Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A Day in the Life

For memory's sake, I wanted to do a "day in the life" type post of how our day went. Grady had an eye appointment at 3:10pm today for ROP monitoring (ROP=Retinopothy of Prematurity, an eye disease that affects prematurely-born babies). Grady has not exhibited signs of ROP thus far, but due to his low birthweight (3 lbs 4oz), he is monitored regularly by a pediatric ophthalmologist. Wren's birthweight (3lbs 11oz) was just high enough that she did not meet the threshold for monitoring.

When we have an appointment, it's pretty much an all-day affair between prepping, commuting, waiting, examination, commuting, and settling back in at home. I decided to tackle this appointment all by myself with both babies (a first for me). I'm stubborn and wanted to prove to myself that I'm a capable, independent twin mom who's "got this."

This morning, the babies woke up later than normal, as did Tom. Because Tom was running late, he could not help with their first feeding of the day. After changing them, I fed them their first bottle and put them back down and they slept for another hour and half or so and then they played and "talked" in their cribs for a little bit because I was dragging tail. 

I changed them, dressed them for the day, and then fed them their next bottle. I usually feed them a fruit at this time too but I pushed it to lunch time so I could go ahead and get in the shower and get ready for the day. I was counting on them taking another nap and playing contently so I could get ready without interruption. Well, they did take a cat nap while I was in the shower but woke up when I got out. So I set them up in my room to play while I did my make up and hair. Grady got super fussy and I had to keep stopping to comfort him, then I had to just let him cry for a bit so I could get dressed and get their next meal ready.

Ready to spread some Christmas cheer!

 Playing in the "safety zone" (amongst pillows) 
to avoid toppling over while mom gets ready

My view in the closet door mirror while putting on makeup

After I finally finished getting ready, I fed them some pears and then their bottles. After they were done eating, I packed the diaper bag and put our things in the car, loaded the babies in their car-seats, and put them in the car. We were doing pretty good on time, so I decided to do something I've been needing to do for quite some time. That something was to pay the wonderful people at my fertility clinic (OU Physicians Reproductive Medicine) a visit so they could finally meet Grady and Wren. I figured it would work out well today since we were already going to be on the OU Medical Center campus for Grady's appointment.

It was very surreal and emotional to walk into that clinic WITH babies for a fun visit. I was conflicted taking them into that waiting room, as I knew there would likely be heartbroken patients in there and the last thing I wanted to do was be insensitive. I prayed that my babies and I would be a source of hope to those who may see us, that the hurting patients would be positively affected by seeing babies that were born from a treatment performed at that very clinic. We visited with the receptionists, my nurses, doctor, and other staff for a while and had a sweet time. Then it was time to head over to the OU Children's Physicians part of Children's Hospital for Grady's appointment.


Wren with our IVF Nurse, Connie

Grady with Michelle, our research/IUI study nurse, and Dr. Hansen

Wren, Connie, Michelle, Grady, & Dr. Hansen

Grady flirting with the ladies

Before we went up to the eye clinic, we quickly met up with Aunt/Nurse Blaire in the hospital lobby for a little unexpected bonus visit. After chatting with Blaire, we went up to the eye clinic, checked in, and were called back to our exam room fairly quickly. Grady was given drops to dilate his eyes and we had to wait 20-30 minutes for the drops to work. The doctor came in and examined Grady's eyes, thankfully he did not have to use the invasive retractor around his eyelids this time! The doctor said everything looked good and was right on schedule developmentally and that Grady did not need glasses. Wonderful news! Such a praise!

Wren fell asleep while we were waiting for Grady's eyes to dilate :)

Mommy & Grady playing in the exam room


After the appointment was done, we loaded back up and headed home. While on our way home, the babies fell asleep and I decided to prolong the car nap by swinging by Sonic for a well deserved large Diet Dr. Pepper. :)

I'm setting a bad example...

And because I have to play fair, here's another self portrait of Wren and Momma!

We got home just in time for the babies' next feeding. After unloading the babies and all our stuff, I started prepping their bottles and baby food. About this time, Tom got home from work and helped me feed them their bottles and then I started cooking dinner. After we ate dinner, we changed the babies into pj's and fed them their last bottle of the day and put them to bed.

