Chaplin Twins

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

9 months

9 months??? What??!?!!? I seriously cannot believe it. Actually they will be 10 months on February 5!

Mary left Vivian right

Here's a breakdown of their main habits. In case anyone is interested. If you aren't, I totally get it;)

Sleeping

Vivian likes her sleep more than Mary. They both *usually* take a 2-3 hour nap in the AM, roughly 2 hours after they wake up for the day. Mary sometimes likes to live life on the edge and cut this down to 45 minutes. Not cool. I LIVE for that morning nap time. I usually just relax and catch up on emails or take a nap while Norah watches a movie or catch up on laundry/cleaning. So it really cramps my style when Mary decides to not sleep;)

Then they will take another 45-60 minute nap about 2-2.5 hours after they wake up from their morning nap. I like them to be awake by 4 or else we have trouble going down for bed.

Their bedtime has been pushed back to 630 or sometimes 7 depending on the day instead of 6 or 615. They go down very nicely usually and wake up 2-3 times. We visited Grandma and Grandpa Chaplin this past weekend and they slept TERRIBLY. They knew it was not home. Mary slept worse than Vivian, her personality is more intense than Vivian's and she just couldn't settle in as well.

If one wakes up then I automatically wake the other. Its just easier that way. Mary is usually the one who wakes up. They sleep in separate cribs now in the upstairs attic/loft bedroom. I have rearranged my house literally 5 times since the twins came home and I think I finally have the perfect set up!! Kyle says that it better be what I want because he's not taking the cribs apart again;)

Eating

Messy mary

They both still get the majority of their nutrition from breastfeeding. A couple months ago they started refusing bottles when I go to work. So now they get breastmilk in a sippy cup when I'm at work. Mary usually flat out refuses it, but Vivian will drink it down;) They nurse probably 8-10 times per day. Or more depending on how fussy they are. Sticking it out and nursing them was the BEST thing that I have done. Its so easy now to nurse them and they are so healthy!! I know that its breastfeeding that has played the biggest part in that.

Vivian is a little neater

We started solids in January when they were 9 months actual age, 6 months adjusted. They do pretty well with them. When we started out they did not like any chunks, it had to be completely smooth. I never fed Norah purees but did more baby led weaning, so this has been all new to me! Lately they have started doing better with tiny pieces of cooked veggies, etc.

Mommy how dare you laugh at me!!!!

One of Vivian's favorite foods so far is hummus. Go figure. Mary wants nothing to do with it. They both love greek yogurt. They like avocado but only if its spiced up with some garlic powder and salt. Can't blame them! They love bananas, and a lot of times I will puree a banana with a hardboiled egg yolk so they get some protein/fat with the banana. Mary also loves fresh spinach pureed with a banana. Vivian does not like it. They don't quite have the motor skills to pick up small pieces yet, but are working on it. I just ordered them new high chairs from IKEA, and can't wait to get those!! I'm hoping learning to independently eat will provide a nice distraction and break up our day more. Both tried some steak the other day when we went out to eat in Ottumwa and LOVED it. I cut off a strip for them and they sucked all the juices out of it but weren't able to bite pieces off obviously. True Iowa girls;)

Both still have just the two front bottom teeth. But they are HUGE. And sharp. Take it from me! They went through a stage of biting while nursing but after a few firm no's they stopped within a week.

Oh! Weights. They will be weighed Friday, but as of January 9 Vivian weighed 12 pounds 14 ounces and Mary weighed 12 pounds 4 ounces. I have no idea how Viv got so far ahead! I knew she was feeling heavier but wow. They have never been that far apart. I know that they both have grown a lot this past month. They are starting to bust out of some of their clothes and fit snugly in others. Its nice to see them getting some chub! They still aren't on the growth charts..but gaining appropriately so its all good! They will most likely be the babies you see that are walking and wonder how they are walking because they are so tiny.

Motor Skills

Vivian is wondering how exactly she can get her hands on that amazing toy Mary has.

Ruffle booties! Also you can see how tiny they really are in this pic.

