One year, part two

One year ago today I found out that we were adding not one, but two more little beetles to our family. After finding out our prayers had been answered and we were going to make Ben a big brother (One year, part One), I spent the next two weeks anxiously awaiting our ultrasound where we would hopefully hear one sweet heartbeat. While I was blissfully happy after finding out I was pregnant, I was also a bit of a nervous wreck. Even though my doctor and nurses did their best to reassure me that this looked like a healthy pregnancy, part of me was so worried that our dreams could collapse at any second.

I anxiously awaited the big day. It helped that we spent the week before the ultrasound in Canada on vacation with Chris' family. We shared our happy news with Grammie C, Grampie J, Auntie Kathryn and Uncy J and let them know that they were going for round two in their grandparent and aunt/uncle duties. As the trip went on the fam (I think it was Chris's dad and brother in particular) started wondering if perhaps I was baking more than one bun in the oven because they had never seen me pack away so much food! I assured everyone that I just "knew" there was only one sweet little babe in there (shows how much I know!).

The day of the ultrasound, Chris and I headed into the appointment. I was so nervous and wanted nothing more than to see a healthy little heartbeat flickering away on the screen. The nurse came in first and explained what the doctor would be looking for (I think she said the baby would like like a grain of rice). She left and it felt like forever before the doctor arrived. He spent the first hour few minutes checking things out, not saying much. This also felt like forever and I finally asked him if the baby was ok. After a few seconds, he replied "well, there they are. You've got twins in there." I started crying immediately. I had hoped and prayed to see one little heartbeat and could hardly believe it when there were two. Chris had the biggest smile and was definitely the calmer of the two of us. We met with the doctor afterwards, he gave us a bit of information on twins, said congratulations and released me to my regular OB. After spending so much time in and out of that office it felt strange to say good bye.

We started our list of phone calls as soon as we got back to the car. Our closest family and a couple friends knew we were having the ultrasound that morning and everyone was waiting for an update to hear how the baby looked. We called my mom first...I think the first words out of my mouth were: "We just got a really good buy one get one special, we're having twins!" She started crying and then I started crying and so it went. Chris' parents were next, Carol said "we knew it!" My dad had been in a meeting and when I finally was able to tell him he was going to be a papa x2 he was very quiet and said "where are you going to find room to put all those babies?" I thought he meant in our house, but he was worried about me and how my belly would carry two babies. Our siblings were next on the list, it was so much fun to share the news with them. Finally, I called my dearest friend Katie, who has twins herself. I could tell she was waiting for my call and when she answered, I told her "well, looks like I am going to be needing A LOT of advice from you!" She knew right away what that meant and of course lots of happy screaming, laughing and crying followed (Chris still isn't sure how either of us understood what the other said during that conversation, but we did!)

We spent the next days so incredibly happy. We contemplated when we would tell Ben that not only was he going to be a big brother, but he was going to be a big brother to TWO babies. We ended up telling him the following week. I will never forget when he got to make his OWN twin announcement. Our good friends the Smiths came over for dinner. They also happened to be expecting their first baby and knew we had been hoping to add to our family for some time. Chris told them we had very good news to share and that I was expecting. I leaned down and whispered to Ben to tell them how many babies we were having. He held up two little fingers and yelled "TWO BABIES!" If you can't guess, more tears followed!

One year ago today, I fell in love with my sweet babies. My only hope was to give Ben the gift of a sibling, to give him two was an amazing blessing. February 6th, 2012 will always be remembered...I think my heart swelled to twice it's size when I "saw" my sweet Sammie and Harper "rice" for the first time.

Little Girl

First she was serenaded by her dad's ukulele and then she fell fast asleep in his arms. I think this one's got him wrapped around her tiny little finger:)

Hello February (or goodbye January)

January has come and gone. We had a busy end to the month with Ben's fifth birthday party, lots of school tours (can you believe Ben will start kindergarten in the fall? I can't!), doctor appointments and scurrying about in frigid temps!

We've toured three elementary schools so far. Elementary school enrollment is different in St. Paul compared to what Chris and I remember as children. We basically had two options, your public neighborhood school or the local private school. We are blessed to have many wonderful options in St. Paul. At the tender age of five, Ben could begin a foreign language in a Mandarin, French or Spanish immersion school, start studying "aerospace," global studies or begin a classical education. We have been impressed by all of the schools we've toured so far. We have a couple more to go, but are confident our oldest Beetle will thrive wherever he ends up. It helps that at this age kids are like sponges and our little sponge has been busy soaking up whatever he can in preschool. In fact this week he was telling us all about "Adusa" (Medusa, as in the Greek mythological monster with snakes for hair). I kid you not this child had the whole story down. Right down to the ahem, severed head and turning the king into stone by her gaze. It was pretty hilarious to hear his rendition!

