The girls had their 4-month doctor's check up today.
Teagan
Weight: 14lbs 12oz
Length: 24.8 inches
Head: 16.3 inches
She's in the 50th percentile for height and weight.
Quinn
Weight: 11lbs 14oz
Length: 23.6 inches
Head: 15.7 inches
She's just over the 25th percentile for height and weight.
Both girls are on the growth curve so she was very pleased. Quinny is smaller than the average baby but she wasn't concerned in the least. She's small but mighty! They are both eating and gaining very well in relation to their birth weights!
Showing posts with label 2 moms 2 dogs 2 babies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2 moms 2 dogs 2 babies. Show all posts
Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
An EASY Day
I wouldn't exactly call my days with almost 4-month old twins easy. In this situation EASY actually stands for Eat, Activity, Sleep, You. A friend of mine introduced me to this acronym and I really like it. It is pretty much the same as the popular Baby Wise, "eat, play, sleep" approach.
As with most new parents of twins, I longed for a schedule and structure to my day, in the early weeks. That's a bit hard to do with tiny babies who don't know the difference between day and night and a new mom who is struggling with feeding and never knowing if the babies are getting enough to eat. Once we established a feeding schedule (every 3 hours during the day, starting at 7am), the rest has slowly fallen into place.
After the girls eat at 7am, they have mat time. They're becoming very interested in grabbing toys now. They'll spend some time on their tummies and even roll over, on occasion. We'll do some of our yoga movements. At some point between 8:15-8:45, they usually get a bit cranky. At the first sign of tiredness (rubbing eyes, yawning, crying etc), they're up in their cribs for a morning nap. At this point, I have some me (here's the Y) time, although it usually involves getting stuff done around the house. After their 10am feed, we often go out. Sometimes we walk in the neighborhood or the park, meet friends for coffee, play dates, run errands etc. On Fridays, we have yoga.
I've noticed in the last few weeks that the girls have naturally adopted the eat, activity, sleep routine. Around 1 1/2 hours after eating, they start to get tired. I've also noticed that they're much happier and less cranky babies when they get proper naps in their cribs. Up until recently, we went out a lot. Yes, it's tiring to get two babies ready to go out, but it was much needed to keep my sanity :) It gave me confidence that I could handle two babies on my own around the city and it was great for them to experience different sights and sounds. Now that they're needing crib naps, I'm trying to be home more. We still get out at least once per day.
Our days are definitely never boring! We're always looking for new and different activities, so if you have ideas, send them my way! I love that we have a schedule now and the babies do too. Thank you, Kate, for the introduction to EASY days :)
As with most new parents of twins, I longed for a schedule and structure to my day, in the early weeks. That's a bit hard to do with tiny babies who don't know the difference between day and night and a new mom who is struggling with feeding and never knowing if the babies are getting enough to eat. Once we established a feeding schedule (every 3 hours during the day, starting at 7am), the rest has slowly fallen into place.
After the girls eat at 7am, they have mat time. They're becoming very interested in grabbing toys now. They'll spend some time on their tummies and even roll over, on occasion. We'll do some of our yoga movements. At some point between 8:15-8:45, they usually get a bit cranky. At the first sign of tiredness (rubbing eyes, yawning, crying etc), they're up in their cribs for a morning nap. At this point, I have some me (here's the Y) time, although it usually involves getting stuff done around the house. After their 10am feed, we often go out. Sometimes we walk in the neighborhood or the park, meet friends for coffee, play dates, run errands etc. On Fridays, we have yoga.
I've noticed in the last few weeks that the girls have naturally adopted the eat, activity, sleep routine. Around 1 1/2 hours after eating, they start to get tired. I've also noticed that they're much happier and less cranky babies when they get proper naps in their cribs. Up until recently, we went out a lot. Yes, it's tiring to get two babies ready to go out, but it was much needed to keep my sanity :) It gave me confidence that I could handle two babies on my own around the city and it was great for them to experience different sights and sounds. Now that they're needing crib naps, I'm trying to be home more. We still get out at least once per day.
