ready for a busy week of celebrating Christmas. We are hoping to do something special on Christmas Eve to start our own family traditions and then on Thursday, the four of us will have a little family gift exchange and take a few pictures before heading over to Grandma and Grandpa Clopton's for dinner and more presents. Then on Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa Reinke, along with the Krupiczewicz family, will be here in Plain City to visit for a couple of days. I'm really looking forward to all the time we'll get to spend with family later this week.

In case I don't get a chance to post anything else for several days - Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! And if you haven't been in awhile - check out our Smug Mug website. LOTS of new pictures were added last week and a few more last night.

Happy Holidays!!

Pictures

Has it really been 10 days since my last post?? Where did the time go?!?!? Not much has happened here in the past week and a half... We've just been going about our daily routine of eating, sleeping, changing diapers and doing laundry. Grandma and Grandpa Reinke came to visit for a few days and that gave Paul and I the chance to go out for an evening . We had a quick dinner and saw a movie - a real date night! :D Oh, and we've learned that Penelope is turning into quite a little spit-up champ. At first it was just a little here and there, but in the last week, she's really put some distance behind it! Nothing like having to clean up a baby, change her clothes and your sheets at 12:30am all while listening to the your other baby fuss and cry. We could have sworn they were ganging up on us!

OK - the main reason I'm posting is to let everyone know that LOTS of new pictures are being added to Smug Mug this afternoon so keep an eye out. Feel free to give a thumbs up or thumbs down rating to as many of the pictures as you want - we'd love to know which pictures are your favorites.... Also, I'm in the process of working on the birth announcements and should have those out in the mail very soon. We can't wait for everyone to see all the pictures we've taken and just how much Amelia and Penelope have changed over the last month!

The 1 month check-up

Just a quick message about the girl's 1 month well visit. Both Amelia and Penelope are doing great! They are gaining weight at about the same rate and slowly moving up in the percentiles for weight and length. Amelia now weighs 7lbs 3oz and is 19 inches long and Penelope weighs 8lbs 12oz and is 19 and 3/4 inches long. At their 1 week appt, they both fell in the 3rd percentile for weight and now, Amelia is in the 10th percentile and Penelope the 45th! I guess it is safe to say that they are getting enough to eat! :D Their doctor was really pleased with how much they've gained and the fact that we haven't had to supplement with any formula. I've even gotten a head start on freezing milk for when I return to work. Some days (like today when they want to eat every 2 hours), I feel like a real milk machine.... But as we move into the 2nd month of their life, I find that nursing is getting easier (although still a bit time consuming) and I know it is only a matter of time before it all just clicks for them and meal time becomes something all 3 of us enjoy and look forward to. Some of the other things the pediatrician told us to expect this month are cooing, smiling and laughing. We can't wait!!! I have a feeling that hearing or seeing any of those three things will help to erase some of the sleep deprivation we are currently suffering from. Both girls also showed good neck strength at the appt and the Dr even thought Amelia is starting to show signs of being able to roll over. I've also started to notice a pattern of them staying awake longer after mid morning and late afternoon feedings and that means more interaction and play/bonding time and even better, getting to see their different personalities develop. Oh what changes we are about to go through in the next few weeks!!!

That's about all that I have to report on our 2 baby girls. Outside of the doctor's appt on Thursday and meeting their Great Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Lee on Wednesday, the rest of this past week/ week and a half has been relatively uneventful. I am happy to report though that this was the first week that I've been home alone with them during the day and we all survived to tell about it! I even managed to get through most of the night feedings by myself, letting Paul sleep more so he could function at work. Maybe I can do this "mother" thing after all!! ;-} Now as far as my previous alert to watch for more Smug Mug pictures - please be patient with us. Paul is currently updating our site a little bit and once he's done with that, we intend to get lots of new pictures posted.

Let me also apologize in advance in case I get behind in posting on the blog. As we get into this next month, I think the days are going to slip by even faster than they already do. I really want to post more often, but there are times when I have to focus on getting the bare necessities done (eat, dress, sleep, feed babies) and the blog gets pushed aside. Plus there are times when it seems like our daily activies just aren't worth writing about. Trust me though, if something exciting happens here at our home, I will write about just as soon as I can! Besides, I know it's the pictures everyone wants to see on here, not my silly little ramblings... :D

Our 1st Thanksgiving...

...as a family of 4! :D Our holiday weekend has been pretty uneventful as we continue to more or less go about our typical routine. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, Paul and I just hung out around the house taking care of Amelia and Penelope. It didn't really feel like a holiday and had the Macy's Day Parade not been on TV, Thanksgiving could have slipped by us mostly unnoticed. Next year should be a totally different story though, with our girls being much more active and possibly even walking! That should be a Thanksgiving to remember... Although when you think about it, this year is also a Thanksgiving unlike any we'll ever have again as we finally have what we've been dreaming about -2 beautiful and healthy baby girls. Now that is something to be truly thankful for! And when I think about what was happening with us one year ago, praying everyday to be blessed with a baby and struggling to understand why it wasn't happening as quickly as we wanted or thought it should... I had no patience for the unexplained and it was very difficult believing Paul when he would tell me that it would eventually happen for us and we'd have a baby sooner than we realized. What a difference 12 months can make - I never would have imagined we'd have 1, let alone 2, babies in that time. We've been doubly blessed! As I struggle with some of these early newborn days, I need to try to put it in perspective and remember all that we went through in the last year to have these babies. Of course, that is a little easier said than done, especially at 3am when both girls are taking turns fussing and crying and I've had an average of 4-5 hours of sleep every day for the past 3 weeks. :D