Speaking of schools, apparently college has been a topic for the preschoolers this week. On Fridays his teachers send home a note, recapping the week. Today his teacher wrote that one of Ben's classmates told him he would have to live at the college, he apparently doesn't like that idea too much and said "I am definitely living at home!" I tried to explain that mom and dad met some of their best friends at college and that we lived with them in the dorms, he didn't understand and kept insisting that Chris always lived with Grampie J and Grammie C and I always lived with Grammie and Papa K.

Ben had his five year old well child check and kindergarten appointment this week as well. He was quite shy at the appointment. His pediatrician was trying to ask him what his favorite foods were, to which he responded with a shrug and glance my way. She then tried a different approach and asked him "what would you say if your mom told you that you could have anything you want to eat?" My sweet boy responded with a simple "Please." I don't think that is what she was looking for, but it was pretty adorable. Our big guy weighed in at 39 pounds and was 41 inches tall. He pretty much seems like a giant, given I can look at him and still see him as a newborn. He is healthy as a horse and has come a long way since all of his ear, sinus and allergy troubles.

Last weekend we had quite the adventure with a celebration of Ben's fifth birthday. A number of his classmates and neighbor friends joined in for some jumping at a local indoor bouncy house park. The kids had a blast. It was so fun to see them all interact together, there is just something about kids talking to each other that shows off their little personalities.

Our littlest beetles are changing by the day. They seem to be getting bigger by the minute. Harper is up to 12 lbs 13 ounces. Her weight gain has always been a little bit slower than Sam's, so I asked to have her weighed while we were at the clinic for Ben's appointment. We didn't weight the Sam-Cake because there is NO WORRY at all about him packing on the pounds ;)  

The babies are five months old now and speaking of personalities we are really seeing them develop more and more. Harper is such a happy little thing. We can look at her from across the room and that is enough to elicit a little giggle. She is also QUITE the little talker. When she gets going, watch out! I have started to see the babies interact with each other a little more as well. For the most part they have just sort of co-existed next to each other but never really paid much attention to the other little being who always happened to be at their side. But just the other day, Harper started on one of her squawking streaks while laying next to Sam. It was almost as though she was trying to tell him something SO important, she just kept carrying on and on and in typical Sam fashion he just stared at her with a furrowed brow as though he was thinking "wow, really?" (or on the other hand, maybe he was thinking "am I going to have to put up with this for the rest of my life?") I have started to get the hang of tandem nursing (sort of) and it is pretty sweet to look down and see them holding hands while they eat! They also hold onto whatever is available to them while getting ready for bath. Tonight Sam had Harper's knee in his little hand and he wasn't letting go for anything! Sam is still the serious of the two, he prefers to sit back and take things in. I joke that Harper does enough talking for the two of them. His babbles are low and quiet where Harper's are high pitched and loud. His laughter is that of an old man chuckle.

Sam is adjusting to life in his helmet. The first few days were a little rough going, but he now tolerates it pretty well. We had our first follow-up appointment and they adjusted it a bit so it doesn't fall down his forehead as much which helps. It has gotten so I am more used to seeing him with the helmet on, so that when it is off something seems to be amiss. We're still hoping this will be a short lived time for our little guy. 

And last but not least, it is very cold here in MN. I don't really have much else to say about that except I am {very} ready for warmer temps to find us again. 

Ben and his goofy gumball playdough machine.

Cousins and best pals at the pirate party.

"Ah yes, I have solved the mystery of the jump-a-roo!"

Harper, perpetually surprised by life.

Goofy girl.

How about those chins?!

Helmet free for a bit! Feels so good!

 

Baby blues.

Nothing better than a thumb.

H&S - five months.

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Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Sammie boy decided to start rolling yesterday! He goes from tummy to back and gets vey close to making it from his back to his tummy. It is so funny watching him on the video monitor because he is all over the place in his crib.

