life with twins

Josie and Leanna
Leanna on the top, Kelly on bottom

Leanna on left, Kelly in crease of couch

Kelly

Leanna

It is really funny when Dave and I walk around with two car seats, people have the craziest reactions. It is as though they have never seen a family with twins before. Some want to look at them...that is the Ahhh, How Cute group. Then, there are those who give us the strange eye without saying a thing group. And there are the Twins, Oh My?? group. They then proceed to say, I bet your busy. I always love throwing into the conversation, I have an 18 month old at home too. This just blows their minds. And I giggle on the inside. I know our life is hard, but we continue to feel so blessed. I just keep telling myself that it could be harder.

Here is a run down of our days.

4 AM-Let's start before dawn. I suppose you consider this their first feeding of the day. 5 ounces is the amount at every feeding. It is more than normal for nine week olds, but the doc said if they want it, give the milk to them. Dave and I hardly make eye contact this early in the morning...sleep? Who needs sleep? This is the best stretch in between feedings of the day though, 6 hours from the last feeding. However, it takes them an hour or more to settle down and go back to sleep.

8 AM-Every 4 hours now for a bit. Usually after this feeding, they go back to sleep. This is really beneficial for us, because Josie tends to wake up soon after. This also seems to be the calmest part of the day.

12 noon-Another feeding, and usually a bit of crying before hand. Leanna has a case of acid reflux, which is getting better, but still not the best. Somewhere before or after, I try and get lunch ready.

4 PM-Another feeding. Everyday, or most of the time, I am not alone. A grandma or Dave have been here to help. I keep saying I can handle two kids, but when the third is thrown into the mix, life gets crazy. So if I am by myself, the girls are kind to me (sometimes) and let me feed them one at a time. But, the majority of the time they are hungry together. This means two Boppies and bottle in each mouth. Burping seems to be the tricky part. How do I hold one bottle and burp the other child? I am mastering this skill.

7 PM-now every three hours. Right after this feeding is bath time for Josie and into bed for her by 8 PM.

10 PM-last feeding. We have been better about putting them right into bed after this feeding to try and create a schedule...slowly but surely. After each feeding I also pump, this is harder to do when I am by myself.

My mom and I tried to go to Kohl's with all three the other day, VERY STRESSFUL! Not again for a while. All errands are squeezed onto the day, or Dave does them on his way home from work at 11:30 at night. Thank goodness Schnucks is open 24 hours!! I don't know yet how I am going to go back to work, which is coming up quick. March 14th seems like tomorrow. I just have to trust in those around me.

I know no matter how crazy busy it is, I wouldn't change it for the world...but I can't wait until everyone eats finger foods. I hate bottles...

sledding fun

With the huge amounts of snow we have had this winter, Josie is loving it. She is an outdoor gal anyway, but when she can play in "no" (snow) than it is a great day. FYI-"no" means three things, snow, phone, and no (for this meaning, it is not said very often). These were taken right after I had the babies. My mom and aunt were down for the day and Josie benefited.

just funny

Making Rice Krispy treats. She had a pretty good size diaper rash, so that is why she doesn't have pants. But this look cracks me up! She received a new kitchen for Christmas, so now she has a special interest in the real kitchen. She helps me cook (term used loosely), do dishes, and clean the floors.

A cookie after her hair cut.
Playing with my breast pump. She sees me use it everyday, so I let her put it on her tummy.

Corn anyone? There's her new kitchen in the background. She has the works: food, pots and pans, dinnerware, anything you can imagine. We figured with 3 girls, that this kitchen will get a ton of use. Already has...hopefully Josie doesn't break it before Kelly and Leanna can play with it.

Josie's First Haircut

We went to the Hairy Elephant for Josie's first haircut. I wanted to take her to a kid-friendly spot, and this was the closest and I knew many people who have been there before. Overall, not terribly impressed, but it was cute. The kids sit in cars and get to watch a video. Maybe because it was a Saturday and very busy, or maybe it was having crying twins with us, but it was a bit stressful. My little girl is growing up and looking more adorable everyday. Man, we are proud of her.

Here is Josie's before shot. Her hair was getting awefully long and kept falling in her face...in turn driving me crazy. I didn't have a plan of what I wanted going in, but I loved the outcome.
Intently watching Elmo on the TV. Let's all thank the man who created Sesame Street.

Family shot

Getting her sticker!

Around the house during the twin's first month

Leanna on the left, Kelly on the right
Happy New Year...when everyone is crying?? But the glasses make me laugh.

