Happy Halloweenie!

Here are a few pictures from our babies' first Halloween. Their mom did her best to ensure they had pumpkin chocolate chip flavored milk for the day by eating far more cookies than she should have. But--it was for the babies.

Babies' First Visit to the White House

Last Sunday, my Mom, Dad, Rachel, Daniel, the babies and I piled downtown for a visit to the White House gardens. My fabulous friends Amanda and Jessica were kind enough to give us tickets to tour the gardens, which were only open last weekend. It was a beautiful day outside--and lucky babies for getting to take a trip to the White House!

It is still an adventure every time we leave the house--and every time, we get a little bit better at it. We're still learning how to juggle all of the stuff the babies might need, how to work the carriers, and how to negotiate feedings while out and about (because at intervals of every three hours, we're bound to have to feed them when we leave the house for any amount of time).

Anyway, it was fun to tour around the White House lawn and gardens, and really a lot of fun to get outside on a gorgeous day with Daniel, the babies, and my fam!

Daniel and me--I'm holding Jackson, Daniel has Addison.

Rachel and Dad

Me, Jackson, and Mom

The West Wing of the White House

Rach, Mom, me, Jackson

Like Where's Waldo--Where's Daniel and Addison?

Babies in their carseats, all ready to go.

Mom, Dad, and Rach at the White House!

We've got it all over...

Here's the deal with babies--they pee and poo a lot. And we've both been peed on.

This is Jackson's handiwork, getting ready for a bath.

This morning, both babies peed on me while we were getting ready for their baths. A great way to start the day! Furthermore, I had been concerned that Addison hadn't been poopy when I changed her after her nighttime feedings. She hadn't pooped all morning. Finally, she pooped this afternoon. So much so, that a little bit went up her back and got on her clothes. So, I took her upstairs to change her and to get her something clean to wear. I took off her dirty diaper, and she was smiling and kicking around on the changing table. All of a sudden, poop literally shot out of her bottom, all of the way across the changing table, all over everything. She actually got some into the wipe warmer, which was open on the opposite side of the table. Impressive for such a sweet little girl!

But she's a happy baby now--it looks like she's feeling much better...

Birth Story Part 1: SURPRISE! You're having babies today!

The twins' birth story in a nutshell: at a routine doc's visit, my blood pressure was high--turns out my platelet count was also low and dropping, so my doctor decided we needed to have the babies STAT. Read on if you want all of the details (I really wrote them all down so we'd remember--so prepare yourself)...

I had a weekly doctor's appointment scheduled with my OB/GYN's office. Dr. Salgado was great and we officially scheduled my C-section for September 21, with her as my delivering doctor. She said everything looked fine, except that my initial blood pressure reading was a little bit high. She told me to relax, and that in 5 minutes someone would come and take my blood pressure again--and that, although it was likely nothing and there was no reason to be alarmed, if it didn't go down, I'd have to go to the hospital to have it monitored. When someone tells you that, seriously, just try to relax--but after 5 minutes of deep breathing, my blood pressure was still high so Dr. Salgado told me to go to the hospital for observation for a few hours, just to make sure that my blood pressure returned to a normal level.

I called Daniel on my way to the hospital, so upset. Hanging out the hospital had not been in my afternoon plans (not that I really had any afternoon plans, being on bed rest and all--but still! I was going to get lunch, and I needed a pedicure...not to spend the afternoon at the hospital!)--I'd just left the house for a quick appointment. What about Spud? What about all of my stuff? Anyway, Daniel (per usual) totally calmed me down and told me not to worry, and that he would come and meet me at the hospital. I checked into the labor and delivery department and was set up in what they call the triage area of the floor--four semi-private beds where they monitor people before admitting or releasing them. I was hooked up to monitors to hear the babies' heartbeats and to feel for contractions--turns out I was having some, so the nurse wanted to give me fluids. Through an IV. IN MY HAND. Not a popular option with the patient--so I gave the nurse an entirely practical alternative solution--can't I just drink the water?! But no, the nurse figured that an IV was more efficient, so in the back of my left hand it went. Ouch. She also took blood for the tests they needed to run--then the waiting began. While my blood pressure was going down nicely, we had to wait for the results of my blood tests before they would know enough to let me go home. The nurse all but assured us that we'd be released, and apologized profusely that it took so long (the lab hadn't received the samples or something, so it took much longer than it should have--randomly, someone in a bed next to us worked in the lab and called down, which ended up expediting the process in the end).