Whew! I had mentally prepared for today to be a disaster, but fortunately it went relatively smoothly and I didn't regret not taking my mom with us for backup. Sure, I would have loved having her help and company, but I did it all by myself! :)

Monday, December 17, 2012

6 Month/Family Pics

Below are some favorite photos of my little family at the babies' 6 month session taken by our talented photog friend, Abby Coyle. The timing worked out just right for us to use photos from their 6 month session on our 2012 Christmas Card, which just got mailed this past Saturday. I was stuffing, addressing, and stamping at 2:40am on Friday night (Saturday morning) to make it happen. I got in project completion mode and didn't go to bed until the projects on my list were completed. I am a night owl as it is, but then when I get in that mode, I shouldn't even look at the clock as I finally do crawl into bed. It's sometimes better not to know. I digress...

My precious family, my dear husband and my two little miracles, whom I'm holding tighter due to the recent tragedy.
























Sunday, December 16, 2012

Merry Christmas 2012

Our 2012 Christmas Card
Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Grady & Wren: 7 Months













Grady's Stats: 15 lbs ? oz / ? inches

Wren's Stats: 16 lbs ? oz / ? inches

Grady's Clothing & Diaper Size: 3-6 Month & 6-9 Month clothes and Size 2 diapers

Wren's Clothing & Diaper Size: 3-6 Month & 6-9 Month clothes and Size 2 diapers

Special Outings: On Sunday, November 18, we went over to Oma & Papa's house for lunch and you met your Great Aunt Sammy for the first time. Sammy is Great Uncle Bud Crawford's wife, she and Bud visited Oklahoma City after their recent world travels before they returned back to their home in Alaska.

You met your Great Aunt Tamara, Great Uncle Steve, and second cousins Nash and Conner on Tuesday, November 20. Great Aunt Tamara is Granddad's sister and Mommy's Aunt. She and her family came in from North Carolina for the Thanksgiving holiday and to meet you two. Your first Thanksgiving went well and you were surrounded by family who definitely provided you both with endless cuddles and kisses.


You spent your first night at Grammy & Granddad's house on Saturday, November 24 while Mommy and Daddy had a date day/night in Norman for the Bedlam game. Grammy said you did great.

Milestones: Wren, you rolled over (from tummy to back) unassisted for the first time on Saturday, November 10 while we were watching the OU vs Baylor game. We whooped and hollered way more than any touchdown celebration that's for sure. We have been waiting quite a while for you to get the hang of rolling over. Your daddy and I are so proud of you!

Wren, you cut your second tooth, it's on the bottom next to your first one. Grady, you cut your two front bottom teeth around November 20, 2012. I guess we do things two at a time at our house, two babies that cut two teeth at a time!



You both are doing well at sitting up unassisted for a few minutes at a time. You are both trying to roll from your backs to your tummies. If I lay you on your back, you twist over to your side but don't quite get all the way over to your tummy just yet.

My Thoughts: We had a rough first 2 weeks of November. You had your 6 month vaccinations and flu shots (which kept you down for a bit), you were introduced to solids (which didn't go great at first), your bottle nipples were changed to the 6+ month fast flow nipples (nipple changes always throw you guys off), you got a little tummy bug which made for LOTS of yucky diapers (you also shared your bug with your dad and me), and you began teething hard core. I am so glad we are through that particular rough patch. I hated seeing you guys have such a hard time, I definitely spent lots of time giving you extra TLC.


Routine:
These days our routine looks roughly like this:
6:30am Feed (bottle)
7:00am-9:15am Nap/Quiet Play
9:30am Feed (fruit & bottle)
10:00am-1:00pm Playtime/Tummy time/Cat naps
1:15pm Feed (bottle)
1:30pm-4:00pm Playtime/Tummy time/Nap
4:30pm Feed (veggies, fruit, & bottle)
5:00pm-7:00pm Playtime/Tummy time/Cat naps/Bath-time
7:00pm Feed (bottle)
7:30pm Bedtime

Favorites: Eating sweet potatoes, bananas, & apples, the Christmas tree lights and decorations, and your Fisher Price "Go Baby Go!" Snail and Monkey Musical Ball toys from Oma. They entertain you during tummy time and while you sit up. Later, when you start crawling, we can change the setting and you can crawl along with them.








Dislikes:  Getting your hands and face cleaned up after eating baby food, waiting for Mommy to feed bites to your sibling during solid feedings.

Food:  You are still on the Sam's generic (Simply Right Sensitivity) of Similac Sensitive Formula for fussiness and gas in addition to baby food. Your first baby foods have been: oatmeal, bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, apples, peas, pears, carrots, & blueberries.

And this is just because...I call it your first album cover... ;)