A Special Day

We have looked forward to this day with anticipation for a long time. Aaron and Andrew were blessed today at church. We are so grateful for all those who took the time and effort to come here and participate and witness this great event.  It was a busy but wonderful weekend with family coming in on Sunday for the blessing and getting ready for it on Saturday.  Some of Steve's family, who live in Las Vegas, were in attendance and I had family that came from out of town.  In addition to my parents and a sister & family from St. George I had a brother and sister from Northern Utah that drove down with their families and a brother from Idaho that flew in for the day.  An uncle and aunt of mine that live in Las Vegas were able to come also. Isn't family wonderful!!!

Following sacrament meeting we had about 40+ people- half of them being young kids- over at our house fora  light lunch.   It was almost standing room only in our not-so-big house.  The twins seemed to know everyone was there to see them and enjoyed meeting their cousins, aunts and uncles (they told me so!). We agree with everyone when they told us how cute they are!  

Steve gave them beautiful blessings.  It's hard to put in words just how I feel... I love these boys more than anything and am so grateful for them.  Aaron and Andrew have brought so much joy and happiness into our lives just in the short time since their births.  I know that it's because of the many prayers in their behalf that they are both doing so well. 

Andrew especially is truly a miracle. He continues to progress without problems.  In a couple of weeks he will have another ultrasound to see how his kidneys are doing since the left kidney repair.  He will have the stint removed in about 4 weeks and IF the doctor feels his right kidney needs repairing it will be done at that time.  Chances are high, though, that it won't be necessary because the doctor says she may just keep an eye on it.  She said that with time he may grow out of it. 

Twins are fun- we love it!- but it is A LOT of work.  Well worth it.

NEW SOOTHING METHOD

There have been countless times I planned on updating our blog but never got around to it. Too much to do and never enough time.  Even when I may have had the chance taking a cat nap seems like a better option.  Of course, as Steve will tell you, I'm not much of a napper.  Even though I've had maybe five naps  since we had the twins, it's more than I've had in like the last ten years.  

Yesterday I discovered a new way to sooth Andrew and get him to sleep.  While Aaron was asleep (and Andrew SHOULD have been) I started making chocolate chip cookies. Since Andrew was somewhat fussy I thought I'd try something new- put him in the carrier/sling/harness/what-you-call-it to hopefully calm him down and teach him early how to make cookies.  He learned quite fast too.  He calmed down and even fell asleep.  It must be genetic that chocolate helps us feel better. Now I know the trick-  when Andrew is fussy put him in the carrier and make cookies.  I have a feeling I'll be making A LOT of cookies!

LOTS O' CRYING

Yesterday was a long, hard day- for the twins and us.  Even though it was the babies doing the crying, I think by the end of the day we felt like crying ourselves. It all started out in the morning with us getting a little off our normal schedule.  We didn't think it would make such a big difference but apparently it did.  Aaron and Andrew didn't sleep AT ALL the entire day from 6:30 a.m. to about 8 pm except for a few short 20 min. segments here and there.  But they sure did a lot of crying.  The more overtired they became the harder it was for them to eat and fall asleep.  We tried everything we could and nothing seemed to work.  Aaron seemed colicky and sounded like he was in pain much of the day.  Even a drive in the car only temporarily distracted them from their misery. By the evening our stress levels were high and we were completely exhausted. By 8 pm., we changed, fed, and made them comfortable then put them in separate rooms, turned the monitors off, closed the doors, and turned on the TV. After a while of hard crying they finally fell asleep around 8:30 pm. They we so exhausted they stayed asleep till 2:30 am. They then each vacuumed down their bottles an didn't wake again till 7:00 am. Today we got them back on their schedule and they are doing much better, as well as us.(PICTURES: These pictures are deceiving, these are the only naps they took all day)

On a much happier note, last Thursday both Andrew and Aaron smiled a genuine, sincere social smile!  Previous to this they have smiled many times but it was usually after passing gas or while they were asleep.  We can't believe how much progress they make even from day to day.  They are both more alert each day as they notice things around them and maintain eye contact for longer.  Yesterday morning the twins were laying on this little play mat we have on the floor and were waving their arms around.  We were watching with anticipation as Aaron repeatedly hit a toy hanging from above him.  We don't think he realized HE's the one making it move but he definitely notice it moving.  

THANK YOU AUNT NANCY

We would like to say how wonderful it was to have Aunt Nancy stay with us last Saturday and Monday nights on her way back and forth from St. George. It was so nice to have an extra set of hands to take care of the boys. Even though her stay was only for just a short time, she dug right in and helped us feed, clothe, wash and burp the babies like a pro. She even made us a very tasty dinner Monday night. The conversations we had with her during her visit were always the best. She always has something interesting to say on just about anything, but they inevitably turn to discussions about some sort of body function. : ) Of course were always more than willing to add to the conversation.

