Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Newest craft creations!

With the warm weather coming, I decided that I want to try fleece covers for the cloth diapers for the kids.  I found a simple pattern on line for free (always a good thing) and made one last night.  It worked up really easy and I have a bunch of fleece here at the house.  I don't know if the fleece is going to hold up to being a cover, but it's at least good practice.  Thomas has it on for his nap.  We'll see how it holds up when he wakes up!

Actual diaper cover


Not sure why this is turned wrong, but this is Thomas right before his nap 
attempting the new fleece cover.

Hopefully it will work, but I am willing to splurge on some Malden Mills fleece since the pattern is so easy!  Plus even if it holds up for 1 diaper change it's worth it since I have the fleece here to use up!

Amy

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Makes My Monday: Walking

My little girl is walking!  15 months old and she is pretty much full on walking.  Her little brother by 1 minute is not really there yet.  I think he is happier crawling since he can get there faster.  I now have 2 walkers and pretty soon (I'm sure) I'll have 3 walkers.  I really can't wait, but at least for now I only have to chase after 2 on foot instead of 3, though Thomas is pretty fast crawling!






Since I can't figure  out how to post video, I figured I'd post consecutive still pictures of her walking at Drumlin Farm during April vacation!

My little girl walking makes my Monday!

Amy

Friday, April 23, 2010

April Vacation

This year for April vacation, we did some stuff around the house, took care of appointments, and went on a few day trips.  Having 3 little ones so close in age and a dog, there is little to no way that we would be going on vacation.  This week we went to Drumlin farm and walked around the Public Gardens and Newbury Street.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Daddy and Michael checking out the chickens!

Michael's not sure how he feels about the chickens

Thomas checking out the chickens
My happy boy!

Big brother and little sister

My pretty little girl 

Mommy and her 3 little ducklings

Daddy and his 3 little ducklings!

Happy April vacation!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Way Back When-esday

We just got our information about a celebration and remembrance day for Children's Hospital at the March of Dimes March for Babies Event in Boston.  It should be a fun time and we may get to see some people that took care of the twins while they were there.  I know that I have posted picture of the kids while they were in the NICU as well as their pictures soon after their birth, but I thought I would post them again along with their most current pictures.

The twins were born at 35 weeks and weighed in at about 4 1/2 pounds each.  We were psyched that they made it to 35 weeks since I was put on bed rest at 23 weeks in fear that I would go into labor.  At 35 weeks my restrictions were lessened and I was able to do more.  The day of their birth, I went for a regular OB visit and was told that there was a good chance that I would go into labor that weekend given how I was presenting.  My husband and I were prepared for that but were not prepared for the news at my non-stress test.  My blood pressure had spiked to 188/111 and my lab work was off.  Given how I presented that morning, the on-call OB decided that she would break my water and I would hopefully go into full blown labor soon after.  She decided to do a scan to make sure that baby B was not breech.  At my ultrasound appointment 2 days earlier, both babies had been head down, but that night baby B presented breech.  Since I had a C-secetion previously, I needed to have another.  Definitely disappointed since my goal with both pregnancies was to have a totally natural birth using only hypnotherapy as a way to deal with the pain and discomfort of labor.  Both babies were in the special care nursery, but only needed monitors not any help breathing.  They had a little trouble with the suck, swallow, breathe sequence ad we needed to watch them for that, but overall they were really healthy and did great and came home when I was discharged.



Eva Rose the day after birth


Thomas the day after birth

Unfortunately, 2 weeks after they were home Thomas was rushed to Children's via 911 from his doctors visit since he had an episode of apnea.  He was intubated for 24 hours then on oxygen and came home 3 weeks later.  Also unfortunately, his sister was admitted 1 week after he was for the same thing.  She was intubated for 6 days until she decided to pull her tube out.  Thankfully she was able to come home the same day as her brother.  The funny thing is that Thomas was scheduled to come home a few days before his sister, but had an episode where his heart rate dipped too low and they needed to monitor him longer.  Was this a twin thing so that he could come home with his sister?  Either way it was wonderful to have them both home at the same time.  Both twins ended up with RSV which is a very dangerous cold for babies this small.  Granted, there are plenty of children who were much sicker and sicker much longer, but any time your children are ill it is a scary thing!  the amazing thing is that the clothes they are wearing are preemie clothes and they are still too big even though both twins gained weight while in the NICU.



Eva Rose day of Discharge from the NICU


Thomas day of Discharge from the NICU

Now over a year later, the twins are doing great!  They are growing and meeting milestones.  They are a little slow at walking, but all in due time.  Eva Rose has started walking a little and is definitely the more adventurous of the two, as well as her older brother.  The twins are doing better at copying others and so is Michael.  I am really looking forward to attending this event and hoping to see any of the staff that took care of the twins.  The staff at Children's from the ER to the NICU were all so wonderful.  I can't say enough about the nursing staff, the doctors, the social workers, and everyone else that we worked with!



The twins on Easter/Opening day Red Sox



The 3 kids Easter/Opening day Red Sox

Thanks for reading about our story with the twins and looking at the pictures!