Our little Christmas presents;)

They sit up like pros now, but so far do not crawl. They get very mad and frustrated on their tummies and end up rolling onto their backs. They have both attempted army crawling once or twice but just can't seem to get it down. I am SO READY for them to crawl. I know, I know, it will be crazy, blah blah. But try spending the day with two squirmy 10 month old babies who just want you to hold them and do all the moving for them that they wish they could do. Its about as fun as it sounds. I know it will all happen in time, but HOLY COW. They just want to stand and hold on to things. Preferably me. I feel like a human jungle gym. If you consider their adjusted age of almost 7 months its pretty normal that they wouldn't be quite crawling yet. I have to keep reminding myself of their adjusted ages as usual. They do a lot of suicide dives for toys over my legs and a lot of trust falls when the let go of whatever they are holding onto expecting me to catch them. Haha.

They still like their exersaucers and will sit in those for 10-15 minutes at a time. They are very grabby, and you better not have anything within reach that they aren't supposed to have! When we visited Grammy and Gramps in Cedar Falls last week Mary spilled my lukewarm coffee and Vivian spilled my water glass all during one meal. They do great with picking up toys and transferring them hand to hand, etc. Still working on fine motor skills to pick up little things. Its funny because with Norah I pretty much had no clue what was normal and what wasn't and what the developmental stages were. But with the twins being preemies I am much more aware of what they are/aren't doing.

Social

Chewing away

Sick but dressed up! Mary left Vivian right

Their favorite form of communication is growling. For real. They growl at each other and at us all the time. I'm not sure if they picked it up from the dog, or what. Its pretty hilarious. They scream a lot too, but aren't babbling much yet. That's one area that they are FAR different from Norah in. She was always (and still is!) a big talker. They *should* start making consonant sounds soon. As Kyle likes to say, they are true Chaplins;) Which means they only talk if there is something to say haha. Mary is the more serious one of the two, and likes to just observe. Its pretty rare for a stranger to get a smile out of her, and sometimes even mommy daddy and Norah have to work pretty hard to get a smile. Vivian is more laid back and smiley, and likes pretty much everyone. Until they pick her up, of course. From a distance you are pretty nice though! Both are VERY attached to mama. I mistakenly thought of course twins can't be as attached to me as Norah was. hah. Yeah, I was wrong. They LOVE their daddy though, he is a very close second and for that I am thankful. Norah was suspicious of him until about 15 months lol.

Mommy and Mary

They love singing and music, and will stop whatever they are doing (playing, crying, etc.) to stare at the TV when the West Wing theme music comes on. I have developed a little addiction to the show lately...lol. It is SO FUNNY. And I always get lots of smiles when I sing "My Favorite Things" song from Sound of Music.

Norah is a HUGE hit and the only one to successfully get them to belly laugh so far. Kyle and I can if we tickle them, but they will laugh outright at funny things that she does. She of course loves it and will continue the activity ad nauseum. 3 year olds!!

They don't really pay much attention to each other still. Its like they just take each other for granted. Occasionally one will really notice the other and stare at her like what the crap is that other baby doing here?!?! And there is a good amount of grabbing faces and ears and pulling each other over while they are sitting next to each other. No smiling or talking to each other yet though. However, they can sense a mile away if their sister is nursing and they are not and they let it be known very loudly that they need to nurse too;) They do steal toys from each other too....whatever twin has the toy that is moving is the one that gets it taken. Babies are so weird!

Miscellaneous

Christmas cousins in furry vests! Shockingly this is the best picture we got;) Vivian is NOT HAPPY

We finally found a distinguishing feature! Well Grandma Lory did. They were taking a bath at her house and she pointed out that Vivian's belly button is an inverted V shape! How cool is that. Mary's is just round. I guess we chose the right names for them when we randomly assigned names to them in the NICU;) I feel bad it took us 10 whole months to figure it out. Its nice to have something concrete to count on to tell them apart.

Two girls and their dog;) Java gets almost as many smiles as I do!

We are still sticking close to home and have stopped doing play dates or anything until spring. All three girls were sick with colds twice within one month over Christmas time, and it was SO DRAINING! They handled the illnesses just fine, with the exception of both twins getting double ear infections after their first cold and having to go on antibiotics:( I realized that it was Norah who got them sick both times, so my main priority is keeping her healthy. We will still occasionally go out to the mall at a non busy time just to get out of the house. I can't wait for March when we can go for walks and to the park! Norah and I REALLY miss our friends. Its sad not being able to see people. I do still get out during the evenings and that really helps. The girls are getting Synagis shots every month to help prevent/fight against RSV and that has been such a relief to me knowing that they have that on board.