Our days are definitely never boring! We're always looking for new and different activities, so if you have ideas, send them my way! I love that we have a schedule now and the babies do too. Thank you, Kate, for the introduction to EASY days :)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
18 and 22-week bump pictures!
The long-awaited new bump pictures...I should have stood facing the same way in the 22 week picture, but you get the idea. I've gained 20 pounds so far and probably have about another 20 to go. The girls are growing like little weeds, just the way we want it!
18 weeks
22 weeks
Monday, January 24, 2011
The verdict is in...
So far, we have two healthy, growing babies! We just got home from a 1 hour and 45 minute anatomy ultrasound. The tech looked at absolutely everything - every limb, bone, organ, fluid in certain places, the list goes on. She ran measurements and got their weights. Twin A currently weighs a hearty 348g (or 3/4 of a pound to you non-metric folks). Twin B comes in slightly smaller at 330g. Overall, A is measuring one day ahead of B, but that's no biggie. They are both weighing slightly above the average 20-week fetus weight actually. Jenn just told me, "keep eatin'!"
The babies tossed and turned and punched and kicked, making it a little bit more difficult for the tech to get all of her measurements. Thankfully, she was patient with our little gymnasts. Ultrasounds are incredible. She showed us the 4 chambers of the heart, their perfect little spines and even their mouths opening and closing. The finishing touch was twin A giving us a big wave goodbye as the tech got the last measurement. Here are pictures of each baby:
The babies tossed and turned and punched and kicked, making it a little bit more difficult for the tech to get all of her measurements. Thankfully, she was patient with our little gymnasts. Ultrasounds are incredible. She showed us the 4 chambers of the heart, their perfect little spines and even their mouths opening and closing. The finishing touch was twin A giving us a big wave goodbye as the tech got the last measurement. Here are pictures of each baby:
Oh so I guess you're all wondering what we're having?! Did any of you scroll to the bottom to see if I actually mentioned it? ;) We're having 2 girls! We never expected this but are excited nonetheless! Jenn is actually already out buying their ballet shoes...kidding, of course! She's actually sitting on the couch trying to get in touch with her inner girly-girl, just in case!!
Monday, November 1, 2010
"Oh twins..."
"Oh twins." The ultrasound technician says oh-so-nonchalantly. To her it was an every day occurrence. To us, it was a complete shock! Let me back up...
Jenn, my partner of five years, and I decided about 18 months ago that the time to have kids was approaching. We were married in August 2008, in Toronto, my hometown. Jenn is originally from Connecticut. We met in Boston. I had recently finished university and was ready to leave the nest. I got a job down in Boston and off I went. Jenn, funny enough, was one of my roommates. The rest is history!
So, fast forward slightly to September 2009. We went to a fertility clinic in Toronto for our initial consultation. After filling out a very lengthy form, a half-hour chat with the doctor and about 12 vials of blood taken from my arm, we were almost ready to go! That November we did one month of cycle monitoring to make sure my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to and thankfully, it was. At that point, it was up to us to decide when we actually wanted to start trying to make a baby.
Before the baby makin can begin, the 'baby daddy pickin' needs to be done. The process of picking a sperm donor is initially very strange. Initially I felt like I was shopping for a sweater or a car online. If you'd like to give it a go, check out Xytex's site: http://www.xytex.com/search_adv.cfm. Friends of ours told us to not get too crazy over the whole process. Inevitably, a donor will have a disease in his family or poor eyesight or hair that isn't quite right. If you're looking for perfection, you're not going to find it. Jenn and I picked a few things that we're important to us, mostly having a donor with similar characteristics as her. We picked our first (yes, first) donor quite easily.
After returning from a trip to CT and Boston in late December/early January 2010, we decided that we were ready to begin the process of trying to make a family! Our first insemination was in mid-February. Unfortunately, after a difficult "two week wait", we realized that it had not worked. I thought that I was going to be the exception, that it was going to work for us on the first time. One major issue that we ran into was the quality of 2686's sperm...read = very poor swimmers! We tried three more times, twice with 2686 and once with another donor. By May, I was feeling frustrated, exhausted and completely worn-down. I was positive that we'd get pregnant quickly. I was afterall, young, healthy and fertile. We decided to take the summer off regroup and relax. I had also become resentful of the fact that I'd given up my morning Americano and my wine!