Amy

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sleep Disruptions

For a while now, we have been doing awesome with sleeping through the night, all 3 kids!  Suddenly, all 3 seem to be taking turns not wanting to sleep and Michael is turning into a crazy man when it comes to going to sleep.  As I write, he is in his room screaming at his door even though a month ago he was going to bed and falling asleep almost immediately.  The twins seem to be going to sleep ok, they do a little bit of crying before falling asleep, but after just a short time they are asleep.  Eva Rose definitely wakes up more than Thomas.  Part of the problem with her is that she need a diaper change in the middle of the night and since we have been working so diligently at clearing up horrible diaper rashes on all 3 kids, I will pretty much immediately get up and change their diaper and put them back to bed and usually this works, but it really stinks that I had a short time of sleeping through the night and it is gone!  Last night, Thomas woke up and more than likely needed Tylenol since he is teething.  I changed is diaper gave him some Tylenol and rocked him and he went back to sleep.  Eva Rose just got a molar but I didn't notice much with her teething and sleeping, it seemed more diaper related.  Michael is waking up in the middle of the night and I have started bringing him in bed with me and once he is asleep, bringing him back into his bed.  This seems to work out better than rocking him in a rocking chair since as soon as I stand up he is awake and screaming again.  At least I seem to get a little better sleep this way.  I'm not sure if this is just a phase that we have to ride out or if I have to do something different.  Michael is in a toddler bed and initially this seemed a positive move.  I still think that it was good to put him in a bed vs a crib, but I just wish he would go back to those good nights of sleeping.  I definitely got spoiled!

Let's hope that this is just a phase and I will be sleeping again soon!

Amy

Friday, April 9, 2010

Crazy Weather

Like I said in my last post, Mother Nature gave us a big tease with the weather.  Yesterday was much cooler, but at least it was nice and sunny.  Today we are back to rainy, nasty weather that keeps us inside.  I met another Mother of Twins at the mall and we went to the play area.  Unfortunately, there is no gate to the entrance/exit of the play area.  This means that you have to clean an extra close eye on your kids to ensure that no one leave the area.  Sometimes there are just too many kids in the play area, making it too difficult for 1 person to keep tabs on 2+ kids.  The other mom I went with had her daughter pay escape artist and leave the play area.  Thankfully she didn't get far, but we decided that it was time to leave the play area and walk the mall.  We then went to the food court and let the kids and the moms eat.  It was nice getting out of the house, but it would have been nicer to go to a playground outside and let the kids play with all the outdoor toys.  I love getting together with other moms and letting the kids play, but after such a tease with the weather, I am really hating the rainy cold weather that makes us stay inside.

Nice weather come back!!!!!

Amy

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Big Tease

Here just north of Boston, we had summer time weather yesterday.  i'm not sure of the exact temperature, but it was warm enough to break out the sprinkler pool.  Maybe I was crazy, but I was dying in the heat and figured that the kids were too.  They had a blast!  Even Thomas had fun and he has only recently started to take a bath without screaming and fighting.  I'm sure that since we are only in early April, the weather will not stay this nice.  It may even get nasty again.  But, I am so appreciative of these fabulous days of warm weather now that I have kids.  Let's hope it doesn't get too cool again!

All 3 kids playing in the pool


Thomas climbing on the picnic table eating dinner

The twins playing with the sprinkler


Michael loving the water



Eva Rose having a blast



Thomas loving the water!  Yay!!!!!!

I hope the nice weather is here to stay!

Amy


Monday, April 5, 2010

Makes my Monday: The park

The weather here in New England has been fabulous the past few days and we are taking total advantage of it!  Today we spent all day at the park.  Michael went down the big boy slide by himself for the first time today!

Sliding the big boy slide


Crazy hair!


Thomas playing in the tunnel


Trying to get the 3 kids at once!


Eva Rose and her new friend!

Amy

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Weekend/Opening Day

We had a great Easter weekend.  The weather was perfect!  We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday outside playing and enjoying the perfect weather that mother nature decided to finally give us!  Opening Day for the Red Sox is on Easter Sunday this year.  Last year, I decided to take pictures of the 3 kids wearing their red sox outfits.  I did it again this year.


Eva Rose looking too cute!

Love the hat!


The hat stayed on long enough to just barely get the picture!


Michael always on the go!


The twins in their Red Sox outfits!


Go Red Sox Go!

Hope you all enjoy the pictures and hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Amy


Saturday, April 3, 2010

Saturday Snapshot


I'm joining in with http://twinfatuation.blogspot.com for Saturday Snapshot.  Last night, we found out that the Easter bunny was going to be at the Wakefield Common, this morning, the day before Easter.  We figured that we would attempt to get the 3 kids there and hope to see the Easter bunny.  We got there, saw the Easter Bunny, but din't get any pictures with the Easter Bunny.  But we did get some cute pictures, or at least I think they are cute!

Thomas with his Easter hat that he kept on for about 2 seconds


Eva Rose with his Easter hat that she kept on for about 2 seconds


Michael always on the move


The twins




Michael with Daddy


Happy Easter!

Amy