Monday, October 31, 2011

Two Little Pumpkins

Oh! My sweet babies.  Their first Halloween.  I didn't really think there was much of a costume that would be appropriate for 11 week old babies.  So, I opted for these precious pumpkin outfits.  They came in a size 0-6 months.  When they first arrived, I thought we might need to save them for next year.  As it turns out, I have to return their Christmas outfits I bought at the same time.

The babies were soooo hungry and upset when I finally got around to getting out the camera yesterday after the fall festival.  I hope to get some better pictures today, and of course with the big sister!

But for now, Happy Halloween from Elissa (Baby A and the bigger baby) and Ellie (Baby B and her tiny self!!)


Ellie was not a happy camper that she was getting her picture made instead of eating!



Finally got a bottle, but still not too happy with Mom and the camera.  Bless her!

Mom, can't a girl just go to sleep???

M



Now it's sister's turn to be mad!  Notice how big sister is???
Finally got a paci, ready to go to sleep.
Here we go again!
Finally somebody gets a little happy!










Sweet little Halloween legs!  Look at the difference in their lengths!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

One Good Witch!!

Last night was the fall festival at church.  We haven't been to church since the babies were born.  That was one of the places we were advised to stay away from until a few weeks post-term.  I wanted to wait for their RSV shots.  Elissa's has been approved, we haven't heard about Ellie's yet, so the babies haven't gotten them yet.  I don't think church would be a problem at this point, though.  We have taken them out to eat a few times, and other than one VERY BAD time, the stop signs on their carseats that say "please don't touch my hands without washing yours" have worked at limiting people to only looking and not getting too close.  So, we didn't take the babies last night, but we did take Bailey.

I just love her so much!

This was Erin's costume from last year and so it is a tad too big.  It's pinned in about 90 places.  She cried before the pictures because she was very tired and because her daddy wanted her to wear socks with her boots. Yes, she wanted to wear her pink boots with the witches costume. I pick my battles these days, her daddy, well..he hasn't learned yet.

I hope to get some pictures of the babies and all three girls later this afternoon.  I doubt we will do much trick or treating, but we do have a few places to go.

Anyway, here's my (sometimes) sweet witch!!






















I'm not real sure why these pictures look blurry on my screen.  They aren't iphone pictures.  Maybe they won't show up like that on the real post.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

13 Days


That's how long it's been since I've posted an update.  WOW!!!  How does 13 days just go by and you not realize it's been that long???   Things have been moving right along here and to be totally honest, I haven't had the laptop out since the last time I posted.  Mom and Dad got me an HP touch pad for my birthday and I usually do the Internet thing on either that or my iPhone, but I can't blog on either of those.  Maybe I just don't know how.  But, whatever it is, here we are.  I was going to try and do all the posts I've missed in one, but I think I'll just randomly throw out what has been happening here so that we can move forward.  I have some good posts planned that I need to get to.

So, shall we???

Sid's Uncle, Danny, passed away on October 10th.  He had been sick, but this was a bit unexpected as he was doing ok when he passed.  Visitation was held on the 11th and the funeral on the 12th.  Suzette kept all three girls while we went to visitation, it was in Jackson (Madison), but I stayed home on Wednesday with the babies.  I am saddened by this loss, as he was only 53 years old and left behind a wife, a daughter, and 3 grandchildren, and his mother, which is Sid's grandmother.  He will be missed.

The babies turned 2 months old on the 12th. They had a doctor's appointment for that day but I rescheduled it due to the funeral and not knowing what our plans would be.  Sid's grandmother came to town before the appointment and so she went with me to the doctor's appointment on Friday, October 14th.  It was a good visit to the doctor but I was truly shocked at what the girls weighed.  Ellie weighed 7.9, which was 3.3 pounds up from her birth weight.  Elissa, who has to be the biggest baby I've ever seen, weighed 10.6, which was 5 pounds up from her birth weight.  She currently takes 5.5 ounces every 4 hours with about 4 teaspoons of rice.  Ellie takes about 3.5 ounces every 4 hours with about 3 teaspoons of rice. Ellie never really acts hungry or fusses much but Elissa reminds us about 3 hours that it's about time to eat.  Both girls got 3 shots each and one oral vaccine.  I started giving them tylenol on Thursday before the appointment and continued about 24 hours afterwards.  I don't think either girl really felt bad and neither of them cried much at all.  I was glad of that, but super glad to have Sid's grandmother with us to help me calm them as our doctor's office makes the mom sort of hold them from the arms while they are getting the shots.  I would have hated to to have to put one down right after the shots in order to hold the other.