Anyway, after over three hours of waiting (and being incredibly pregnant and laying on the least comfortable hospital bed EVER), we overheard the nurses talking with one another, saying that everyone in the triage area was going to be discharged once the doctor checked everything. It was one of my doctors, Dr. Rothman, who came and took a look at my labs--all he had to do was give us the green light, and we could go home. Unfortunately for that plan, he was concerned that my platelet count was kind of low. He decided to have me admitted to the hospital to be monitored overnight.

Fail. I was a mess. It was really upsetting to have to spend the night alone at the hospital, especially being ridiculously pregnant, hormonal, and uncomfortable, and not knowing what was going to happen the next day. Daniel, as always, was very sweet. He went home, took care of Spud, grabbed dinner, then came back to spend the evening with me. I cried when he left for the night, feeling very lonely and nervous.

This is me--huge belly, IV in hand, toe nails red.

I was all keyed up, but my nurse gave me an Ambien so I could get a couple of hours of sleep. The nurse came in and checked my blood pressure every three hours through the night--and she came in and drew about 10 vials of blood at 6 in the morning (the nurse was young, very nice, and totally unable to find a vein in my arm--she had to bring in a more experienced nurse, who ended up taking the blood from my hand--NOT a lot of fun at 6 in the morning). All through the night, the nurse had been telling me that my blood pressure readings were great, and that she anticipated that I'd be released in the morning.

Dr. Rothman came around for rounds at 7 a.m. I overheard him outside my door, asking if "dad" was around. I pretty much knew then that I would not be going home that morning--and probably not going home again without having had our babies!

Turns out that it was a good thing they'd kept me overnight, and that my doctor had caught the early warning signs of toxemia--while my blood pressure was lower, my platelet count had dropped precipitously overnight and the babies needed to come on out. And soon! Dr. Rothman said Daniel needed to get to the hospital, as we were going to deliver the babies that morning. You can imagine the phone call that Daniel got (which he didn't answer the first time--panic!--because he was in the shower). I was calm enough, but it sent him into a chicken-running-around-with-it's-head-cut-off frenzy, racing around the house getting dressed, walking Spud, then racing to the hospital (he was in such a hurry, it was a good thing he remembered necessities like pants).

I sent the following text to my family: Please keep sleeping, no freaking out--but it looks like we'll definitely have babies before noon today!! Exciting!! Of course, my mom called immediately--I basically hadn't stopped crying from the night before, so of course we were both bawling on the phone (it was really hard to be so far away from our families as we were going through all of this). I was equal parts excited to have our babies and anxious/scared/nervous about the C-section. I had to work hard to keep it together.

We found out at that point that Dr. Siegel was the doctor on call at the hospital that morning who would be performing my surgery. He had a quick procedure to take care of, then I was next up. So Daniel and I spent the few minutes we had making arrangements for Spud, sending texts to friends, talking on the phone with family, and trying to prepare ourselves for what was shortly to come.

At 9:30, a sweet, fabulous nurse named Tracey came and got us from the hospital room and walked us down the hall to surgery (well, some of us walked--for others, it was the final waddle). Daniel was diverted to a room to change into sterile clothes, to join me shortly. I was surprised that the operating room was so small. The nurses and hospital staff really made all of the difference--Tracey held my hands and had me bury my face in her neck as I bent at the waist and curved my back for a spinal. I was terrified at the prospect of getting a spinal--and it hurt, and it was weird. I felt the needles that delivered topical anesthetic to the sight--I then felt a deep pain and pressure as the spinal was administered. It was then entirely bizarre and uncomfortable to lose all feeling in my legs and torso--I could still feel pressure, but no pain. Weird. Finally, Daniel was able to come in and join me.