All this rolling is very good for Sam because it means he will probably spend less time on his back and hopefully will give up his preference for looking to the left. Big sister Harper made her self comfy during the pregnancy which left little room for baby brother. We noticed Sam's head shape looked somewhat off shortly after birth, but figured he had been through a lot and babies heads aren't always so perfect immediately after arrival. During his hospital stay the nurse started noticing his head shape as well as a preference for turning his head to his left side. We've been diligent about providing lots of tummy time and worked on enticing him to look towards the right since he's been home. Despite all of this, his head shape has worsened and he has a fairly noticeable flat area on his left side along with some facial asymmetry. Our pediatrician sent us to a craniofacial surgeon at one of the Children's hospitals here in the cities. He confirmed that Sam has torticollis as well as deformational plagiocephaly. The torticollis means that the muscles in his neck are very tight on one side and the plagiocephaly means he has a flat area on one side of his head. The surgeon feels both the torticollis and plagiocephaly are on the severe end of the spectrum. The remedy is some physical therapy to work on stretching his neck and a small helmet called a cranio cap. He will need to wear the helmet 23 hours/day for 3-5 months. We'll go in and have it adjusted every week or two. Both torticollis and plagiocephaly are more common in babies born early as well as in multiples. Sam was also growth restricted during the pregnancy, so these issues probably started in utero. I really dislike the idea of him having to wear the helmet and hope he tolerates it ok, but in the grand scheme of things it really is such a minor issue. Bennie already has big plans to decorate it for Sam!

And, so as not to let little brother steal the show, Harper decided TODAY was her day to start rolling! She wasn't going to let her twin get too far ahead of her! It's funny because yesterday when Sam started rolling I remember thinking that Harper probably would not for at least a few more weeks because she just wasn't showing that much indication of doing so. Well this afternoon I had both babies on their play mat while we were working on dinner and out of nowhere Chris asked me if Harper just rolled over. I turned around and sure enough she was laying on her stomach, happy as a clam. I rolled her on her back (mostly because she was on a thin play pad on the wood floor and I didn't want her to face plant!), well it wasn't more than a few seconds and she rolled right back over on to her tummy! She did it over and over again, showing off her new trick!

It was so fun watching Ben take it all in, he was so cute, saying "I'm so proud of you Harper, you're such a big girl!" and "I'm so proud of you, Sam, you are such a big guy!" It won't be long and these two will be chasing to keep up with their big brother!

 

 

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Five

Today our oldest (and original little beetle) turned five. Where did the time go? It seems impossible to think he is now a big boy (although he reminds me of this fact every time I call him my baby!)

At five years old, our sweet Bennie boy is the love of our lives. He lights up a room and his energy is contagious.

Our big guy is quite the curious little dude. Often thinking of questions that I am not always sure how to answer. He is also quite practical and after I hesitate for a bit, will come to the answer all on his own (leaving me to wonder why I didn't think of that).

At five years young, Ben has a laugh that is so full and rich it seems like it should belong to someone much older. I count myself lucky in that I hear that laugh frequently. This little boy finds humor everywhere.

Energy seems to be endless for our oldest Beetle. He is busy, busy, busy from sun up until sun down. Sometimes I wonder how he can keep going. My dad jokes that he only needs a ten minute rest or so and his batteries are recharged and he's ready to go again!

This sweet boy of ours is so very kind. Sometimes his kindness pulls at my heart strings and I wonder how we have managed to raise such a beautiful boy. At the beginning of the school year all of the children tie wishes for the year to a tree. At conference time his teachers told me most of the kids wished for silly things, but Ben's wish was: "that we all be friends." Talk about making a mama proud.

At five years old, this little man loves to work. Give him a job and he'll give it his all.

He loves all things construction or "worker-man" like. Our water heater went out at home a while back and for days he went around the house pretending to be the "water heater guy," constructing intricate pipe designs and telling me we were going to have a flood, but not to worry because he would take care of us.

Art, crafts, painting, clay, glue - you name it and he loves it. A day filled with project making would be the best kind of day in his book. He was lucky to spend a lot of time with his grammies over the summer and they both came up with tons of projects for him (which he now stores away like little treasures).

He adores his brother and sister (and at four months old they think pretty highly of him, too!). Along with the little people in his world, his aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins top his list of favorite people. He often reminisces of time spent with his family and always asks when he gets to see them again.

He is absolutely fearless. We recently went snowtubing with some good friends from college and Ben was busy going down double black diamond runs while I was shaking in my boots. He convinced me to go with him and I told him I would but that I was going to close my eyes the whole way. He told me I couldn't do that "because I would miss all the excitement!"

 

This little boy lights up my world. I live for his hugs, kisses, laughter and story telling. Happy birthday to my biggest boy...who will always be my baby:)

 

Pictures from the big five year old's special day (which started our with a water main flood in our road, which was pretty much a birthday present in and of itself for this guy!), followed by arcade games at Chucky Cheese's and cake at home with his brother and sister (complete with party hats for the whole gang)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One Year...Part One

Dear Harper and Sam,

One year ago I received a phone call that I'll never forget. It was a nurse calling from my doctor's office. I checked my voicemail from work and heard words I thought I may never hear again: "Jen, I'm calling you today to tell you that you are finally pregnant. Your levels look good, this looks like a healthy pregnancy." My heart skipped a beat (or twenty) and I held it together long enough to excuse myself to find a bathroom where I could weep joyful tears.