Yesterday, Friday, I started to get a little stir crazy and antsy with being cooped up in the house every day so Paul suggested I take the dog for a walk. In fact, he pretty much insisted I go outside for some fresh air so Barkley and I went for a short 20 minute walk. It was a little chilly but it felt great to be outside and it did help to clear my head and lift my spirits. Later in the day, the girls had their first major outing (other than to a doctor's appt) as we went to Grandma and Grandpa Clopton's house for their 1st Thanksgiving dinner. Again, it felt good to break up our usual routine (both physically and mentally) and even better, there were lots of extra hands around to hold and soothe the babies. Oh, and speaking of "soothing", we finally got to try putting both girls in the "sweetpeace newborn soothing center" and as of this morning, it works great with both of them! So great in fact, we are considering buying a 2nd one so they don't have to take turns in it. Thanks to Aunt Debbie, Melissa, Megan and Julie for the WONDERFUL shower gift!! The bouncy seats on the other hand have yet to work their magic. We'll keep trying though.....

We don't have much planned for the rest of the long weekend - just try to rest a little (me), do a little laundry (Paul), get a few groceries (me), maybe work on posting some of the latest pictures to Smug Mug (Paul).... The weather here in Columbus is beautiful today, sunny and not much wind so maybe I'll get to squeeze in another quick walk with Barkley (before the rain/snow mix hits tomorrow). I wish it was a little warmer so all 5 of us could venture out... We could all benefit from the sunshine and fresh air.

I hear someone starting to fuss and make a little noise (probably Amelia) so it must be getting close to lunch time which means I need to wrap this up. To all of our family and friends, Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
April, Paul, Amelia and Penelope

P.S. Keep an eye on our Smug Mug site (or slide show here on the blog) as we definitely have some new pictures to share soon. Both girls certainly are changing and growing fast. Last night, they had big jumps in their weight - Amelia is up to 6#12oz and Penelope is up to 8#5oz. They both must have had a lot to eat at Thanksgiving dinner! :D

3 weeks and a day

So today, November 25th, was our original due date. When we first learned that I was pregnant, way back in the spring (Easter Sunday to be exact), this day seemed so very far away. Paul and I knew we had lots to do and lots to learn, but we kept telling ourselves we had 9 months to figure it all out. Then we got the news that we were having twins and that shortened our "9 month" window by a little bit, but we still felt like we had plenty of time. And when I was put on bed rest in the middle of August, this day still seemed a long ways off. And now here it is... And our girls have already been here with us for 3 full weeks!! While my 37 weeks of pregnancy definitely had its slower times, the last few weeks on the other hand have just sort of flown by. I'm starting to understand what all those people mean that keep telling us to enjoy these days because they go so quick. I'm afraid I won't remember as much as I'd like to though because I'm so tired and my head is in a bit of a fog. And I feel like I'm stuck in some sort of never-ending circle, like Groundhog's Day... Regardless of what day of the week it is, my routine is exactly the same. Every 2-3 hours I'm feeding babies and in my "spare" time, I have something to eat, get a little nap, maybe check my email, change a diaper or two (although Daddy and Grandma do the majority of that right now), etc, etc . Sometimes I manage to shower and get dressed in something other than pajamas.... And tonight I'm actually making time for this post! I guess I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with how each and every day sort of slips by and I feel like I get a whole lot of nothing accomplished except for nursing babies. And while I know that my priority right now is feeding the girls and getting my rest, it would still be nice to have a clear head and an extra hour or two to take care of some of the things I want (or need) to do. I've got a few things written down and I swear when I actually manage to get one thing crossed off, by the end of the day, two or three new things get added on. I'm really trying to not let that stress me out, but it's hard.... Paul keeps telling me that I need to get more naps in during the day so that when I do get that spare hour, I'm more alert and focused and I'll have an easier time getting through my list. I think he's right!

Wow - I got a little sidetracked... I really didn't intend to use this time to complain about how hard things are right now. I know it won't always be this challenging, but when you're sleep deprived, it's difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The last week has had some good moments though. I did get out of the house a couple times (minus babies) for trips to the grocery store. I felt a little guilty being out and about without them, but at the same time, it felt really good doing something so familar and normal. It's hard to believe that that was the first time I'd driven a car or gone somewhere by myself since early August! Then mid-week, Grandpa Reinke drove down from Michigan to visit for a few days and he got to do his fair share of rocking. He even got to do one of the 2am shifts when Amelia refused to go back to sleep after eating. :D On Sunday evening we skipped the sponge bath and switched over to the little tub. It still took us awhile to do 2 baths, but it's bound to get easier and quicker. Also on the positive side of things - both girls are consistently gaining weight. As of their last weigh-in, Amelia was up to 6lbs 2oz and Penelope was 7lbs 6oz. The 1lb 4oz difference between them didn't seem that noticeable at birth, but right now, Penny both looks and feels significantly bigger. And as of yesterday, Penelope officially moved up from Preemie clothes to Newborn clothes. Exciting! Now we just need to get Amelia caught up a little so they can wear some of their matching outfits at the same time. Right now, Penelope is going to get to wear all the new clothes before her sister. ;-}

Happy 2 Week Birthday!

It's hard to believe that it's been 2 weeks already... I wonder how many more weeks before we get some quality sleep??? I know...I know... That is still quite a long way off.