While I was talking to the doctor, I started to give Elissa a bottle and the doctor noticed the noise that
Elissa was making while eating.  I told her she had made the same noise since the NICU and they told me it was normal.  She didn't think it was too normal.  That, paired with the fact that she still heard the heart murmur on her, lead her to believe we needed some tests done.  She scheduled a heart ECHO for Elissa and an upper GI study on both girls.  I asked about Ellie's foot turning out and she assured me it was way too early to be concerned with it.  I was sort of shocked to hear that but I'll trust her.

Mom and Dad came to town on Friday night and stayed the weekend.  Mom, Dad, and Sid went to the ballgame on Saturday and Bailey stayed with Nene.  The babies and I hung out at home.

Sunday night, Bailey started running a temp. Sid took her to the doctor on Monday morning, but all tests were negative and I'm guessing she just had the seasonal crud.  We did breathing treatments and oral steroids for the week, which equaled not so much fun.  Bailey acts like she feels terrible when we have to do those medications. She doesn't eat or sleep and runs around like a mad woman.  I'm sure with the cold weather moving in, we'll be spending lots of time with the breathing treatment machine.  Speaking of Bailey, she is still doing dance on Tuesday afternoons and loving every minute of it. I believe she has learned more there in the 3 weeks she has been going than she has from us or daycare in all these years combined.  They don't let parents stay so I really don't know what she does while there, but there must be some talented teachers teaching age appropriate skills and I have been very impressed.

Ellie seemed to have developed something like colic on Saturday night and it continued on through the weekend and early week.  She was totally fine all day long and then right after her night bottle, around 7 pm or so, she'd just freak out and scream and scream and scream.  I thought at first she was constipated, then I thought maybe it was gas, but by Monday night of her doing the same thing, I had come to terms with the fact that it was probably colic.  Kylie said it was a little late for colic, as she had just turned 9 weeks old, but adjusted age would only put her 2 weeks.  So we really weren't sure.  Monday night was the worst. It didn't matter what I did, she just screamed and screamed.  So loud, in fact, that her cry would vibrate my ear drum.  It took me close to two hours to get her calmed down and asleep on Monday night.

Tuesday was our day for the tests so Sid's grandmother came and stayed Monday night and when with us.  Mammaw has had a lot on her the past few months and with Sid's uncle just passing, I know she was worn out.  But I could not have made the trip to have the tests done without her.  The babies couldn't eat 4-5 hours before the GI study.  So I knew we'd have to feed them, plus only Elissa had to have the ECHO and someone needed to stay with Ellie during that.  We didn't find out much, well I guess we did find stuff out, but nothing that really answered any questions we might have.  Elissa does still have a PDA and PFO, both of which are valves in her heart that should be closed and aren't.  Both Elissa and Ellie have the correct anatomy as far as eating and all that goes, like they swallow their formula and it goes down their esophagus and into the stomach and large intestine (maybe small, I'm really not sure) correctly.  The radiologist doing the test didn't want to really expose them to any more radiation than she had to, she we don't know about the degree of reflux on either.  Ellie showed none in the 1 minute she watched her, but Elissa did.  Still, we don't know the degree, which was one thing I thought we were doing the test for.  Anyway, due to the noises that Elissa exhibits, which is strider when she inhales, and the fact that still has the heart murmur with what I describe as severe reflux, the doctor has referred us on to the cardiologist and the ENT for an upper airway scope.  I'm going to write more on this later, but I'll just say the mere thought is going me some major internal anxiety.  She stated she wants to rule out subglotic stynosis (which is what Bailey had) and something called tracheomalchia.  I know I have all those misspelled, but that later one is what Bailey's pediatrician thought she had before she went in to respiratory distress.  We don't have appointments yet, but I plan to call the doctor's office tomorrow to see what the problem is.

