Please Don't Touch!

It's amazing how many people see infant carriers on a stroller and feel the immediate need to touch the baby (or babies) riding in them!  I remember people at Target hovering over Chloë when she was newborn but with twins it's an entirely different ball game.  Myke and I went to a class at the hospital last week and he dropped me off at the door with the babies (in the above stroller--minus the cover-up "tents"---but I did have baby blankets draped over) and before I walked 5 feet I was accosted by the valet man--he ran up and started going on about how cute the babies were and pulled back a blanket started tickling Eli's feet!  Then before he was finished a woman came up on my other side and started asking questions.  I'm fine with questions and I realize people are just admiring the babies, but I was already running late to the class so I answered her questions (their names, their ages, etc) as I kept walking towards the door...well, she didn't like that one bit.  She started walking fast along side the stroller to get a peak and then told me to "stop" because she "needed to see the other one", meaning the baby in the front seat whom she hadn't gotten a close-up view of yet.  Those were her exact words.  It was just kind of shocking...she was basically running along side the stroller and pulling the blanket off the front car seat so she could see Owen!  I was starting to get scared!   Anyways, we now are the proud owners of these JJ Cole car seat "tents" that cover the babies in their seats.  They are breathable, have velcro tab closures, won't blow off in the breeze like a draped baby blanket would, and are even quite cute looking!  A curious person would literally have to start un-velcroing the tabs to look at or touch the baby--and hopefully one's impulse control would kick in if they had to start going to such measures just to see a baby...   I'll let you know!   

Some photos: 

An evening at the Hines' household- Chloë already in bed

Owen, Eli, Myke

Chloë doing some skin-to-skin sibling bonding with Eli

Me with my boys: 15 days old

We live in a three level condo--the master bedroom is on the 3rd level and the main living area is on the first level.  This is how I carried my two babies downstairs this morning (Myke was out with Chloë).  It killed two birds with one stone because the basket was also full of dirty laundry that I needed to have washed.  Don't worry I put a clean blanket on top of the dirty clothes so the boys wouldn't have to lay on Myke's undies.  :)   They also had their 2nd bath this morning so they are now sparkling clean.  In fact, it was bath day for everyone this morning-- the boys AND Kyla (the dog).  By the time I got them all washed and went to take my own shower there was no hot water left!  I guess that's just where I am in the line-up at this point!  After the dog!  

All about to get baths...

So happy that's is a three day holiday weekend!   That means Myke is around and we have four adults to three kids (and a dog)--a  great ratio, if you ask me.  Sometimes I even feel that we need MORE hands than that!  We are non-stop busy with this bunch.  

Today is Myke and my 6th anniversary!  Yay!  We are hoping to go out to dinner or for a drink later on tonight.  My parents offered to babysit and even do the overnight wake-ups with the babies (well, my mom offered for them to do it, and my dad moaned and groaned but I think he will help her out at night...we'll see).  What a nice anniversary present!   Though, so far the sleep deprivation hasn't been as bad as we imagined--I'm still waiting for the really hard part to come--when the babies are more awake.  They are still sleepy all the time at this point of their lives.  

Napping:  What we do best!

Yesterday we walked to a cafe down the street for breakfast and on the way back we saw a firetruck parked on the road.  Chloë stopped to wave at the fireman and they invited her to come sit in the truck!   She was on cloud nine!!  The firemen even gave her a Jr. Firefighter sticker badge.  Here are her pics:

Chunking Up! (Not me, the babies!)

The boys had their follow up weigh-in appointment today.  Owen's birth weight was 5lbs7oz and at the hospital he dropped down to just under 5lbs--(4lbs 15oz).  They let us leave the hospital last Friday but we had to go in to the pediatrician the following day to check their weights.  Owen only went up to 5lbs so we were a little worried.  However, we went today and Owen was a whopping 5lbs 9oz!!  In six days he gained 9oz and the doctor was very pleased with that.  She said they look for 2/3 of an ounce to a 1 ounce weight gain per day and both boys exceeded that.  In fact, Eli also gained almost exactly 9oz since last Saturday.  His birth weight was 6lb5oz, his weight last Saturday was 6lb2oz, and his weight today was 6lb11oz!!  (For those who aren't aware, almost all babies drop below their birth weight in the days after birth--then it's all about getting them back above their original weight--that's always the first goal for parents).  So we were VERY pleased with that, especially because of all the work this feeding routine is taking.  Both boys are getting only breast milk so there is a lot of nursing followed by pumping, etc.  That lets other people help with the feedings (via bottle) as well, which is wonderful!  In fact, (this is probably TMI but I just don't really care at this point--modesty basically goes out the window with breast feeding) if there is a new post on this blog it most likely means it was typed while pumping.  That is the one and only time I get a free few minutes to go on the laptop, check email, etc.  You think I do this in my free time?  What is free time??