Yesterday (Sunday), the girls had a nice visit with their Grandma and Grandpa Clopton and then after that, Daddy and I gave them their first bath at home. We thought doing a sponge bath would be fairly quick and easy, but it turned out to take longer than we planned (no surprise there though!). I feel like baths will get easier (and more fun for them) once their cords are completely healed and we can use the little tub. It was still fun to do the sponge baths though and neat to see how each reacted differently to the bath process. Penelope seemed the most annoyed and really wiggled and squirmed the whole time. She did calm down a little towards the end and it looked like she enjoyed when we put on a little lotion. Amelia, for the most part, didn't seem to be as bothered by the bath as her little sister was. At the end of each bath, both girls were super wide awake and I think it was the longest length of time I'd seen Penelope's eyes open in the whole 2 weeks I've known her. :D

In general, we are starting to notice some differences in personalities even though I'm sure a lot can change in the upcoming months. Amelia spends a fair amount of time awake and looking around and seems content with just laying there. She seems to only fuss and want to be held after her nighttime feedings (of course!). The quiet, awake moments are similar to what she was like in utero. She didn't move much, didn't kick or punch me very hard and in general, seemed like she would be a laid back little girl. Penelope, on the other hand, can get pretty upset. When she gets mad, watch out! There is a lot of her pushing away with her arms and legs, lots of arching her back and throwing her head around. In utero, she was the one who could kick me enough to really hurt and she was always more active than her sister. When she gets upset, her face gets SO red. In fact, I would say it turns more purple than red. The funny thing is how quickly she can go back and forth between being OK and being mad. When she needs something, you better figure it out quick or else.... :D Such interesting little girls and we have so much to learn about them. I love watching them sleep and all the funny little faces they make. If I didn't need to get my own rest, I think I could spend hours on end just watching them. I'm sure every new parent feels the same way.

At home and doing well

The first car ride - they slept the whole way home!

It sure doesn't feel like we've been home for over a week. The hours and days just seem to slip by so fast. I guess that's why everyone keeps telling us to try and enjoy this crazy time when they are so young because it'll be over before we know it. Of course, it doesn't feel that way to me at 4am when I'm trying to feed one baby, calculate how long before I'm done with both feedings and how much sleep time that will leave me before starting the cycle all over again. Until last night, I don't think I'd slept more than 2 hours at a time. We tried something new though and had Grandma Reinke do the early morning (5am) feeding today and I got to sleep a whole 4 hours. It was wonderful! One weird thing both Paul and I have noticed is how we keep waking up throughout the night and have these feelings that one of the babies is in the bed with us. Paul says he wakes up and feels like his pillow is a baby and I often wake up fearing that I fell asleep while feeding and the baby is mixed up in the comforter. I wonder if these are common for a lot of new parents.... It's like we spend so much of the day consumed with baby thoughts that we can't let it go when we sleep.

Anyway, back to the past week... Last weekend, my sister and her family came down from Michigan to visit. It was great to see them and fun to watch our nephew and niece (Braden and Kendall) hold the babies. My favorite was when Braden asked if they could crawl yet. :D Thank goodness that is still several months away! I kind of have a feeling Braden and Kendall are looking forward to when the girls a little more interactive and at least stay awake and maybe give a real smile or two. I imagine that by the time they see us again, the girls will look - and act - quite a bit different. My Mom went back to Michigan on Sunday afternoon, with Brooke and Todd, giving Paul and I a chance to try a couple nights on our own. While a little scary at first, we all survived.

On Monday, the 10th, we had our first outing. I knew it would take us longer to get ready and out the door, but I had no idea how much longer! I better practice and get a good routine in place before I start back to work. At least I have about 10 more weeks to get that figured out. The first trip out was to the pediatrician's office for the 1 week visit and both girls had good reports. Amelia was already a couple of ounces over her birth weight, at 4lbs 10oz, and Penelope, while still a little shy of her birth weight, was 5lbs 10oz and had still gained compared to her weight when she left the hospital. Their Dr said that while they are really small, they are still doing great, especially since we had transitioned to 100% nursing and hadn't given them any formula supplements since our first day home from the hospital. Paul has been weighing them here at home every night and on the 12th, Penelope hit a mile mark and was 6lbs 1oz and on the 13th, Amelia had her own big moment, coming in at 5lbs 1/2oz. The jump from 5 to 6 pounds and 4 to 5 pounds was a really big deal to us. I guess it just made us feel like we're doing OK as a new Mom and Dad. Another good sign - the preemie clothes are getting too small, especially in the length. Unfortunately, the newborn outfits are still pretty big so we are stuck in a weird phase, trying to make do with the 2 or 3 preemie items that do fit. That means more laundry right now, but thankfully we've got Grandma Reinke staying here for a little while to help with those kinds of chores.

Tuesday, the 11th, was my 33 birthday. Things have been so crazy around here, I really didn't have any time to even think about it being my birthday. Paul keeps asking for gift ideas, but nothing comes to mind. Maybe by Christmas I'll think of something I'd like to have. :D I'm sure this is one birthday I won't soon forget though... I spent the day in my pajamas, hanging out here with Paul and the girls. For dinner, Paul's Mom brought us Applebee's takeout and some really yummy desserts from the Whole Foods bakery.

On Wednesday the 12th, we had another outing, this time to my Dr's office. I went in for a quick blood pressure check while Paul waited in the car with the babies. My blood pressure was down a little from what it was in the hospital but my Dr said that if it's not considerably lower by the time I see him for my 6 week check-up, I'll probably need to find a good internal medicine doctor to try and find a more effective medication. I'm hopeful that the more comfortable I get with all these changes at home and maybe even squeeze in a little time for exercise, my blood pressure issue will start to resolve itself.