Andrew and Aaron continue to do very well and continue to grow. They have now out grown all of the newborn (NB) clothes we had and are now wearing the 0-3 months clothes. Also Andrew's complexion has improved. Since his last surgery he had been somewhat pale, but now his skin has pinked up, his cheeks are more rosy and are getting more plump. We can also tell he is feeling better too. Although he sometimes has painful swallowing due to a little acid reflux now and then, but he continues to eat most everything we give him and is gaining weight. He now weighs 9 lbs. 12 ounces. Aaron seems to be getting the routines down better lately. He has been sleeping longer at nap time and for the most part is able settle down for naps better. We hope they continue on their progress and will soon begin to sleep longer through the night, to allow mom and dad a little more sleepy time for themselves.

SLEEP DEPRIVED

What new parent, especially of twins, can say they are well rested each day?  Certainly not us.  We go to bed much later than we did previous to their births, we get up earlier than before (at least I do), and in the middle of the night we are up once to feed them.  At least it's only once.I guess it could be worse.  Fortunately, they are good night sleepers. Usually.   After we feed them around 3 a.m they go back to sleep right away- and so do we.  But during the day, while we'd love to take naps and catch up on our much needed rest, the twins seem more interested in what's going on around them.  Trust me, there's not much, but they seem to think so.  Some days Aaron is awake most of the day while Andrew sleeps really good and other days it's the opposite.  And then there's the days where BOTH of them want to be up together.  Rarely do both take all their naps during the day.  Maybe I should start giving them a dose of Tylenol each morning to give them a little help.  But really, I'd be helping myself!  

This last Sunday we drove to St. George to attend the mission farewell of my aunt and uncle who will be leaving for Fiji this Saturday to serve as mission presidents for 3 years.  This would be the first big excursion for Aaron and Andrew. The day was filled with sacrament meeting, family gatherings, and two long drives.  They got to meet many new relatives for the first time who adored them, of course.  Both babies were passed around to many of their cousins and I was amazed at how well they tolerated all this stimulation.  It wasn't until yesterday that I realized just how much it wore them out.  Both Aaron and Andrew slept most of the day and almost straight through the night, waking occasionally for short periods to eat, and then quickly returning to sleep.  I had to check in a time or two to make sure they were still alive.  Much to my relief they were.

LOTS OF DOCTORS

It has been two months since the twins have been born. Can you believe that they are two months old. We can't believe it either. It seems they were born just yesterday. Andrew is now 9 lbs., 9 ounces. So in two months he has gained more than 4 pounds since birth. As for Aaron he is about the same. Since he doesn't see a doctor as frequently as Andrew we don't learn of his weight as often. Since Andrew has been home it has taken both of us to feed them during the night. So the amount of sleep each of us gets has much less than we are used too. But we are beginning to learn how to cope somewhat to the sleep deprivation. But we hope they will soon be sleeping through the night.

We are also beginning to learn what it's like to frequently see a lot of doctors. Earlier this week we learned that Andrew has to see ANOTHER doctor, Ugh. Andrew's acid reflux has been getting worse so we've had to take him to see a GI (gastrointestinal) doctor today. He has prescribes some new medicine which we hope will help. The thing I hate the most about going to the doctors is the time.  It can sometimes be an hour or two just to wait in the lobby, not to mention waiting in the room for the doctor to come in.  But I guess we sometimes don't have a choice.

I counted up how many different doctors Andrew must see.  FIVE!  Five different doctors!!  And that's just Andrew.  What about my neurologist, OB/Gyn, and the Family Dr.?  Oh, and I'm told I need to see an Internist because of my consistently high blood pressure.

Here's the five-

1.  Pediatritian- that's obvious

2.  Pediatric surgeon- she did the TEF surgery. We'll probably see her only once more

3.  Pediatric Urologist/Surgeon- she performed the kidney surgery and we'll be seeing her for while.  She's WONDERFUL!

4.  Pediatric nephrologist- we'll start seeing him for long term follow up on his kidneys since this will most likely be a long term issue with Andrew, and

5. Pediatric GI- We'll probably see him long term too since Andrew will probably suffer from this for a while.

However the other day I reminded myself that even with this hassle I'd gladly do it.  These doctors are helping Andrew stay healthy and alive.  If it wasn't for doctor #2 Andrew wouldn't even be here.  Doctor # 3 has helped Andrew's urinary system work better.  Hopefully doctor #5 can help him eat better without being in so much pain.  And taking Andrew to the doctor has allowed me to have some one on one time with him.

GHOST CRYING

Our twins are really good babies.  (I can say that now because both of them are peacefully asleep) Sure, they do their share of crying- especially when they're hungry, or tired, or bored, or they have a dirty diaper, or for no reason at all. Yesterday there was a period of loud crying from either Aaron or Andrew and sometimes both.  Eventually, after a lot of effort, both of them were finally asleep in their crib.  I was downstairs trying to relax while Steve ran some errands.  The crying wouldn't stop, though at least I THOUGHT so.  I checked the monitor- no sound, no moving.  Maybe it was broken. Now I KNOW I heard crying.  Just to make sure I tiptoed into their room and peeked and still heard no crying.  When I came downstairs though it was still there, it wouldn't leave. Finally I had to admit that it was my imagination and that I hear crying so much throughout the day that when everything is quite my mind begins to play tricks on me. I guess every mother goes through this at first. They become so hypersensitive to any noise a baby makes that they start to hear it in their minds. Does anyone know if there is a name for this phenomena?