Ellie's colic like symptoms continued on through the week and on Thursday, she screamed all day long and would not take a bottle.  I tried to change her formula to the one's for colic and she wouldn't take those either.  Finally, that afternoon, after she hadn't slept all day and done nothing but scream, I took her to the doctor.  She ran a few tests, which were all negative and really didn't have any answers for me either, other than it could be reflux, and agreed with Kylie that the stage for colic had already passed us by.  That afternoon, I doubled up on her reflux medicine, which I may or may not have been really good about giving all the time, and gave her gas drops.  She didn't make one noise on Thursday night.  But in the middle of the night, she did some things that made me realize that reflux was our problem.  So I made sure to give her both reflux medicines (and gas drops at every bottle just in case) everyday since then and she has been back to her sweet little cuddly self and going right on to sleep. I also upped the amount of rice I was putting in her bottles and sat her more up-right to take her bottles. I'm very thankful that he got over it and for those that have babies with true colic that last for weeks and months, I am so very sorry.  I was almost in tears some nights before I could get her to bed.

The weekend this weekend has been laid back.  Sid and Bailey carved a pumpkin yesterday and we went to Nene and Jerry's tonight for vegetable soup.

I plan to post some pictures of the girls and their Halloween attire this week and some pictures from the camera that I have.  I have a fun give away coming up, too, so you don't want to miss that.  Time is just flying by and we are nearing the holiday season.  I can't believe that this year we have 3 little miracles to celebrate with.  Life is getting back to some what normal, I guess our new normal.  Looking for job opportunities now that babies are settled into somewhat of a schedule and I know the right thing will come along soon.  But for now, that's what is happening at our house and where we've been.  I'll be much better at posting now so don't give up on me.  And believe me, you don't want to miss a great give away coming up just in time for you to do a little of that holiday shopping!!!!

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Weekend

So, I didn't take as many pictures this past weekend being at home as I had hoped to do.

But we made the trip this past weekend to Alabama for a very special reason.  My brother got married.  He and Erica had a small, sunset ceremony at Palisades Park with my pap-paw marrying them and Erin and Andrew at their sides.  Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of all of this. (Heck, I was so consumed with my 3 children (do you know how different life is when you grow from 1 to 3 kids all of the sudden) anyway I was so consumed with them that I didn't even recognize their photographer, who was a high school friend.  He kept calling me by name and taking random pictures, but I didn't realize until the next day that I did, indeed know him.)  Erica looked very pretty and it was very nice, with a reception there at the park afterwards.   Really cool that they had it planned right as the sun went down. They had some awesome food, too.   Congratulations to the two of you, Chris and Erica, and we hope that you are very happy for many, many years!

It was really chilly up on top of the cliff there at the park where they got married and we got the twins out of their stroller for pictures and from there, they were held the entire time wrapped in blankets, so my hands were full.  All three girls even wore dresses that matched that were made especially for them by a friend of Nene's. I don't even have a picture of that.  I wished I did.

Other than the wedding, we just pretty much hung out at home and had some visitors drop in as they learned we were home.  It was a relatively easy trip, considering that I gave Dad a list and he bought things to have and keep at their house so I didn't have to pack up stuff from home and worry about keeping up with it all weekend.  He got bottles for their house and the whole set up you need to wash and dry and store 10 bottles per day.  He got diapers and wipes and burp clothes and extra paci's and nursery water and rice. All I had to do was bring the kids, their clothes and some formula.  That made it very easy.

We also took the babies' nap nannies.  Elissa slept in her's like normal, but Ellie ended up the bed with me and Sid on Thursday night and Friday night.  I finally realized it was because she slept on her tummy in the bed with us.  So on Saturday night, I put her to bed on her tummy, not in the nap nanny, and she went right to sleep with no fussing.  She has slept on her tummy ever since.  She is able to pick her head up and move it from side to side, and other than covering up with a blanket, there isn't anything else that she can get her head buried under in her crib.  I feel ok letting her do this. I think that sleeping on her tummy in the bed with us is a more dangerous than in her own crib on her tummy.  Both she and Elissa have slept in one crib on their tummies for the first half of the night and in their nap nanny after they wake to feed.

But it was a great trip and we were sad to go.  I don't know when we plan to go home again, but it won't be something that I dread.