Thursday and Friday were hard days as "Dad" had to find the energy to go back to work. Grandma and I did our best to handle all the nighttime feedings and fussiness so Paul could get as much rest as possible - although the sleep deprivation had already set in and was already pretty severe at that point. Thank goodness it was a short week for him. Not that the weekend really meant anymore sleep for anyone at our house....

The rest of the story...

Here I am holding them together for the first time... Penelope in the front and Amelia (w/ the hat) in the back.

The rest of our hospital stay went by in a blur although at times, it seemed like we would never get to come home. I had some post delivery bleeding issues and whatever my Dr did to fix that was quite painful. It took some time and a few tries and after several minutes of suffering (it was as bad as the birth itself), I was given Demarol for the pain. Unfortunately, that pretty much knocked me out for the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure some family came in my room to visit, but I don't have much recollection of it. So I spent the remainder of Monday in L& D, completely out of it and looking back on it now, I wish I hadn't said yes to the pain meds. Most of my memories from that afternoon are so hazy and I feel like I missed out on part of the experience. Especially since Paul got to do all the fun stuff like take our parents to the nursery to see the girls, watch them get their first bath, take pictures and video, etc, etc. At least by that evening the pain medication was starting to wear off and I was feeling a little more alert so we had a nurse bring Penelope to the room so I could see her. Unfortunately by that time, Amelia had some questionable oxigenation numbers and was sent to the NICU for the night. That was hard, only getting to see one of my babies and not being able to leave my bed to at least visit the other one in the NICU.

My magnesium-imposed bed rest was finally over at 9:50 on Tuesday morning and what a relief to have the IV and blood pressure cuff removed. By then, both Paul and I were super antsy to get into my post-partum room and have the babies with us. Of course, in a hospital, everything seems to move at a snail's pace and it wasn't until sometime after 11am that I actually changed rooms. And then it wasn't until close to 2pm that we actually had both Amelia and Penelope in our room. We spent the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday getting to know our girls, visiting with family and meeting with a couple different lactation consultants to help get nursing established. By Wednesday evening, we were feeling more comfortable with the idea of going home (at least Paul was - I still felt a little uneasy at the thought of taking care of something so tiny and innocent) but then my blood pressure readings started creeping back up and my Dr decided to try a couple different medications and keep me in the hospital at least one more night to see if we could get them to come back down. On Thursday morning, my blood pressure was a little better and both Amelia and Penelope passed their car seat tests. Yay! We were ready to come home and get settled into our new life. But remember, we had to move at the hospital's pace which meant waiting for hours to get discharge papers for all 3 of us. We spent a good three or four hours bugging my nurse to get a Dr down to my room with a couple prescriptions and then finally around 3pm Paul took all our bags out to the car and a nurse wheeled myself and the girls down to meet him. By 4pm on Thursday the 6th - 1 day before our scheduled delivery day, we were back in Plain City as a family of four. What a relief to actually be back home!

And then at the same time, the fear and anxiety set in..... Did we know what were we doing? Could we actually manage two tiny babies? When would we sleep? How would I survive on my own with Paul back at work? Plus I wanted to unpack, get the house back in order (I had originally intended on getting it clean and organized before the 7th), catch up on emails and this blog, the list just keeps going on and on. My brain just wouldn't quiet down. It was all so overwhelming. And here we are 1 week later and it still is a little bit. Thankfully my Mom has been here most of the time to help out with the cooking and cleaning and laundry and I've managed to get caught up on a few things between feedings.

Introducing Amelia Ann and Penelope Sue

Here is one of the earliest pictures - the girls are less than an hour old! Amelia is wide awake, checking everything out while her little sister, Penelope is fast asleep.

I suppose I should back up a little.... When I left off on the last entry, we were just heading off to the OR for the actual delivery. And while the epidural was great during labor, the same can't be said for how I felt during delivery. I was in a lot of pain during the contractions and pushing and then during my little breaks, I was super drowsy and had a hard time staying awake. I was a little frustrated feeling so out of it but Paul was right by my side talking to me and feeding me ice chips and that definitely helped. Although we had both been warned about how many people would be in the delivery room (each baby gets a couple nurses plus my nurses plus my Dr plus some interns plus the neonatalogist) we were still kind of surprised. The room was packed! And another mystery of childbirth was solved - I always thought I'd have a hard time feeling so exposed to that many strangers, but in the moment, I couldn't care less. Whatever it took to have babies is what it took, regardless of who was in the room. And during one of the worst moments, I believe my exact words to my Dr were "I just want them out of me". Nice right....real motherly :D

So on Monday, November 3rd, after an hour of pushing in L&D and a short 30-40 minutes more in the delivery room, we finally met Baby A. Amelia Ann was born at 9:30am and weighed 4lbs 8oz and measured 17in. I got a short break in the action while we waited for the 2nd baby and during that time, one of students/interns in the room actually got queasy and had to sit down and then eventually leave the room. I'm not sure what exactly got her sick, but it happened right after #2's water broke, so I like to tell Penelope she might have just changed the course of that girl's future, turning her away from a career in the OB field. ;D Anyway, back to the birth... At 9:51am, we met Baby B. Penelope Sue came into the world weighing 5lbs 12oz and measuring 18in. Both Paul and I were surprised at how small the girls were but we were told that those ultrasound measurements during the last couple weeks of the pregnancy could be up to a pound and a half off... Also, I must commend the women out there who are in labor for hours on end and give birth to 7lb and 8lb babies - I thought 2 hours and 5lbs was hard enough!! After the birth, Paul was in camera heaven, going back and forth between pictures and video. He took lots of pictures all day Monday and you can see some of the favorites in our little slide show here on the blog or you can link to our photo site acandpc.smugmug.com (we will eventually have lots more on Smug Mug). Even though both girls were small, they were as healthy as could be (crying loudly and scoring 9s on the Apgar test) and I got to see them briefly before they were taken off to the nursery. Penelope slept through our introduction but not Amelia. She was awake and alert and looking all around. And I think that was about the time when it all started to hit me at once... I just couldn't believe that these 2 little precious babies were ours and they were actually here with us. After all these weeks of waiting and waiting and waiting and then in a few short moments, it's all over and no more waiting.