I've started working out in the past month and it has helped tremendously with my stress levels. I go 4-5 times per week after I put the twins down for bed. Kyle then spends some time with Norah and puts her to bed while I'm gone. It works great!! I've also lost a few pounds so I'm definitely not complaining about that;)

Norah is going to take some swim lessons this summer, and will start preschool in the fall. I would also like to get her in a ballet class. We are going to make up for our isolation this winter. We have a few fun things planned for the summer too, a trip to Chicago and a meet up of some other Mono-Mono twin families! I have met a lot of other momo twin moms online and a few of the families are going to come to Des Moines in June for a weekend. SO MANY BABIES! And most of us have older girls as well as the twins so it should be a good time for all;) I can't wait to meet in person the ladies that have been such a huge support to me in the past year and have truly walked in my shoes.

Norah and Vivian

Hmm well I feel like this has kind of turned into a Christmas letter type post. Haha. There are many details in here that I am sure you don't really care about so....sorry.I did warn you!

It will be a year exactly on February 6 that we found out about the twins. I can hardly believe it. So much has happened in a year. God has been so good, and we are very thankful to be on this side of things. We are very much looking forward to an amazing summer with our 3 little ladies;)

Oh and for the twins' first birthday I'm planning a big party/open house. If you are reading this consider yourself invited! I know many of you won't be able to come, but we just want in some way to thank everyone for their support this past year. We also want to give people a chance to meet the twins! Many important people in our lives have not met them yet, so this will be a sort of coming out party:) The date of the party is April 19, and I'll post more details closer to that time and get an invite out.

Again, thanks for reading!! Here are some parting shots...

My first little girl and I

Twins!!!

Tandem babywearing!

Merry Christmas!

Grandpa and his girls. They are all wearing Iowa State Cyclones shirts;) It was the end of the day so nobody was really very happy

Mary and I with my mom!

Pretty little Vivs

Mary with the Vandekrols! Another shot to show how tiny they are. The twins, not Kevin and Amanda;)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

6 months old

Wow, I really can't believe its been half a year since the little ladies decided to make their appearance ;) It has definitely been the craziest and most stressful time of my life, but we are so thankful for where we are now and how far we have come. We are settling more and more into a routine, and the girls are turning out to be pretty good sleepers since we've instituted more of a bedtime/nap routine. That makes for happier babies and happier parents :)

Crop circles around the babies..one of Norah's "creative" games ;) Also, what my living room usually looks like

We had their six month check up this week, and they have both hit the 10 pound mark! Mary finally passed up her sister and weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces, but Vivian isn't far behind at 10 pounds 3 ounces. Their heads are the exact same size and they are just a quarter off in length. They got their 6 month shots and their flu shots, and handled those pretty well. The doctor is very pleased with their progress, and says that we are doing a great job with them!

Whyyyy do you take so many pictures mom??!? Vivian left, Mary right.

We are following with the AEA early access program which helps us track the girls' development. They come out every other month just to check up. So far the girls are doing great and haven't needed any interventions. They had a follow up hearing screen a month or so ago and both passed. We also had an appointment with the developmental clinic at Blank to check how they are progressing. It is standard for all preemies to take part in the program. Overall they are doing great. The princesses were hungry and tired by the time they go to the assessment part, and so did not perform as well as they could have ;) The nurse practitioner gave us some exercises to do and encouraged more of the dreaded tummy time. Vivian does really well with it and holds her head up at 90 degrees the whole time, but Mary gets a little bit more tired and needs more support. Mary also started reaching for things this past week, but Vivian doesn't seem to be interested in that. Honestly though, I'm not sure Norah would have passed the assessment if I took her in when she was a baby...I did little to no tummy time with her and she crawled and walked perfectly fine. Babies develop at their own pace, and the girls improve every day so we're not worried.

Vivian. Not sure why she looks so terrified...

And Mary...who looks like shes gonna cry haha

They are exclusively breastfeeding still, except for bottles of breastmilk when I go to work AKA vacation every other weekend. They nurse frequently during the day, probably every 1.5-2 hours (its their favorite hobby), but go for one 6 hour stretch at night and eat and then sleep for another 5 hours so I really can't complain!! The doctor said we could try cereal/baby food but we aren't planning to start til at least 9 months actual/6 months adjusted. They are growing great on breastmilk so I figure why mess with a good thing? Plus I am wayyy to lazy to actually spoon feed ;) I'll probably wait til they have enough teeth to handle mashed steamed veggies and finger foods. I did that with Norah and it was awesome and didn't require much work at all.