Chloë hiking with Myke - Mission bay & Pacific ocean in the background

10 Days Old

Chloë on 5/15/11- last day of being an only child

Holding her brothers

5/27/11 - first ride out in this stroller.  Destination: Chipotle

No time for shower or putting on any make up--but happy as a clam 

I never really have time for posting much these days (go figure).  The boys are 10 days old now...and have been home nearly a week already!  The time goes by fast and I live my life from one feeding to the next at this point.  I can honestly say that I'm loving it so far though.  Of course it helps that my parents are here helping us-- I know someone is here to play ball or dollhouse with Chloë when I can't (which is often right now and I feel guilty about it), they do the laundry, walk Kyla, do grocery store runs, make meals, etc.  I would be a frazzled stress-case without them here.  Instead, I'm able to really focus on feeding and caring for the babies in these early days and weeks.  They are eating every three or so hours like I think mentioned before and the whole process takes 1.5-2 hours depending.  So that usually leaves us 1-1.5 hours to sleep or do what we need to do before the routine re-starts.  Sometimes they wake up on their own and tell us when it's time to start the feeding again, but often they keep sleeping--and more and more we are just letting them.  We have a DR appt Friday morning to get them weighed so we'll see how they're doing in that regard.  If they haven't gained enough weight we'll have to be more strict on the every-three-hour feeding.

So that's life right now--and it's fabulous :)

The Hired Help...

Gramma

Grandpa

(They get paid in snuggles and poopy diapers)  

One Week Old

Owen 

Elijah

The boys are one week old today!  I can't believe an entire week has gone by already! Time just flies.  They are doing great so far.  People have been asking for pictures to be posted somewhere so I ended up just deciding to post them on Facebook due to the fact that it's easier than posting them on this blog, it doesn't make people sign up for an account to view them like our Flickr photo site (well, it does, I guess, but most people already have one), the uploading is really fast and convenient and I don't have time for anything but fast and convenient right now... feeding twins takes A LOT of time!  Especially when the entire feeding process starts over again every three hours...and then take over an hour to complete!  Phew!  Anyways, if you are unable to see the photos via my FB account please let me know.  I've set the album to semi-private and made it viewable by certain people only (close friends and family and people who have requested to see pics) so I'm SURE I didn't get a chance to add everyone who I would want to share the pics with so just drop me a message if you want to see them.  Thanks! 

Home Sweet Home!!

We arrived back home in Pacific Beach after 4 days and nights at the hospital.  The hospital stay wasn't too bad, but by the end we were definitely ready to get back to our own bed and just the comforts of home.  Having the big hospital room definitely helped make things more comfortable.  When Chloë was born Myke had to sleep on an awful cot-like chair every night and the room was the size of the postage stamp so we were chomping at the bit to get out of there by the 2nd day.

Anyways, as you can probably imagine, free time is VERY precious right now so this will be a really short post/quick update.   The boys are doing great.  Even though we JUST got home yesterday, their pediatrician scheduled their first doctor appt for this morning.  So Myke and I took them to the doctor as our first outing with them.  They both have gained a little weight after their initial drop.  Owen is now 5lbs and Eli is 6lb 2oz.  He is definitely the "bigger" brother.  Owen is just a teeny peanut.  I don't think I've ever held such a small baby.  He seems like is going to break at times.  He has the funniest expressions though!  He is very alert and observant when he is awake--and every serious.  Eli is the more dramatic of the two, and when he is hungry he lets you know!  They look so different (definitely not identical twins!) and are both the cutest little boys I have every seen.  I could just stare at them forever.  I'm totally in love.  