A crazy couple of weeks!!!

So here we are - the middle of November, the girls are 10 days old and I'm still trying to find time to get my story posted. This will probably be an incredibly long post, but I want to get as many of the details written down before I start to forget them. For those of you that already know most of what happened, feel free to skip this entry....

On Sunday, November 2nd, I wasn't feeling very well all day. I was extremely tired and moody (lots of tears - mostly for no particular reason) and had a hard time eating anything without getting a stomach ache. Paul took off late in the day to get some groceries while I napped and did a few little things around the house. By about 5 or 5:30, I decided to start paying some bills and when I sat down at the table, I started to have some pretty bad blurred vision. My right eye had a weird blind spot that just wouldn't go away and made it hard for me read the numbers on the bills and write checks. After about 20 minutes, it still wasn't any better and I was starting to get a little scared and nervous so I called Paul and asked him to try to get home asap. Once he got home, I took my blood pressure reading two different times and both times it was very high (173/113 - yikes!!!). I knew my machine was a little high compared to the doctor's office and hospital, but I'd never seen it that high.... I immediately called my doctor to see what he wanted to do - although I was about 99% sure I already knew the answer. He agreed that those numbers were way too high for me and that we needed to get our bags packed and get to the hospital. Yes, it was time to have babies! And here I was just telling my sister earlier that afternoon that I was sorry we told so many people about the November 7th scheduled induction date because that meant we couldn't call and surprise our family when I went into labor. Now we were getting to make those surprise "it's time" phone calls! :D By the time we left for the hospital an hour later, I was determined that I was not coming back home without our babies.

Once at the hospital, we had to go through the usual routine - register, hang out in triage for a couple hours, get hooked up to monitors, have some blood drawn, answer a bunch of the nurse's questions and chat with the on-call doctor about what the plan would be. My blood pressure readings were still pretty high even after we'd been at the hospital for a couple hours and my doctor decided that since I was just a couple days shy of 37 weeks, we would go ahead and move over to Labor and Delivery and start to induce me. Initially, I was very excited to hear that - but then I learned that I would have to be hooked up to the dreaded magnesium again and that meant I would feel sick and be confined to the bed for all of labor. Even worse, once on the magnesium, you have to stay on it for 24 hours after delivery which meant I couldn't move to the post partum unit right away (where the well-baby nursery is) and it would be complicated for me to the see the girls and harder still to try to nurse them in those early hours and they definitely wouldn't be able to stay in the room with Paul and I that first night. This was not going the way I planned and that led to more tears. Eventually I calmed down ( I really had no choice in the matter, right?!) and looking back, I know it was the right thing to do for my own health. Pre-eclampsia related seizures are pretty common in the first 24 hours after delivery and the magnesium helps to bring the blood pressure back under control.

Back to the story... by about 10pm, I was hooked up to the IV and getting magnesium, pitossin and fluids. Shortly after that, around 11pm, I got my epidural. I was quite nervous about the epidural and the big needle going into my spine, but truth be told, I've had blood draws and shots of novocaine at the dentist that felt much worse. Although my nurse did tell me that magnesium is considered to be a sort of muscle relaxer so maybe that played a part in the epidural not feeling too bad. Or maybe the anethesiologist that gave me the shot is just really good at his job... Either way, I was happy that at least one of the potentionally scary labor moments went so smoothly. And once that drug kicked in, I felt pretty good. My L&D nurse kept telling me that I was having some pretty strong contractions, but I couldn't feel a single thing. Very Nice.... :D At that point, I tried to get some sleep, but it's hard when you're hooked up to the IV and all the monitors, including a blood pressure cuff that took a reading just about every 30-40 minutes so I just dozed off and on and around 2am, my water broke. I was starting to make some real progess (at 3-4cm dilated) and the nurse kept coming in pretty frequently to turn up the pitossin. By early morning (6ish), I was beginning to feel uncomfortable and a little nauseated. They adjusted my epidural and offered me some drug to help with the nausea. My nurse said it would make me feel better but also a little sleepy. At that time, I was only 6cm dilated and we all thought there would be plenty of time for the sleepiness to wear off before the action started. Unfortunately, we were wrong... By about 8am, I was really uncomfortable and no matter how I laid in the bed or how many times I hit my epidural button, I had horrible pain in my back and hips. Paul tried to help me get more comfortable lying on my side, but nothing worked and I was in tears (again!). I called my nurse in and she told me that I was already 10cm dilated and ready to start pushing. My doctor was paged and when he got there, he agreed - we were ready to go! Since this was a multiples birth, I would have to go to an OR room for the actual delivery, but I did most of the hard work in my L&D room. Because of my bed rest, I never had a chance to go to a childbirth class and was a bit nervous about how I would do. Thankfully, I had two wonderful nurses who told me exactly what to do and sometime around 9am, Paul was getting into his scrubs and I was being wheeled to my OR room.... It was finally time to meet our baby girls!