Dad's suited up and excited to meet the babies!

Mom's freaked out, drugged, and has been crying (or on the verge) for hours.

One of the nurses had put up a sheet near my face to block my line of sight for the surgery. She asked Daniel if it was high enough for him, and Daniel asked her if she would mind raising it a little bit higher--fair enough, considering what was going on on the other side! Not a few minutes later, all of a sudden, the doctor said that the surgery was already underway, and that we'd have babies out in a few minutes.

At 10:08, Dr. Siegel delivered our baby girl. I felt a lot of pressure, then heard her cry. The doctor said a few times over that she was "a little rosebud." I'd been crying the whole time, and now was crying tears of joy and relief--Daniel was crying too. They took her over to a warming bassinet and started working on her while the doctors moved onto baby B. I felt EXTREME pressure that almost took my breathe away--and then our baby boy was delivered. He joined his sister to be cleaned off and examined while my surgery continued.


I was surprised at how quickly they were done with the surgery and had me closed back up. The nurses brought our babies over for Daniel to hold--I remember looking over and seeing him with two beautiful babies in his arms, one baby per arm. Daniel said it was clear to him at that moment that the coloring of our two babies was very different. Addison was pink and alert, and Jackson was a little bit gray--very soon after that, the nurses whisked the babies off to the nursery (and Jackson went from there to the NICU).

Evidently, the scene was a bloody one--I wore a pair of fuzzy blue socks into surgery, and one of the nurses tactfully asked me if I wanted them back because they were spattered with blood. I thanked her for the offer, but said it was OK to throw them away. And then Daniel and I were off to recovery...

Night Terrors

We all show our stress in different ways. Since the babies have come home, Spud has taken to licking to release his stress. If you ask Daniel, he would probably say he's not stressed--even if you look at him, he doesn't look particularly stressed. But there must be some subconscious stress that he's feeling, because since the babies have come home, Daniel has had a night terror every night.

And what is a night terror you ask? It's like a really vivid nightmare. You're somewhere between asleep and awake, and totally unaware that you're up talking and acting like a crazy person (at least, that's what Daniel's are like). He must be subconsciously worried about hurting the babies, because the terrors go something like this:

I'm sound asleep. I wake up (I'm a light sleeper--curses!) and see Daniel either sitting straight up in bed, or standing at the side of his bed, as he's just launched himself out of bed. He has a panicked look on his face, and says to me, "The pillow just moved. There's a baby in the pillow." All the while, he's taken one of the European pillows from our bed and is digging into the pillowcase, trying to free an imaginary baby from the pillow. WHAT?! Crazy! He has also sat up in bed and started folding the sheets around him as though he was swaddling a baby. Nuts. Another common scenario is for him to look at me and ask, "Where are the babies?" and proceed to dig around the bed and through the pillows. The more he's had the night terrors, the more he realizes his craziness a few minutes in--at which point he usually cusses and rolls over to fall back asleep. I will say, I'm proud of myself for being so nice. I could really mess with him--but instead, I reassure him and say, "Sweetheart, the babies are in their cribs, and they are fine--go back to sleep."

His fears are unfounded--so far, we haven't lost a baby in the bed or stuck one of them in a pillow--so he should stop worrying (and freaking me out) and sleep tight!

A very happy one month!

I can't believe our babies are a month old! These past four weeks, we've been very busy making sure they have everything they need, which takes up a lot of the time in a day, and getting to know them--they are two wonderful, fun, funny little people.