As the end of the summer approached, Jenn and I were feeling rejuvenated and ready to start trying to make a family again. So in early September, we were back at the all too familiar clinic for my 7am blood test and ultrasound. As the follicle monitoring progressed, it was quickly shown that I had not one, but two dominant follicles this round. [Side note: A follicle holds the egg. At ovulation, the follicle bursts and the egg starts its journey to find a mate] By the time insemination day arrived, my veins made me look like a junkie. It was definitely well worth it though. After a grueling 11 days, I was convinced that it hadn't worked. On the Thursday night, I was in a terrible mood, thinking that we were going to have to start the process yet again.
We were planning on going to to the cottage that weekend for one last time before the season's end. On the Friday, I was running around getting packed up. The dogs and I were in the bathroom (they demand to come in with me) and for some reason I felt like I should take a pregnancy test. I had bought these no-frills tests online because pregnancy tests are damn expensive! I pull one out from under the sink and do the...you know, the test. I look down and see the strong red control line that I have gotten to know all too well. Next to it, I see a faint red line. Completely shocked, I show it to Riley for a second opinion. He agrees that I should go to the drug store and get a "real" test. Thankfully, I have a small bladder so by the time I got home, I had to go again. Sure enough, a "plus" sign shows up within 30 seconds. "I'm pregnant," I say to myself! Dying to call Jenn, I force myself to refrain. She's at a client in meetings all afternoon. I didn't want to tell her like that. Given that it was the 5 year anniversary of us being together, I put together a little card and a gift bag. I wrapped the test in about 5 sheets of tissue paper and drove up to her client. I sat in the parking lot waiting for at least 30 minutes. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she arrives at the car. "Ohhh you got me chocolates!" she says. I had used a bag from a chocolate shop. The bag was as light as air, so clearly not chocolates. She opens it up, realizing what was inside before she got to the test. A massive smile across her face, she looks at me. "You're pregnant?!" She says. We were both in shock but beyond excited for the two hour drive to the cottage.
Still in disbelief, I took one more test (my third!) early on Saturday morning. It confirmed, yet again, that I was indeed pregnant. We then told my parents that they were going to be "real" grandparents, as opposed to just grandparents to the dogs. Jenn called her parents as well who were beyond excited!
Our journey into parenthood begins!
We were planning on going to to the cottage that weekend for one last time before the season's end. On the Friday, I was running around getting packed up. The dogs and I were in the bathroom (they demand to come in with me) and for some reason I felt like I should take a pregnancy test. I had bought these no-frills tests online because pregnancy tests are damn expensive! I pull one out from under the sink and do the...you know, the test. I look down and see the strong red control line that I have gotten to know all too well. Next to it, I see a faint red line. Completely shocked, I show it to Riley for a second opinion. He agrees that I should go to the drug store and get a "real" test. Thankfully, I have a small bladder so by the time I got home, I had to go again. Sure enough, a "plus" sign shows up within 30 seconds. "I'm pregnant," I say to myself! Dying to call Jenn, I force myself to refrain. She's at a client in meetings all afternoon. I didn't want to tell her like that. Given that it was the 5 year anniversary of us being together, I put together a little card and a gift bag. I wrapped the test in about 5 sheets of tissue paper and drove up to her client. I sat in the parking lot waiting for at least 30 minutes. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she arrives at the car. "Ohhh you got me chocolates!" she says. I had used a bag from a chocolate shop. The bag was as light as air, so clearly not chocolates. She opens it up, realizing what was inside before she got to the test. A massive smile across her face, she looks at me. "You're pregnant?!" She says. We were both in shock but beyond excited for the two hour drive to the cottage.
Still in disbelief, I took one more test (my third!) early on Saturday morning. It confirmed, yet again, that I was indeed pregnant. We then told my parents that they were going to be "real" grandparents, as opposed to just grandparents to the dogs. Jenn called her parents as well who were beyond excited!
Our journey into parenthood begins!
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