What a Difference a Year Makes

A year ago today we tucked two little embryos inside me and promised I would make a cozy home for them to grow for the next nine months. Today we tucked two beautiful babies into their cribs and promised we'd have a fun and relaxing day tomorrow for their first Thanksgiving. No words can adequately express how grateful we are to have Kate and Harrison. They certainly have changed a lot in one year. It will be fun to see what the next one brings!

Harrison & Kate - 11/21/11

Harrison & Kate - 11/21/12

Kate Discovers Her Loud Voice

Kate figured out that she can make a lot of noise with her voice on Sunday afternoon. Chris and I hung out on the floor with her for about 45 minutes while she exercised her new skills. She cracked us up. She did it again right before we gave them baths and our usually noisy Harrison just stared at her in silence. I would love to know what they were thinking. I arrived at daycare this afternoon to pick them up and found Kate lying on her tummy showing everyone there how she can scream. :-) Here is Kate:

One Year Old

Kate and Harrison have officially been growing for one year today. In most circumstances that would be TMI, but our journey was well documented. Our egg retrieval and fertilization was on Friday, 11/18/11. As I look at our babies through the video monitor sleeping peacefully in their cribs, I can't help but be completely awed at how they have each gone from two cells to babies who smile, interact with us, and discover something new every day. Harrison rolls from back to front easily and just today, Kate figured out she can make loud noises with her voice.

Back at Work

I returned to work and the babies started daycare on November 1. We both miss hanging out with them all day. Even though Chris has been at work most of this time, he works from home, so he came out from the office to see us several times a day.

Kate and Harrison are adjusting to daycare. Their center is across the street from my office, which is about 10 minutes from home, so it's nice they are very close. The teachers in their room are great. They have a weekly curriculum based on the month's theme. November is transportation month, so this week they are having "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" played during the day and they are fingerpainting cars. Last week's musical instrument was the trombone and apparently someone brought a trombone around to each class (no idea if it was an actual instrument or a kiddie plastic version). I'm not sure the babies are really engaged in these things, but I'm thrilled that they are given the opportunity to see, hear, and touch different things.

Our biggest concern is napping. They do not sleep nearly enough while they are there. I'm sure it's a combination of too many exciting things happening and not being given enough opportunities to sleep. I hope this improves as the novelty wears off for them and the teachers figure out when and how to get these two naps.

I count down the hours until I can go get them. Nothing at work feels as important as hanging out with Kate and Harrison. Besides the paycheck. Dang mortgages and cars and everything else. It doesn't help that I left for maternity leave with everything one way and came back to something completely different. I do my best to refrain from talking about work on the internet, so I'll just leave it at that.

We are so happy this is a short work week!

Crying Over Spilled Milk

I knew it was only a matter of time before a bottle of pumped breastmilk was spilled, but it didn't make it feel any better. The babies each receive bottles of 2-3 oz of pumped breastmilk with 2-3oz of formula for most feedings. For the past couple days I've been setting aside an ounce or so per pumping session so I have enough to send with the babies to their first day of daycare. This afternoon I was putting together bottles for the next feeding and adding to my stores when I knocked an entire bottle of pumped milk over. There were tears. The phrase, "There's no use in crying over spilled milk," is total bullshit to a pumping mother!

Pictures from Oct 1 - Oct 15

A few photos from the first half of October!

Harrison after his 2 month immunizations. They were very sleepy
and snuggly for about 24 hours.

Harrison

Kate

Go Dawgs!

Bless you!

Kate and Harrison are getting more talkative every day. It's really fun to interact with them. We have been saying, "Bless you!" every time they have sneezed since they were born. I think they picked up on it! About 75% of the time after they sneeze they make an "ooooo" sound. It's super cute! I was recording them playing on the floor last week and just happened to catch Harrison sneeze and bless himself.

We survived alone!

First, it has been a while since I last posted. We used to have a routine where Chris took the babies for an hour or so each evening around 7:00-8:30 and I used that time to grocery shop, take a shower, call my family, write a post, etc. However, for the past couple weeks we have been putting them to bed at that time. When they finally go down around 8:30-9:00, we run around taking care of Lucy, emptying the dishwasher, showering and I pump before we head to bed. The later we get to bed, the less sleep - so, sleep wins out over the blog.

Back to the point. Chris went on his first business trip in five months last week and I stayed home alone with the babies. He was only gone for two days and one night, but I was a little intimidated at the thought of bathing and getting to sleep two infants and then tackling at least two overnight feedings by myself. This sandwiched in between two solo days. However, we survived and did quite well!