Will we get to 37 weeks?

For those of you that were guessing the 28th as the big day - I'm sorry to disappoint you... Tuesday came and went just like any other day. So here I am, 36 weeks and 1 day and not feeling any closer to delivering these babies. Today's appointment went well and we learned that the girls are getting pretty big. At this point, with such limited space, it's hard to get really accurate measurements and the nurse said the weights can be off by as much as a pound. Anyway, Baby A's estimate is 5lbs 7oz and Baby B's is 6lbs 9oz. I'm carrying at least 12lbs of baby - YIKES!! But as one of my friends recently pointed out - isn't it better to have the 12lbs split between two babies and not just one big 12lb baby??? Knowing that labor and delivery are right around the corner, I'm going to have to agree with her. :D My Dr said I'm about 1 1/2cm to 2cm dilated so I guess I've made a tiny bit of progress over the past week. I wasn't able to convince him to push up the scheduled induce date but he did try something to get labor going naturally. It didn't work last week, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to try it again. We'll see... I'd like to avoid having Halloween babies, but at this point, I know I shouldn't be so picky.

Nothing to say

That's right, you guessed it - I have no news to report. I'm getting quite tired of waiting and wondering and when you pair that with the aches and pains.... I'm a bit cranky. Just ask Paul! :D
On a positive note, at least we didn't have to fight the football crowds yesterday. And with no more home games until late November, that's one less thing for us to worry about when the time finally does come to go to the hospital.

Still no change

I went to the Dr this afternoon for my weekly check-up and spent close to an hour on the monitor. Both heart rates looked good, it just took some time (and a few loud noises) to get Baby A to wake up. I'm also still having contractions about every 6 minutes or so - if only I could start to feel them! After the monitoring, the Dr checked for dilation and I'm still about 1 to 1 1/2cm. He's guessing, though, that I'll be having the babies on Saturday and I'm not real sure what made him pick that day... But considering there is a home night game (against Penn State) on Saturday, I'd prefer Friday or Sunday. And since none of us can really predict what's going to happen when, we'll just have to wait and see....
I got a note from my Mom today and something she wrote reminded me just how blessed Paul and I and our 2 little girls are. Back at the end of August, not too many people (myself included) ever thought I would make it to the 35th week yet here we are... And I think a lot of the success is because of the number of family and friends that have been praying for us. So THANK YOU to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers the past 10 weeks. We certainly couldn't have done this without all your love and support! And with each day and week that has passed, we have moved further and further away from NICU babies and closer and closer to healthy baby girls. I can't wait for the day when we get to introduce them to all of our friends and family and announce that they are officially home with us!

I swallowed a basketball!

Since my Dr gave me the OK for short trips out and his nurse really encouraged Paul and I to take advantage of our last few days of a calm and quiet house, we decided to have a "date night" this last Saturday. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy to do a whole lot so our date consisted of a dinner out. Very exciting, I know... Anyway, once we got home, I called my parents to make sure they knew the OSU - MSU football score :D and learned that people want to see more pictures on the blog. Considering I spend most of my days laying around in sweats with no reason to take any pictures, we decided to take advantage of the fact that I had gotten dressed, brushed my hair and put on a little makeup that afternoon and snapped a couple pictures. Note my outfit for "date night" - Paul's t-shirt and maternity jeans. This picture marks 34 weeks 4 days and I feel enormous!

Wanna bet? - is it going to be 35, 36 or 37 weeks?

After having last week off, we are back to the Wednesday doctor appts and yesterday's was rather uneventful. My doctor is thrilled that after all the drama over the past 8-9 weeks, we've actually made it to 34 weeks and the possibility of having to visit any babies in the NICU is getting smaller and smaller. Paul and I are very happy about that as well and of course, it would be great to have babies come home from the hospital with us! Anyway, at the appt, I spent about 30 minutes on the monitor and both heart rates looked good. I had a few contractions, but nothing that I felt and I'm still only 1cm dilated. Basically no change from last week... The doctor seems optimistic that I'll go another couple of weeks and was checking his Blackberry for when we might schedule an induced labor after the 37 week mark, but his nurse said she'd be surprised to see me at the 36 week appt. I'm hoping she's the one who is right!
I know that the best thing right now is for the babies to stay inside me and keep growing bigger and stronger. But at those times when I feel really awkward and uncomfortable (which is almost all the time now!), it seems like they will never get here. It's like when you're a little kid waiting for Christmas morning - counting down those last couple of weeks is SO hard. :D But then the big day is here before you know it. I guess I just need to have more patience and trust that when the time is right, we'll meet our little girls. Now if only I could do something about how hard Baby B is kicking and punching me. It was almost non-stop yesterday and by bedtime, I was starting to take it personally. I suppose I should be thankful that only 1 baby is putting that much strength into her movements because if both A and B did that at the same time, I'd be a wreck!

No news is good news...