Loving her sisters. Every morning she has to see them first, and give them a kiss. She is so sweet and has been pretty good...she has her moments though.

Holding Kelly
Kelly on the left this time, Leanna on the right

Their shirts say, "Good things come in small packages". Thanks Sally for the onesies.

Making their debut

Kelly Christina Whitlock

Born December 23, 2010 at 10:29 p.m.

Weighing in at 5 lbs. 11 oz. and 19 inches

Leanna Mary Whitlock

Born December 23, 2010 at 10:34 p.m. (breech)

Weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches

Due to having twins, I had to deliver in the OR, just in case one baby became stuck and a c-section had to be performed. Thankfully, it was not necessary. Actually, labor was great. With a total of 6 pushes and a time of 10 minutes, I was a mother of three. There were 12 people in the room, giving great care to all involved. And we are all home now, loving the time together.

What a great Christmas gift!!

any day now...

Looking over the wall as you walk up the stairs when you enter the house.
A sweet kiss for the gals.

She pats my belly when I say, "Where's mommy's babies?" and says "didter" (sister). Josie isn't the baby anymore, we now always call her big girl.

We went to the doctor today. I am currently 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced. My doctor is hoping I go another week, but said that I will see you this weekend or at your next appointment. In other words, still any day now. I have had a few random contractions, and don't sleep a lick. But the positive...I have started maternity leave. I made it through all that I wanted to at school and wanted to spend some extra time with Josie. Christmas shopping is complete, wrapped, and all under the tree. The last load is in the wash, and the last thing to do is get the car seats installed.

Thanks for checking in on us. Hope to introduce the little gals soon.

Update on twins

Here's an update on the gals-
So my doctor appt was not very exciting the other day. I found out I measure 42 weeks big (if I was having only one baby) and have gained a total of 27 pounds. For most of the pregnancy the babies have been breech. The good news is one baby has turned, but I was reassured that she could turn again. We were told to wait a bit longer to see what to do next. My growth ultrasound is next Friday, the 3rd. Here we will find out how big they are, and their positions. From this ultrasound, I will have an appt. on the 8th, and I think there will be some final decisions on dates of either induction or c-section. It still looks as though I will make it to Christmas break at school, and would be scheduling (if I have to at all) a c-section the last week of December sometime. She said that we might schedule it, just to have the time allotted for us, because we can always cancel it. We are all really hoping, doc included, that I just go into labor naturally at 37 weeks...this is considered full term and the babies would be less likely to be in NICU and be able to go home with us.

Needless to say, the doctor ordered double desserts for me this holiday season.

Thanksgiving right into Christmas

With these two little ones coming, and who knows how quickly, our Christmas is starting pretty early. I went shopping on Black Friday. My aunts, my mom, and I were in line at Target at 3 am. What a blast every year! We all were able to get everything we wanted, and I was at home in bed by 9am. Awesome! I am basically done with my Christmas shopping now. And once I woke up, the tree and Christmas decorations were ready too. We took the minimalistic approach this year, but could not go without the snowmen and santas in the living room. No decorating the bathroom, and a lot of breakables did not come out due to little Josie, but we still have the Christmas spirit around here.

Josie putting up some ornaments. She is doing good so far. She has pulled a couple off, but since the tree has been up for a couple days, she does not seem to mind it anymore.

Here are just a couple pictures from Thanksgiving. Every other year we go with Dave's family to Columbia, Missouri. But, not this year. He had to work at night, so we enjoyed some time with my side in St. Charles.

Hanging with Josie

We had a little corner in the house where Josie was not allowed to go. It has the phone, a candle setup on a table, Roxie's food and water, and a small cabinet with my scrapbooking supplies. But, the time has come, Josie can invade what we termed "Roxie's corner". A Pier 1 chair of mine from college worked for 16 months, but it is over. Trouble is brewing. She can now get into all that mentioned above and create havoc. Oh-no, poor Roxie.

This is the chair that was the barrier, but now she can get onto and over pretty easily.

I feel so bad for Roxie lately. First, Josie can now get in her corner, and now she lost her spot with the papsan in the bedroom. The twins crib arrived last week, and Dave put it up in our room. The idea is to let them sleep together for the first couple months, then make a whole house switch-a-roo before I go back to school. Josie definitely wanted to help daddy. Ignore the messy room in the back, we are currently nesting. Clean is not in my vocab right now...only tidy is.

One last fun picture of Josie. She loves, loves, loves her daddy's drums. She know how to step on the pedal to hit the bass drum. She knows how to hold the sticks, and she loves to put on a show. It is awefully cute, but really loud!