The babies were starving when we got back home and they got all fussy waiting on me to make bottles and they really haven't gotten out of the fussy stage since. I think they were held just about all weekend and didn't have to wait on anything that they've forgotten all those people that loved  on them all weekend aren't at home with us.  They haven't let me out of their sight today.  Elissa, bless her heart, is either over eating or bothered by her reflux, but she has been VERY uncomfortable and fussy today.  I hope to get to the bottom of that.  They went to bed early tonight and I hope they are back on schedule because last night they were up and down all night.  Made for a very long day today.

I'm sad to say that we've had a death in the family.  Sid's Uncle Danny, Jerry's brother, passed away last night.  He was only in his 50's but had some health problems recently and from what I understand, he had a heart attack. I'll be going to the visitation tomorrow night with Sid but will be staying home with the babes on Wednesday instead of going to the funeral because of time/location/no sitter.  The babies had their 2 month check up with shots scheduled for Wednesday, but I changed it to Friday just in case. We are very saddened by Danny's death and love them all very much.

I did want to post the other few pictures I did take this weekend.

Chris, Maggie and Ellie

Pap-paw, Erin, and Elissa

Pap-paw, Erin, Chris, Bailey, Elissa and Ellie

Maggie, Pap-paw, Bo, and Elissa

Bo, Maggie, Ellie, and Elissa (let me just say here that I was VERY impressed with Bo and Maggie's ease around the babes this weekend.  Maggie did a great job of just handling them and Bo did a great job of just helping Maggie handling them.  It was really kind of sweet to watch.  Just think Mags, this could be you one day.....)

Sweet Erin!


Andrew and Elissa, he was all about these babies on Saturday when they were there.
Going home always make me very homesick, but even more so this time when I had to pack up 3 sweet girls and leave.  I know no matter where we are, we'd be homesick but it just makes me miss the familiar all too much at times like these.

I'll try to post a "milestones" post later in the week since the babies will officially be 2 months old on Wednesday!!

OHH! I almost forgot, I chopped my hair off.  Well, technically I didn't chop it off, Erica did, but so far I'm loving it. It's really short, but very easy to dry and style, which is so what I needed.  Mom got her hair cut short and every time I looked at her I thought how good it looked, so I decided to do the same.  The textures of our hair is completely different, so I feel her's looks different, but they tell me it looks the same.  But really, I LOVE my new do!!!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Twins are 8 Weeks Old!!!

Ok, so it's been awhile since you've heard from the Whitehead household. What can I say???  Life has just happening at the speed of light over here and by the end of the day, I'm worn out and blogging is the last thing on my list of things to do.  But, that doesn't mean I don't miss it or write posts in my head.  This is my journal and things happen on a daily basis that I need and want to remember.  It just doesn't happen because there aren't enough hours in the day.

When I say time is flying....I mean it is flying and I want it to slow down.  This is the very reason why I say that in 20 years the dishes and the laundry and the housework will still be here for me to do, but my babies won't be here for me to love on.  And somehow, I missed a week of pictures.  My babies turned 8 weeks old on Friday, and I didn't even blog 7 weeks.  So we are jumping from 6 weeks to 8 weeks.

At 8 weeks old, Elissa and Ellie made their first trip to Sweet Home Alabama to Mimi and Poppy T's house.    The trip went way better than I ever expected it to go and I'll write more on that later, but let me just say that although it's been nothing but a screaming match from the two of them since we got home a bit ago, I could not have asked for better babies to travel with.  They slept good at Mimi's house, ate good at Mimi's house, rode good in the Sister Ride going and coming, etc.  They were perfect!!!  So perfect that I do not dread going again and I hope our next trip is sooner rather than later.

While we were there, I got some great pictures.  Mom has a friend that gave her an old baby carriage, a Pram I believe it's called.  Mom spruced it up a bit, if I understood her correctly, and I couldn't wait to get the babes in it for some pictures.

So, at 8 weeks old, here they are:




































Sooo,  I will leave you to soak up the pure sweetness that is my twins and I'll be back tomorrow to write about what we are up to 8 weeks old and what we did on our first trip home to Alabama.  For now, I'm going to join the rest of my snoring family!