Our neighbor recently retired and has offered to help many times, so we called her up and she came over for two hours each afternoon. This was so helpful because I used that time to eat lunch and take care of a few things around the house. I had a friend scheduled to come over in the evening, but she got a cold, so the babies and I tackled it alone.

Bath time was handled like this: put both boppy loungers on the bathroom floor covered in waterproof pads. Undress one baby and set down on one lounger. Do the same with the second baby. Then bathe one baby, dry off and put back on the lounger. Repeat. Carry them back to their room and take turns getting them dressed. Then I held both and we rocked in the glider while we read a story and sang some songs and then I put them in their cribs. I just stood in there while they fussed and tended to each as needed.

Overnight feedings were handled the same as I do during the day. Change one baby and set down in a safe place. Change the other. Move both to the boppy loungers on either side of me and if I'm nursing, load them one at a time onto my nursing pillow and if I'm bottle feeding, just hold a bottle in each hand and take turns burping. There really isn't the sweet feeding-while-cuddling time here as I would need four hands and arms for that or a lot more time to feed one after another. We spend our time playing on the floor together and we have plenty of cuddles outside of feeding time.

I ate dinner by putting them in the car and driving through McDonalds. As hoped, they fell asleep on the way there so I ate in the car and then drove around for a while. Our new car has Bluetooth so I just pressed a button on the steering wheel and got to talk to my parents for a little bit!

Chris pre-made all my other food. He even put cereal in bowls (sans milk) and covered them with saran wrap. I had an assortment of snacks in zip locks, so it was easy to grab one and return to the floor with the babies.

I finally feel like I can take care of my children on my own! It was tiring - they took turns not going down well after overnight feedings, so I only got 4 hours of sleep accumulated over three attempts - but we were all well when Chris got home. We missed him!!

The best part: Chris surprised me by taking the next day off and sending me off for a massage in the morning. He is a wonderful husband and Dad to our kiddos.

Self portrait

Harrison

Kate

Two Months

Kate and Harrison reached their two month birthday on Thursday, 9/27. In just the past week, the amount of crying has started to diminish and their nighttime sleep has started to get better. They still eat about every three hours during the day and need to sleep in between each feeding. Their fussiest period is still in the evenings from ~5:00-8:30 and then we start the bedtime routine (nurse, bath, cuddles, bed). They are generally asleep between 10:00-10:15. Both are smiling and vocalizing back to us. They make great eye contact and track us around the room. Here are few things we noted about each:

Kate:

• Loves bath time - we have one every night as part of our bedtime routine and she looks like she could lie in there for a while if we let her
• Likes us to hold her standing. She has always pushed her legs straight and now that she's realized she can stand on them, she loves it.
• "Talks" to us mostly by opening her mouth and moving her tongue
• Still mostly needs cuddles to fall asleep
• Soothed by loud music; Dave Matthews Band seems to be a favorite

Harrison:

• Loves bath time - he will quiet down when we lay him in the tub even if he was screaming
• Likes to sit up straight. Leaning back isn't usually acceptable so we've taken to propping him up in a boppy with blankets behind him.
• Smiles at his own reflection in the mirror above the swing
• Makes lots of cooing noises
• Does better falling asleep when he is set down while we sit next to him rather than being held

Kate appears to be larger than Harrison, but they are actually
the same size. Harrison just has his legs pulled up.

Kate loves to stand on her legs

Kate talking to us

Harrison sits

Cute grin from Harrison

Everything Sounds Like Crying

I hope we haven't gone crazy. Both Chris and I think we hear the babies crying all the time. It usually happens when the babies are sleeping and there is something noisy preventing a clear ear-shot of possible crying. The worst culprits are the shower and sonicare toothbrushes. I can't tell you how many times I have turned off the shower thinking I hear both babies screaming right outside the door and all I hear is the faucet dripping. Keep in mind I shower in the evening while Chris hangs out with the babies downstairs. We have both walked, toothbrushes in hand, out of our bathroom and to the nightstand to look at the visual indicator on the audio monitor only to find it not picking up any sound. We swear we heard crying!

This is silly. Even if they are crying, it's not the end of the world. If they are awake, one of us is always with them and can respond to the crying. After we put them in their room for bedtime, one of us walks around with the monitor. If they happen to cry, they are in a safe place and they will be fine until we can get to them.

Things that we have heard 'cry':
Shower - every night
Sink faucets
Toothbrush
Breastpump
TV
Car engine
Train whistle
Sound of Chris cleaning the cat box
Lucy, particularly when she carries her favorite toy mouse around
Neighborhood dog barking
Silence, especially as both our heads hit the pillow

We are hoping this eventually goes away!