For those of you that check our webpage fairly often - I'm sorry for going several days without any new posts. I guess there just isn't that much to talk about (unless you want to hear the details about all my complaints - extremely tired, back hurts, puffy hands and feet, head is congested, can't sleep, can't eat, walking is now waddling, blah, blah, blah....).
After last Tuesday evening's trip to the hospital, the rest of the week was uneventful, which is a good thing. I spent Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday doing what I normally do - resting, watching some library DVDs (and Grey's Anatomy of course!) and taking care of a couple things online. Yesterday, Sunday, Paul and I ventured out together, hitting Babies R Us and a few other places. I had forgotten just how busy BRUs is on the weekend and pairing that with Paul pushing me in the wheelchair.... Kind of a frustrating trip. Hopefully that is the last time I have to shop there in a wheelchair!
Two things before I forget....
First, I want to thank Paul's Mom for all the Friday house cleanings. For the past few months, she has found time to come over just about every week to clean our house. We really appreciate all her help. Thanks Kathy!!
Second, tomorrow is my brother-in-law's birthday and since I had to rely on a little help in getting him a card and today being Columbus Day (no mail), I want to wish Todd a "Happy Birthday" and apologize in advance for his card arriving late. :D

Trip #4 to the hospital

After a quiet weekend around the house, we were due for some excitement.... Part of my routine here at home is monitoring my own blood pressure and watching for any changes. I noticed with my Monday afternoon and Monday night readings that I was getting somewhat borderline numbers and definitely up from my usual average. Then on Tuesday afternoon, my blood pressure was higher still. So I put in a call to my doctor's office and since my own Dr was over at the hospital working in Labor & Delivery, he said I should just come over to the hospital for a few tests. Paul came home from work to get me and by 3:30, we were on our way to the hospital. I must say, even though we never got to go on the official "hospital tour", we are getting pretty good at finding our way around those hallways. And I'm getting awfully familiar with the Registration Desk in L&D!
Once I got into a triage room, I was hooked up to the fetal monitor, had my blood drawn and a blood pressure reading taken every 10 minutes. After a few hours of monitoring, the Dr said all my tests came back OK, my blood pressure seemed to be just under borderline and both babies heart rates looked great. What's funny though is that while we went in for the blood pressure issue, we left with something else to consider....I was having fairly regular contractions (about every 6-8 minutes) and am currently 1cm dilated. Now I know that 1cm isn't a reason to start calling all our family and neither are contractions that I'm not even feeling, but it's still very EXCITING to think that our girls could be born sooner rather than later! I guess just learning those couple of things made the reality of the upcoming birth really hit home - at least with me. Paul, on the other hand, seems quite laid back about it and even said last night "well, they've got to come out eventually"... :D
Anyway, after all the tests and monitoring, my Dr gave the OK for me to come back home and just keep resting. And I had a "talk" with the babies last night, explaining that our Dr is out of town until next week and since we all want him to be there for the delivery, we've got to focus on not going into labor until at least Monday. So while I plan to really rest and keep my feet up over the next several days, I'm also more motivated to get a few last minute things taken care of --by phone and internet, of course!

Our 1st Video or WARNING: LONG, BORING POST

Here on the Clopton Family blog, once the kids arrive, you will find 1) exciting written accounts of the crazy adventures that result from TWO baby girls, 2) links to photographs documenting those adventures, and 3) links to exciting video of all the zany highjinx. Today I want to tell everyone how the video will work and link my first attempt.

I wanted to make sure we had a good HD camcorder before the kids arrived. These kid’s entire lives will be documented in no worse than 1080i 60 from day one. We bought one in July because I was panicking. I take still pictures far faster than I do anything with them and I was afraid the same would happen with video unless I had a couple months to get a “workflow” down. So I packed the thing with us on our August trip to PA with the intention of figuring out the camera, the editing software, and how we are going to distribute it.

Well a month and a half later, I have finished a five-minute video. (I edit at the rate of 7 seconds per day.)

Short videos will be posted to Vimeo. We will link to them from here. Or you can add our Vimeo page (www.vimeo.com/aprilandpaul) to your favorites if you like. Long videos will be put on DVD and distributed accordingly. Once we have enough short videos, they will end up DVD as well. Vimeo has a couple big advantages. 1) It’s 720p HD. DVDs are standard D. It’s like a snobby, high-quality YouTube. 2) Anyone can view them (security is available if needed). That’s easier than sending EVERYONE DVDs.

So please, everyone, take a look at my first video. It’s just scenes around the house in PA. I’ve got at least three other videos from that trip to assemble.

To just watch the video:
1) Click Here
2) Press play

OR...

To enjoy the video in 720p HD
1) Click Here (same link)
2) Click the little square box (it's like four little arrows pointing out) at the bottom right corner of the video window . (That makes it full screen)
3) Click the “scaling is on” button toward the top right. It will then say "scaling is off".
4) Press play

If the above steps worked for you, then you are all set to enjoy the thousands of hours of exciting baby videos that will be posted soon. Thank you for your time.

Where did the week go??

For someone who is on bedrest and spends most of her time sitting around the house, I find the days and weeks starting to go by rather quickly. Maybe too quickly.... When this first started, at 25 weeks, I found myself making lists, lots and lots of lists. Lists of things to do to pass the time, lists of baby tasks that I could do from the couch (or bed), lists of things we still need to buy, lists of errands for Paul to run, lists of chores I needed Paul to do around the house, etc, etc. You name it, chances are good, it's on one of my lists. Now here I am, with maybe a month to go (if that long) and I think only about 25% of any one list is actually finished (except for the things to buy list and that's thanks to the baby shower). So the question is - do I sit around and worry about what I didn't get done? Or do I just relax and figure it will all work itself out in the end? I know the right answer is to just relax and enjoy the remaining few days and weeks of the pregnancy and a quiet house and having the time to rest during the day, but anyone who knows me knows just how hard it is for me to do that... I guess now is the time to prioritize all the remaining things to do and work on just the top few most important stuff (like finding a pediatrician and reading up on childbirth).
I need send out a great BIG "thank you!!!!" to my Mom for all her help this week. It was great having her here to help me for a few days and keep me company (and calm my nerves). She drove me to the hair salon on Tuesday, to the doctor's office on Wednesday, did laundry, cooked, cleaned, even pushed me around Babies R Us in a wheel chair! What would I do without her??? Thanks Mom!!
The last two days have been spent just resting and watching A LOT of Grey's Anatomy. I'd like to say "thank you" to Brooke for getting me hooked on a new show. A few more days and I'll be moving on to Season 3! Not bad considering I just started with Season 1 about 9 or 10 days ago.