So big!!! Mary left, Vivian right. I usually dress Mary in pink and Vivian in green.

Speaking of teeth, they each have a tooth poking through!! For both of them on the bottom left. They are constantly gnawing on their fists and are drooling all over.

Booty shot! They are actually getting some rolls!

They turn into pumpkins by 7 pm, and that last hour from 6-7 is not too fun haha. Generally they will sleep 7 pm- 1 am and then nurse and then sleep again til 5 or 6 and nurse, and then sleep again til 8 or 9. I am in heaven!! It took a couple of rough nights and a little adjusting for all of us, but we are very happy with it now! Then they nap from 10 or 11 til 1 or 2 and are up for another 2-3 hours and then take a little 30-60 minute nap around 3-4 and then go down around 7. They need lots of sleep still...and since we have been more strict about nap/bedtimes (thanks to daddy) they have been sleeping more and better. We have them in one crib now with a little divider in the middle. I think they like being close to each other. It works great except for when one wakes up and then wakes the other one up. Twins, twins, twins. I do like to keep them on the same schedule though. Otherwise I get nothing done and have no downtime. Its taken me this long to figure out that I prefer it this way. So when one wakes to eat at night I wake the other even if they are sleeping. And they don't even fully wake, just nurse with eyes closed and then go back to sleep. A routine/schedule is a MUST with twins. I was driving myself crazy trying to go by what they wanted. And nobody likes a crazy mommy!!

They still act like 3-4 month olds instead of 6 month olds, which is completely normal since they were 3 months early. I am so ready though to be out of the immediate needs stage. Its like when they need to eat it has to be NOW, when they are tired they need a nap NOW. Playing only lasts about 15-20 minutes and then they want to be held. I'm hoping in another month or so they will be more interested in the world at large and will be more content to play with toys and sit on the floor. You can't blame them..the only things they are really good at are nursing and sleeping;) Oh, and talking...they love to talk and coo. They haven't laughed out loud yet, despite our best efforts. They are a tough crowd! No matter what you do, its just blank looks from two huge pairs of eyes. I think its probably gonna be Norah who finally gets them to belly laugh.

Mary leaning on Viv ;)

Norah is doing well too. She has been at Grammy and Gramps house this past week and is having a great time. I don't think she really wants to come home haha. She's been playing with her second cousins a lot and loving it. Grammy of course spoils her so why wouldn't she want to stay there ;) She says the funniest things these days, and I can't believe my chubby little baby is gonna be 3 in just a couple weeks!! I have missed her this week, but the break has also been very nice.

Sassy little lady

The girls also did qualify for the synagis shots, which will protect them/help them fight against RSV. Its not a vaccine, but a shot of antibodies that will lessen the severity of RSV if they get it this winter. It can be deadly for babies, especially preemies, so I'm so thankful that they qualified. The shots are really expensive, so its a process to apply and find out if insurance covers it. A home health nurse will come every month and administer the shots so we don't have to take them to the germy pediatricians office. We will be laying low this winter and avoiding crowds and mostly staying home and limiting visitors. So basically its gonna be a long winter, but that will just make the spring more exciting!! At least that's what I keep telling myself ;)

Modeling our pretty princess dresses from Grandma. Mary left, Vivian right.

Well, sorry this is so long and kind of boring, but I figured some people (probably only grandparents!) would want the full 6 month rundown ;)

This picture was taken right after bath time. They HATE baths. I mean...screaming bloody murder the instant they hit the water. I have no clue why. Norah LOVED baths...it was the only thing that made her stop screaming in the evenings. Yet another reason they don't get bathed quite as frequently as Norah did;) #second+thirdkidprobs

Monday, August 5, 2013

Life with 3 kids under 3...just livin the dream ;)

Well, I had a feeling this would happen. I would get home and get too busy to post! I can't even remember the last time I posted. I so vaguely remember writing something about having twins not being so bad. HAHAHAHAHAH. Um yeah. The last 5 weeks or so have been kind of hellish. Good thing the little darlings are so adorable!!