Somehow I made it through the rest of the day without telling a soul. Your dad didn't know I was going to the lab that morning. I woke up thinking there was no point to remind him, because if he didn't know then maybe he wouldn't ask the results and then maybe those words I had come all too familiar with saying while holding back tears every month for the last two years wouldn't need to be spoken out loud.

But this time...finally, after lots of tests, shots and procedures I was able to share happy news. News that included tears of a very different kind. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I picked up a card for Dad on my way home from work. It was signed, "love baby Bradley #2." I didn't know you were actually #2 and # 3 yet! Your dad was sitting at the kitchen table, working on a project with Ben. His eyes told me he didn't need a reminder of what the day held. He didn't know what it meant when I handed him the card...after he read it, he looked up at me with the biggest smile ever and said "no way!" I believe my response was: "way!"

Without getting into too much detail it goes without saying that the two of you, along with your big brother are complete miracles. Of course every parent believes this of their children (and rightfully so!), but you kids? My beautiful, precious babies? You are OUR miracles and the sweetest blessings we could ever dream of. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't thank my lucky stars for you.

January 19th, 2012 will be a day I will always remember. It also happens to be the day before Ben's birthday. He wanted so badly to have a baby brother or sister. Little did we know we were about to give him both! And that story will come to you via "One Year...Part Two!"

Love,

Your Grateful Mama

 

 

 

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Four Months

It seems impossible that four months have gone by. Harper and Sam are less and less the tiny newborns we brought home from the hospital and more and more cooing, smiling, healthy infants. Time is flying by and most days I find myself wishing it would stand still.

The thing about raising twins, is that you have to make a conscious effort to take it all in...to slow down or the days will pass you by. I want to make sure many years down the road these early days aren't simply remembered as a blur of feedings, diapers and exhaustion. So much of what makes up these early days is about survival, but I want to remember more than those tasks that fill my days because this time is about so much more.

This time, these days...it's about the babies laughter as they lie on our bed, totally enamored with their big brother while they wait for bath time.

 It's the contented sighs as they melt into Chris' arms, completely and totally comforted by his presence.

The way Ben kisses his brother and sister good-bye before heading off to school in the morning and narrates his day upon his return.

It's Ben saying "greetings, Harper. Welcome to Earth."

 It's Jake and the Neverland pirates and how Ben has become Jake, Sam Cubby and Harper Izzy.

 It's hearing "Ay, Ay Matey" when I ask Ben to put on his school clothes.

 It's Sam staring so deep into my eyes while he nurses that I feel he can hear my thoughts.

It's star-gazing on Ben's ceiling before bed at night.

Because amidst the scrambling about of the morning and night time routines, the diaper changes, the spit-up and the half eaten dinners there are moments that must be remembered, because those moments...they are the ones that matter.

But time marches on, and while I have been busy trying to get it stand still, Harper and Sam have been busy growing like crazy. They had their four month well check in the beginning of January.

Harper's Stats:
11 lbs 10 oz and 23.2 inches long

Sam's Stats:
13 lbs 4 oz and 23. 6 inches long

It looks as though Sam has claimed his place for now as the bigger of the duo. Strangers stop and comment on how much bigger he is than his sister and can't believe that he was the smaller of the two at birth. Speaking of strangers...if you ever want to feel like a celebrity for a couple hours, just take a set of twins to the grocery store or pharmacy and see how many times you get stopped!

The babies have both been in good health and their pediatrician continues to be impressed with their weight gain. They are almost exclusively breastfed. Although they continue to pack on the pounds, they are still somewhat small for their age and their pediatrician has us supplementing with higher calorie preemie formula a few times each week if I seem to run low on milk.

We have been treated with more sleep recently and up until the babies received their four month vaccinations they were pretty much sleeping a solid twelve hours every night. We were pretty fearful to even utter these words out loud for fear of jinxing ourselves! After the longest stretch of consecutive sleep for the three months prior being about two hours (on a good night), we were superstitious to say the least! After Harper and Sam had their four month vaccinations they were out of sorts for a few days and had their first fevers. They also have regressed a bit in the sleep department, but we're hoping with a good routine they get back into their old habits!

Here are the little four month old beetles and the big beet brother:) The last picture of Sam deserves some sort of caption, I am just not witty enough to think of one tonight!