Baby Blessings

It was a beautiful day!  Beautiful babies in beautiful dresses.  Daddy gave beautiful blessings.  And no one pooped on their clothes. :)

 

Speaking of poop... Here is one of the pictures we had taken at JC Penney last week.  Lily had a blow-out and got poop all the way up to her shoulders.  And Ella screamed the whole time.  But we still think they're pretty cute. 



Fun with twins

For the first eight weeks after the girls were born, we had someone at home helping us.  My mom and Brian's mom took turns staying with us.  The first four weeks consisted of 3-4 trips back and forth to the NICU each day to see and feed the girls.  I was pumping every 3 hours around the clock so the girls could have breastmilk in their bottles.  It was great having someone to clean the pump supplies, and to go to the NICU with me.  The fifth week was when Ella was at home and Lily was still in the NICU.  Brian took that week off of work and we took turns going to the NICU to see Lily.  When Lily came home from the hospital, we really learned what it was like being parents to twins.  It was wonderful having help during the middle-of-the-night feedings.  It was also great being able to take naps almost daily. 

My mom left on October 26th, and Brian and I have been on our own since then (two weeks now!).  We're a bit more sleep-deprived, but things are going surprisingly well.  I have now taken the girls to four different doctor appointments on my own.  We've even been on time every time!  The first appointment was just a follow-up with the ENT to check their tongues.  They definitely have a lot more movement, and he said their tongues looked fine.  The next appointment was their 2-month visit on Halloween.  Ella weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce, and Lily was 7 pounds 13 ounces.  They had to get shots.  They cried for a bit at the office, but then fell asleep on the way home.  They slept for a long time at home, and I had to work really hard to wake them up to eat.  They were fine through their feeding, but then they decided to show me how they felt about the shots... and they were NOT happy.  The third appointment was for Lily with the lung specialist.  We were hoping Lily could stop using her apnea monitor, but he said he always likes to have them on it for at least two months.  The good news is she only has to use it at night from now on.  The fourth appointment was actually for me.  I developed mastitis and had to bring the girls with me so I could get antibiotics. 

Ella has become a pro at nursing!  Lily has always been pretty good at it, but Ella has struggled a bit.  Just in the last week, Ella started nursing all the time.  Now the girls only get bottles when we go out to doctor appointments, or occasionally at night.  It's great to not have to pump all the time. 

Now that I've bored everyone with lots of writing, I'll include some pictures.

Brian has returned home from work several days to find me like this.

The girls love sleeping on Daddy.

They love playing together.

Haha, I love this picture! 

Lots of baby pictures

We've been posting pictures and updates of the girls on facebook... but we realize that some of you don't use facebook.  It's been quite a while since we posted any updates on our blog.  A lot has changed since the last post.

Ella got to come home from the NICU on September 27th, after a 4-week stay. 

 

Ella's first bath at home.

 

 

Lily came home the next week on October 3rd, one day before their due date. 

It is so wonderful finally having them both home!

Lily's first bath at home.

 

 

The girls turned 2 months old on Halloween.  Here they are in their costumes.

 

 

My friend took pictures of the girls when they were almost 6 weeks old.  We think they turned out great!  Here are a few of our favorites:



 



Babies!

Maybe instead of a family letter I'll send some pictures.

 

First picture is my favorite part of the day.

 

 

 

It's really fun to each feed our babies side by side.  A lot of dads probably don't get the opportunity to feed their babies when they just nurse.  I really like being able to feed them and have some bonding time just the four of us.

 

We also change a few diapers and sometimes just hold them.  They have both latched on nursing but still get most of their food by bottle.  Hilary is able to pump enough that they are pretty much totally off formula.

This is Lily

 

 



Here is a napping Ella

This is Dad with Ella a few days ago.

 

 Ella

 

 

This is my bed.

Lily

 

Like most newborns they lost some weight.  Lily fell to just under 4 and Ella fell to just under 4,7.  Yesterday I expected them to have gained a ton but they only gained a few grams.

We just got back from the nine o-clock feeding and they had gained lots today.  Lily gained 3 ounces and Ella gained two ounces so they are almost back to their birth weights.  Lily is 4,3 and Ella is 4,9.

 

Lily is off of her IV now.  Ella will be off it in the morning also.  They are progressing really well.  Probably have a ways to go in the NICU but things are really coming along.

 

Hilary is looking skinny again.  She happily weighs much less than me again and feeling more mobile.  We are still monitoring her blood pressure and massaging swollen feet.

 

One fun baby story was the first time I let Grandma Hart hold one of the girls.  Ella got all fussy and started crying and so she gave her back to me and Ella fell back to sleep.  That made me happy.  Not that I don't want my girls to like grandma but my whole life I've always been the one who the babies don't like and I have to return the crying baby to the parent.  It was kinda nice to have roles reversed and to be the parent.

 

For fun I tested my blood pressure today.  166 over 122.  Yep I'm pretty much dead.  I tested it again and I was in the normal range but that was pretty funny.

 

I did my first sorta interview today.  It was just a phone interview but it went really well and they liked me so I'll have a real interview in about two weeks.

Have I ever shown you where I work.  This is my cubicle.