Anyways, I apologize for not returning texts, calls, and emails--but, like I said, things are a bit wild right now.  We are SOO happy to have my parents here to help us out!

We are just happy to be home with the boys and back with Chloë.  So far we are having a blast and loving every minute of being parents of three!

Some photos:

Hearing tests at the hospital.  Both passed with flying colors!

Ready to go home!  Yay!  

Owen on the car ride home

Chloë LOVES her baby brothers so far!  She always wants to hold them, help out, feed them, read to them, etc.  She helped decorate the house with balloons and posters for Owen & Eli's arrival.

They are very lucky to have such an amazing big sister!

Owen taking in the morning hours at home.

First doctor's appt.  5/21/11

Our Boys Are Here!!

Owen & Eli (2 days old)

A quick update while I seem to have caught a free few minutes and while the hospital's internet connections seems to be relatively stable.  The C-section was scheduled for Monday morning at 9am.  We arrived at 7am to check in and then the LONG wait began.  They had me all prepped and ready for surgery when I was suddenly bumped back by a woman whose labor had stalled.  They have two operating rooms for L&D and they always have to have one open.  So this woman got put in front of me in line to use the open one.  I was then told that I would probably be in there by 10:30am instead of 9am.  Anyways, to make a loooong story (and morning) short, the woman ended up having a rough C-section and took extra long.  I didn't end up going in the OR until nearly 1pm.  It was difficult waiting around --a lot of anticipation - but I'm sure it was worse for the poor woman who was having the difficult C-section.

The C-section itself wasn't as bad as I had imagined.  It was all very surreal.  I didn't feel a thing and before I knew it our two beautiful boys were born.  Owen Gustave Hines arrived first at 1:50pm and Elijah Thomas Hines arrived at 1:51pm.  Gustave and Thomas are both family names.  Owen was the smaller of the two, weighing in at 5lb 7oz and 19inches long.  Elijah weighed 6lb 5oz and was 20.47inches.  Due to Owen's weight being JUST under weight you must be to avoid NICU observation, he was taken to the baby nursery just to make sure he could maintain his own body temperature.  He passed all tests with flying colors.  Myke was able to go in there and spend time with him and once I was out of recovery they wheeled me in there to see him as well.

We are now up on the 4th floor maternity ward in a special DOUBLE room!  Wooo!!  Myke and I each have our own beds a lot of space.  It's great!  At UCSD they have the babies room right in with you, which is nice...but also gives you little sleep time.  So the nurses have been really nice and taken the babies and hung out with them at the nurse station between feedings to let us get some shut-eye.  We actually feel less tired and overwhelmed than we did when we had Chloë two years ago.



The boys are both doing great, they are eating well, maintaining their weights (after both dropping down the first day).  All they do right now is eat, sleep and poop.  I know the real fun comes when you get home and they stop being so sleepy!  Then the insanity will start!

Chloë has come to visit each night so far and just loves her baby brothers.  She can't wait to hold them.  Last night she literally kicked me out of my bed so she could sit there with Owen.  "Mommy, go!".  She calls them "my babies".  We are planning on being discharged tomorrow but only time will tell.  There are still a few things they need done:  a vaccination, hearing tests, etc.

My three babies!

I'm recovering well from the C-section - keeping up on my pain meds and able to walk around without too much discomfort.

Teeny tiny Owen 

Well, feeding time is here again so I must close!

Thanks to all who sent us prayers, well-wishes, etc!  We feel very blessed to have these little guys and I couldn't be more in love with them!  

Grandpa and Eli

Owen

Mykes hand and Owen

Life Just Isn't Fair...

And here's why:

I had to have a root canal done this morning!!  Just 48 hours before my C-section!