Another Wednesday = Another Doctor Appt

Today is a milestone day - at least for me (and Paul and the babies). I have officially made it to October and into the 32nd week of this pregnancy! When the bedrest started back in the middle of August, October seemed so very far away... I guess listening to everyone's advice and just taking it "day by day" really worked. I am feeling more and more relaxed with every day that passes and more and more ready to meet our little girls.
Everything looked great with both babies at today's appointment and my blood pressure "couldn't have been better" (according to my Dr). According to the ultrasound measurements, Baby A is estimated to be around 3lbs 12oz and Baby B around 4lbs 5oz. The half pound difference seems big to me, but both the Dr and the nurse said that their weights are healthy and consistent with how far along I am. In fact, the Dr said that at some point, genetics can start to play a role in their size and that it could just be that B is going to naturally be a bigger baby. They tried again to do the 3-D ultrasound, but there is just too little space and both girls had an arm right around their face so all we could get were profile pictures. So not only will their names be a surprise for everyone, but so will what they look like! :-)
The last bit of news - while my Dr really doesn't think I'll make it to 37 weeks (which is considered full term for twins), if for some reason I am in the 36th week with no signs of delivering any time soon, he will start to look at inducing. That means just another 4 to 5 weeks, at most!! I've been feeling pretty uncomfortable the last couple of weeks and knowing the end is so close is wonderful news!

Working in the nursery

Yesterday was an "exciting" day for me.... We always knew that we'd need extra storage space in the nursery so Paul bought a large 4-drawer cart to keep (hide) in the closet and I got to sit and watch as he worked on sorting and organizing all the blankets and towels and burp cloths and onesies and sleepers and sheets and diaper supplies... I think we asked each other more than once "do babies really need ALL this stuff???"

The room is starting to look and feel more put together, but it's definitely not done yet. Although I suppose some things can wait until after the babies are home. And who knows, maybe we'll find ourselves changing parts of it around after a couple weeks of being "in use". I included this picture so you can see the furniture and the Blossoms theme.

I don't have anything planned for today, Monday. Just resting and looking forward to a non-doctor appt outing tomorrow morning ~ a haircut!

Just more of the same

There really isn't too much to report today... Thursday and Friday were pretty quiet days around our house. I wrote Thank You notes, watched Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy and made lists of what still needs to get done or bought or researched before babies. At least today there is an Ohio State football game to watch and that will help pass time in the afternoon.

Pregnant with twins at 29wks4days

So I've had a few people that don't live nearby and couldn't make the baby shower ask to see pictures of me and my twin baby belly... If you click on the actual photo, it will enlarge and you can see it in more detail. My mom took the profile picture while we were playing the "Guess the size of April's belly" game. Anyone who wasn't at the shower want to give it a try?? Post a comment and let me know your guess (in inches).

Help Paul Get A Motorcycle

Hello. Its Paul's 1st post. Please participate in the poll to the left. According to a little known Ohio state law passed in response to the energy crisis, if at least five people reply favorably to an online poll saying a husband should get a motorcycle, then he has to get one. State Law.

This is a BMW 1200GS in Namibia Orange. That's all I want. Nothing loud, dangerous, or fast. Please help. Thanks. Paul

Back to the weekly Dr appts

Now that I am back home, I get to return to my weekly Wednesday "date" with my doctor. Today's appt was pretty uneventful - hooray!! They did a 30 minute non-stress test and that showed both babies are doing great (heart rate and movement wise). That was followed by a quick chat with my Dr to just go over any questions I had post-hospital visit. He seemed pretty optimistic this morning that the pregnancy could go at least another 3 or 4 weeks. And while Paul keeps saying that the goal should be 36 weeks, both the Dr and myself prefer to take a more "one week at a time" approach. So right now, I just want to make it into the month of October (and that's less than a week away!!). Once we're in October, then I'll be OK with the next goal - mid October. :-) At next Wednesday's appt, they'll do a growth scan, get a weight estimate, etc and then most likely another round of preeclampsia testing.
Probably some of the best news I got today was that I'm allowed a brief occasional outing - assuming I'm feeling up to it. Lately I've felt kind of slow and tired and am easily out of breath so I'm not sure just how much I'll leave the house, but knowing I have some freedom is pretty exciting!

There's no place like home...

After 8 nights in the hospital, I am finally back at home and it feels great! After a few rounds of tests, all with results showing me as just having borderline preeclampsia, my Dr is questioning his original diagnosis. The only confusing thing is the two episodes of blurred vision I had, but he feels those could have been brought on by things other than preeclampsia. So at this time, I am allowed to continue my bed rest at home as long as I monitor my blood pressure a few times a day and visit my Dr weekly for blood tests. Today (9/23) is the 31st week and we are hoping that I can stay here at home for about 3 to 4 more weeks before the babies arrive.

1st addition to our family

Right now, this is our only "baby", Barkley (aka B-dog..... aka Crazy Monster). We're curious about how he's going to react to 2 little baby girls coming into our house. Hopefully he'll be a sweet and protective big brother.