The first few weeks they were home they were still so sleepy that all they did was sleep and eat. Starting about 4 weeks ago they woke up and became little divas;) They really aren't fussy babies...its just the fact that there are two of them and they generally want the same thing at the exact same time. Kyle and I spend our evenings trading them back and forth, and I take the louder one and nurse her for 20 minutes, and then we switch out because by that time the other one is screaming. And so on and so forth for 3-4 hours. Its super fun! I do tandem nurse at times, but they are so fussy at that point that I can't manage the both of them. Kyle has had a couple good quotes lately...one of them the other night around 9 pm when we were both incredibly exhausted and the girls were just ramping up for their nightly fuss fest was "It doesn't get much harder than this does it?" And the other day..."This is a nightmare." I think I just laughed, because its either that or cry lol. Of course we would never want it any other way, but gosh the days and nights are long! Our go to to calm them down is slings. Kyle wears one and I wear the other and we trade off when the one he has gets hungry. I can't imagine having a better husband to help me through this, he is such a good daddy!!

There is a little bit of tension, because sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not "enjoying every second," especially because of their birth circumstances and how far they have come and how blessed we are to have them. But at the same time, the reality of having newborn twins is one of the hardest things we will probably ever do. I think a lot of the pressure I feel is in part because I am their only food source, and I am constantly nursing or pumping it feels like. And on top of that making sure I'm drinking enough water and eating enough food (with all the extra time I have!). I am so glad that I am able to nurse them, but it is a huge undertaking. A lot of it is mental, and reminding myself that I can do this, and that other people have done it, and that it can only get easier the older they get. I saw a lactation consultant a few weeks ago and she helped tremendously and I am still in touch with her in case anything else comes up!

They are growing so much though, and it is amazing and fun to see them change. Kyle got the first smile out of Vivian last week. I was kind of mad haha. And Mary smiled at me for the first time last Friday the 2nd. They are starting to try and coo which is adorable. I feel like wow, there is actually a person in there! One of the parts of having preemies that I didn't anticipate was the newborn phase lasting FOR FREAKING EVER!! Its not the poor little darlings faults, but I am so ready for a new phase. They are 4 months old actual age, but only 5 weeks adjusted. 5 weeks is still basically a newborn.

They do pretty good sleeping though, which I am so grateful for. After their fussy time they pass out for 5 hours on a good night. If I can get 4 hours uninterrupted sleep I can totally survive the next day so I'll take it!

I have been needing help during the day, because they are in the phase of if they are awake they want to be held. So my sisters and my mom and mother in law and sister in law and friends have been taking turns coming over during the day to hold babies. I can do it alone, but its not pretty and by the end of the day I am a nervous anxious wreck. Most all of them are teachers/in school so I will lose the help in a couple weeks which is sad :( I am going to hire a couple of mothers helpers to come for a few hours every day so I don't completely lose what little sanity I have left.

Now on to weights and growth! We had their four month check today, and Mary weighs 8 pounds 1 oz, and Vivian weights 8 pounds 6 oz. Vivian is just a little bit longer than Mary, but their head circumference is exactly the same. They made it on the growth chart (3rd percentile) for head size. Not surprising because Norah was always in the 99th percentile for head size. They get it from their daddy;) The doctor is very pleased with their progress. They are doing a lot of things that are expected in 4 month olds (which is their actual age), so I'm thinking they will catch up pretty quickly! They also used to favor their right side, and always wanted their heads turned that way which can lead to a flat head on one side,but they don't anymore, and their heads are perfectly round now. Lots of times preemies need physical therapy to correct this, but the girls did it on their own! So proud of them. They are due for another hearing check in a couple months, and got their 4 month vaccines today. They cried for all of 20 seconds and then passed out and are still sleeping. It took my sister Emily and I to wrangle the both of them and Norah and even with two of us all 3 girls were crying by the end of the trip. Fun times!!! But thankfully the doctors office is right next to Dunkin Donuts so I got myself an iced coffee on the way home as a reward haha.

I went back to work a couple of weekends ago, and am just working every other weekend. It is very good for my mental state, plus I get paid! I love my job and my coworkers so I can't complain at all. Kyle had been doing awesome with the girls, and usually has help one of the evenings.

Alright, I will stop boring you with the mundane details of my life;) Here are the pictures!!