So two days ago one of my teeth started hurting a little bit out of nowhere.  I didn't think much of it since I know pregnancy can often lead to sore gums or teeth.  I took some Tylenol and that seemed to take the edge off.  Yesterday it was barely noticeable, I didn't take a Tylenol until late afternoon, but then at night I noticed that it seemed to get worse when I would lay down.   This morning (Saturday) I woke up planning to enjoy our last weekend, the "calm before the storm" so to speak, relaxing with the fam but I quickly realized that my tooth had other plans for me.  The pain had gotten worse overnight and now the tooth hurt if I even lightly touched it with my tongue or finger.  I took some more Tylenol but when that didn't seem to help much I decided to call around looking for a dentist since I knew the one we regularly use isn't open on the weekends.   I just thought it would give me peace of mind to have a dentist at least look at the tooth.  Maybe it needed a small filling.  Yah, no one likes to work on weekends apparently!
After no luck calling about 8 dental offices in the area I just decided to let it go. Myke reminded me that I would be given painkillers for the C-section on Monday and if I could just last until then I could forget about it for a bit.  It wasn't unbearable by any means, but it was uncomfortable.  I was also a bit nervous to just let it go in case something serious was going on.  The last thing I needed was to be stuck in the hospital with a major tooth issue, a C-section surgery that I'm trying to recover from, AND two new infants.  I would have to possibly wait an entire week to see a dentist.  It looked like it was going to be going down that road, however, since I couldn't find an open dentist, so I decided to try to grin and bear it and attempt to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

My mom and I headed out to do a few errands and on our way out of Pacific Beach passed by a new dental practice a few blocks from my house.  It looked like the lights were on and there was a huge banner advertising their prices outside and the dentist's name and phone number.  I quickly pulled over and decided to give the number a call.  Sure enough, they were open ....AND they could see me right away!  I was stoked.  I just wanted someone to look at it so I could move on and focus on Monday instead of my tooth pain.  To make a long story short (I know I can ramble!) I had a quick X-ray done (which is apparently fine during the 3rd trimester) only to find that this tooth was starting an infection in the root!  The dentist was dentist was a really nice, charismatic guy who made me feel immediately at ease, BUT nothing could have prepared me for the news that my tooth needed a root canal.  The options were to either do one right there or to go on antibiotics (after Monday) until I was able to get the work done.  I've had one other root canal in my life (and thank God I have had one before or I would have been freaking out at the idea of it--root canals get a bad rep!) and I had to be referred to an endodontist for the treatment (my dentist doesn't do root canals) AND it cost us something like $800 since we don't have dental insurance.  This dentist, however, could do the procedure right then and there AND it would only cost $190.  I went for it (after a quick Google session on my iPhone to make sure this was a legit guy running this practice).    I'm SO glad I had it taken care of....and I think I found a new dentist for Myke and myself.  Not many people would say their root canal was a great experience--but the entire thing was basically painless and was done in 15 minutes (it was a small infection).   Now my tooth is pain-free and I can focus once again on the bigger and better things in life: the two boys who are supposed to be born in something like 34 hours!

Root Canal Saturday.  C-section Monday.  Let's hope Sunday is more uneventful!

Friday!

Donuts with Gramma!  Happy Friday!

Okay, I KNOW I wrote another blog entry during the past week but it's not showing up so I'm not sure what happened to it.  Oh well, I'm sure it wasn't too exciting, anyways.  Right now we are just in the waiting stage.  I'm not even sure where this week went?!  It zipped by way too fast.  We did have a lot of appointments so that took up a good chunk of time.  

Chloë had her very first dentist appointment on Monday morning.  She did great with the dentist and let her look in her mouth, count her teeth, etc.  She has all of her baby teeth (20) so we are done with teething -yay!   They don't usually do a cleaning for a child's first visit but they did manage to polish three of Chloë's teeth before she was over it.  I was pretty impressed.  The dental office was a little slice of heaven for children.  It had fun toys to play with, flat screen TVs built into the ceiling for them to watch during cleanings, stuffed animals, a huge tropical fish tank and (get this) iPads (!!) for the kids to play games on while they waited.  iPads!  

Meeting the polishing brush

Tuesday morning I had my FINAL doctor appt with Dr. Schrimmer.  I can't believe after going WEEKLY for so long that I am finally done with these appointments!  I'm definitely thrilled about that, though these appointments were at one time my big outing for the week, my source of excitement and small taste of freedom during the bed rest stage.   Everything looked great at the appointment.  The babies still have a good amount of fluid and their heart rates sound good.  Baby A is breech and B is head down.  As I said before, Baby A being breech means that it's a C-section for me.  So I'm all booked for Monday 5/16.  MONDAY!!  Only 3 days away!!   Check-in at 7am for a 9am surgery!  Yikes!  Scary and exciting at the same time!  I did not have a C-section with Chloë so this is all new for me.  I'm happy to be able to avoid painful contractions, though!  In hindsight I should have definitely made a bet Dr. Schrimmer when he said if he took the odds to Vegas that he would put ALL his money on me going into labor BEFORE May 16th.  I honestly feel that if it weren't for this C-section that these babies would stay in a couple more weeks!   