About the babies:

Jackson is a grunter/snorter/squeaker, and Addison is a squeaker/grunter/squealer. The night we brought Jackson home, I was so worried about his breathing. I was just certain that we'd fed him wrong and he'd sucked milk into his lungs, and his breathing was raspy as a result. I spent the entire night with my head laying right next to the bassinet, listening for any irregularities as he breathed. I was almost ready to haul him back to the hospital--but I'm glad that I stayed (a little bit) calm and rational and didn't, because we found out from his pediatrician the next day that he's just congested. I was hearing the snot in his sinuses, not fluid in his lungs--but it was enough to keep a new mom awake with worry most of the night. And while Jackson blows raspberries and snorts, Addison is rather vocal. She squeals and squeaks and kicks her legs up straight in the air, like she's so excited to tell you something.

When she's hanging out, Addison likes to lay in the pack n' play flat on her back and wiggle around. She doesn't like to have blankets on her--if you put one over her legs, she will promptly kick it off. My mom started calling her a little Rockette, because you'll be looking over the top of the pack n' play, and all of a sudden see two little feet sticking straight out of the top. Addison loves to kick and move around and babble, and to have her hands by her face with her fingers extended. Jackson prefers to be sitting up a little bit, so he hangs out in the bouncy seat or the swing. Both of our babies love playing on their tummies, and both are very strong. When laying on his tummy, Jackson lifts his head with such force that his legs fly up in the air--he needs a counter weight to keep his bum down! But they both will lift and hold up their heads and look around--they've also started reaching out for things. Jackson will grab hold of my necklace and pull--Addison will pull on the collar of my shirt--they'll both hold onto their bottles and their pacifiers (which they can get out of their mouths, and can almost get them back in)--and when they're in their bathtub, they'll reach up and hold onto our arms. They are very strong little stinkers! And of course, if they are in the pack n' play together, no matter how far apart you lay them to start, they always end up right next to each other. It's sweet to see them cuddled up together, often holding hands or touching each other (slightly less sweet when she smacks him in the face, but still...).

Our babies love bath time! They don't cry or fuss at all when we're taking baths--really, they only fuss when it's time to get out of the tub and they're a little bit cold getting dried off, but even that doesn't last very long. They love to lounge in the water and look around--I can't wait until they start splashing and laughing in the bath.


Addison was alert and looking around right after she was born, and she's continued that trend. Her big eyes are so expressive, and she's always very alert and aware of what's going on around her. Jackson has become just as alert as his sister--he is generally a happy little guy, and spends lots of time smiling and looking around (and flirting with the ladies). Both Addison's and Jackson's eyes are focusing more, and they are able to see and recognize more. One of Jackson's signature looks is what I call his sneaky eyes--he'll squint his eyes a little bit, look one way, then the other--he definitely looks like he's up to something. When he makes that face, he reminds me of the penguins in Madagascar: You didn't see anything..., and
Smile and wave, boys.

Our babies are great eaters, and are getting to be really good at the breastfeeding. We eat every three hours during the day, and most nights we are able to stretch feedings to every four hours (which makes their tired mom very happy). Addison wakes up HUNGRY, and lets us hear about it--she is not a patient girl when she's ready to be fed. Jackson is slower to wake up, but when it's his turn to eat, he is almost giddy with excitement--seriously, he smiles and rubs his hands together and gets all wiggly in anticipation. Last week at a breastfeeding consultation, Addison weighed 6 lb and Jackson weighed in at 7 lb 1 oz--so they're eating plenty and gaining weight beautifully. For the last month at our house, we've been really focused on eating. And pooping. Never has there been so much thought given to bodily functions...and both of our babies are really gassy, which gives us a good laugh at least once a day.

Of course, in all of this, Daniel and I are getting better too. Our babies were so little at first, we had a really hard time burping them--getting them high enough over our shoulders, patting their backs just right--one month later, and we're pros. I was a mess when we brought Jackson home and had to make sure he kept taking breaths while we fed him (because sometimes, he didn't)--and we were all a little bit nervous the first time we gave Addison a sponge bath, who was so little and only weighed 4 lb 4 oz. Now, we are much more confident taking care of our babies and reading their cues. And we're having a lot of fun with them.


Jackson and Addison, even though it's only been a month, I can't imagine my life without you two. We love you so much!