Well, I don't want to leave Myke out so I'll write about his appointment as well!  We all had appointments this week.  His was yesterday with a Celiac's specialist.  Not to much exciting to report besides that his liver panel numbers have definitely improved since he started the gluten-free diet.  He's also gained 15lbs but we're not sure if that's from the new diet or if it's his pregnancy sympathy weight.  He gained this same amount (and then later lost it) when I was pregnant with Chloë.  It's important that he has gained it because it has kept my weight below his --but just barely!!  His body just knows better than to let my weight surpass his!  

The belly!  

Today my mom and I took Chloë out to enjoy one of her final days as an only child.  We first stopped and got donuts, then did a little shopping, and ended the outing with a visit to "Play Town"--an indoor play center for toddlers.  Chloë had a blast and spent probably two hours running around the place playing everything.   We're back now and it's nap time.  Speaking of which, I better end this so I get a nap in as well!    I may never sleep again after Monday!

Beep beep!

Air hockey!

Kyla enjoying the sunshine earlier this week

Love the watermelon!

Happy Mother's Day

37 Weeks Today!

(and NO signs of these boys wanting to leave the womb- I can't believe I made it this far!)

Happy Mother's Day out there to all the moms, moms-to-be, caregivers, etc!!  I hope you are all relaxing and getting the pampering you deserve today!  My pampering came in the form of a two hour nap that I just took while Chloë was napping.  It was fabulous (and much needed after not sleeping well last night)!  My mom and I are also going to get pedicures but I think we are going to wait a day or two.  Everyone needs pretty toes!  Especially before visiting the Labor & Delivery ward of the hospital.

One week to go!  I'm not sure if I want this week to go slow or fast.  We have a lot of appointments going on- Chloë has her first dentist appointment tomorrow morning, I have my weekly OB appt Tuesday, I have two non-stress test appointments (NST).  They are making me do these NST appts now that I'm at the end of the pregnancy- they check the amniotic fluid level and you sit listening to the babies' heart rates for 20 minutes- I went last Thursday afternoon for the first one.  It isn't supposed to take over 40 minutes total but I was there for nearly two hours!  Baby A was sleeping during the heart rate part and that apparently isn't acceptable.  It took ice cold water, a lollipop and playing all my iPhone ring tones on the place where his head is to wake him up.  In the end the nurse swears it was the ring tones that worked.  He finally woke up and we were able to get the heart rate accelerations that they need to see in order to let you go home.  It seemed like a long, pointless appointment if you ask me, but what do I know?!  Myke also has an appointment with the celiacs disease specialist to discuss how things are going and to get more information.  I hope we have at least a little bit of down time to just relax and enjoy the quiet before the storm as well.  We'll see!

We went to a bakery called Con Pane this morning for sweet treats and coffee.  Here are some pictures.

Gramma & Chloë 

The best hubby there is!

Me and my little pumpkin

finishing off daddy's granola

Why Mother's Day is special to me!

Family of 3--only for a little bit longer!

PS:  For those who have asked:  Yes, I'm adjusting to the mini-van...actually faster than I thought I would.  It's really not that bad at all...and most importantly, it's just going to be convenient for three small kids and a large dog.  I can open the sliding doors and the tailgate with the simple push of a button--that is KEY when you are lugging babies, groceries, and whatever else I'll be lugging in the near future.  

Funny part is that when we brought it home Myke parked in the back and I pulled up right next to it in the Veracruz.. My mom came out to see the new car and had to ask which one was the new minivan!  Then I wrote in this blog about how they look quite similar in my last post and Myke said to me, "See, you've basically been driving a mini-van this whole time and didn't even know it!"  Point taken.  It's all about making our lives as easy as possible at this point.