Berry Berry Busy

Is blogger working again?!?!

2012-01-07T12:05:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the hiatus, for some reason I can't being myself to blog on my computer, and the blogger app had stopped working. :-( For some odd reason it seems much easier on my phone. Good thing Blogger just updated so you'll see more of the girls again!Guess who got their first haircuts on New Years Eve! Mina:

Evie:

The girls did great thanks to Jeff's patience and skill :-)- Via BlogPress on my iPhone

Evie and Perry Bird

2011-10-21T20:52:00.003-05:00

Enjoy!

15 Month check up

2011-10-21T20:05:00.001-05:00

Yes, I know, the girls are 16 ½ months now, but somehow after the 1 year appointment I got it in my head that we didn't need another appointment until 18 months. When I called to ask the pedi's office to fax the most recent immunization records to the school I found out we were behind – bad Mommom. Fortunately, we were still in the window to keep up with their immunizations.

I wasn't able to take the time off since I still don't really have any personal time, so Seth took the ladies to see their doctor yesterday. Since the couldn't go in until 9, I made them all breakfast and packed their bag for school and the doctor, making sure to put treats in for after their shots (Polio and flu vaccine). The girls seemed to really enjoy their breakfast :-)

The girls enjoy breakfast

Once at the doctor's office, all of their weight and measurements were taken and it's so surprise (at least to us) that the girls have made more progress and are pretty firmly on the growth chart for their actual age. The doctor also went over all their developmental milestones with Seth and said that they were right on track for their actual age. No more adjusted age for us!!!! Woohoo!! She was so happy to see how well the girls were doing.

Mina (Baby A) Stats:

Height – 31" that puts her in the 46 Percentile
Weight – 21lbs 1oz that puts her in the 39 Percentile
Head Circumference – 17.91" that puts her in the 38 Percentile

Evie (Baby B) Stats:

Height – 30.51" that puts her in the 29 Percentile
Weight - 21lbs 7oz that puts her in the 45 Percentile
Head Circumference – 17.91" that puts her in the 38 Percentile

Seth said the girls were very brave for their shots and got over the initial shock/pain of it very quickly.

And just to update you on Mina's ear infection – it's all cleared up! Poof! Gone! Yippe! While the news is good, Mina's mood is still a bit off. According to the doctor we might be in the early stages of the terrible twos . Seriously!!! Looks like we've got a long road a head of us! She gave us some handouts on what to expect with our little toddling ladies.

Their next wellness check (with bonus hep A vaccination) should be sometime after Christmas. I'll make sure to be on top of that one :-)

We're officially out of the baby stage now, which is kind of sad. These girls are so much fun though and Seth and I seriously have the best gig in the world!

October visitors and birthday parties

2011-10-21T06:21:00.000-05:00

I started writing this post on the blogger app on my phone, but now the app keeps crashing (booo!) so I'm just going to start over.

Mina on playground equipment at Story Park

Last week and this weekend have been pretty crazy. Mina was not acting like herself (she was lethargic, very irritable and running a low grade fever) at school on Wednesday so we decided to take her to see her pedi on Thursday. Her Dr. said confirmed that she had fluid in her ear (she’d been congested for a couple of weeks) and that her throat was irritated. Mina was so sweet to her doctor and even sang a song to her after she let her get a good swab of her throat (which fortunately testing negative for strep). We started antibiotics that night and by the morning she was already feeling better. Since the doctor said she was not contagious and Mina was in a better mood, we all got ready for school/work.Unfortunately in the short amount of time it took to get to school Mina’s fever came back so she got to spend the day with Dad. He took her with him as he went for his liver ultrasound and after that they had a good time at Breadwinners for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent snuggling.Later that day my dad, stepmom (Pam) and my brother arrived in town. Since Seth had a softball game we all picked up some Chipotle, ate it at the park, left Seth to finish his game and then took the girls home so they could make their bed time.

Evie wanted to climb up by herself

Saturday the girls had a birthday party to attend (their friend Abby). Since Mina and Evie had a good night and were feeling well we decided to take them to the party at the Park. They enjoyed playing with Abby and Karmela. Since the playground at the park wasn’t crowded, all of the girls got to enjoy interacting with it. Mary (Abby’s mom) put together a wonderfully intimate party. She paid attention to all the details and even provided a hand washing station for the kids. The girls loved that! Even though Mina was a little clingy, the girls had a really good time. They had so much fun they crashed for a good couple of hours after we got home :-) Evie woke up before Mina did and got to feed Perry bird a treat when he escaped from his cage. I'm working on the video of it. It was too cute - she clearly says “bird” and when she tells him “bye”. She even does her version of the sign language for bird :-) I hope to post it soon.

While we were at the party my dad, Pam, and Jared rode the DART to the Historic West End to see the area where I work. They had a good time running around but had to leave after my dad had a close encounter with a pigeon…

Grandpa Jack and Uncle Monkey tell the girls about their trip to the West End

That evening, my dad, Pam, and Jared looked after the girls while Seth and I went out for dinner to celebrate our seventh anniversary. Can you believe it’s been that long? Seth and I had the most delicious meal at 52 seasons and spent the evening reflecting on our time together and all the people that have supported us along the way. We really do have the most wonderful friends and family!!!

The girls had a good night with my family and went right to bed.Sunday was not as good for Mina.

The girls were happy in the morning so we went out to Cabela’s with my family to let the girls see the fish. Both girls both enjoyed emulating fish lips and seeing all the stuffed game displayed around the store. Unfortunately we overstayed our time there and Mina let us know that she was not happy.

Mina (yellow) and Evie (pink) enjoy looking at the fish

So Seth and I left my dad, Pam, and Jared at the store to put the girls down for a nap. They both slept for a long time, but every time poor Mina woke up she was just not happy. Since we didn’t want to upset her anymore, but we still wanted to take Pam and Jared out for their birthdays, Seth and Mina stayed home while Evie and I took the others to Babe’s Chicken (believe it or not, it was Seth’s recommendation).

Evie at Babe's Chicken

Dinner was delicious and we all had a good time, but I missed Seth and Mina. It wasn’t the same without them. When we got back from dinner, Mina was like a brand new person. She was so smiley and happy. Her daddy knows just what to do for a happy Mina. He gave her a bath as soon as we left and then they ate tons of gnocchi :-) You should have seen the smile on her face when we got home. Oh how it made my day!

Moving on into the week - The girls both had a good days at school (even though Evie has become one of the “biters” in class. She never does it at home, so I don’t know what to do…. The school said that both of the girls have been really happy and social, but at home Mina has still been on the irritable side (and is continuing to pull on her ear). The antibiotics have made her tummy all wobbly too.

She's got another appointment with her pedi on Thursday for a check up so well hopefully she'll be better before then. It just makes me realize how lucky we are. The girls are are so sweet and really only fussy when they don't feel good. Comparatively they really haven't gotten sick very often. The doctor reacted in suprise when looking at Mina's chart she noticed that it had been over six months since she'd been in. Regardless, illness is not easy on any mom and it breaks my heart to see her cry. I hope I can report back soon with news of sweet smiles from our Mina bean.

Diaperfest 2011

2011-10-11T22:21:00.004-05:00

Now that I've lured you in with a cute picture lets talk about something less cute... Diapers.

Since the girls' school is working with them on changing their own clothes and changing their diaper in the bathroom while they stand, we decided we should switch diapers to something that would help with the transition. Changing them standing up in the bathroom is to help them start to make the connection between having a dirty diaper and going to the bathroom - how clever is that!

So for about two weeks now we have been cleaning our own diapers. Scary right? Well it’s not as scary as I expected :-)

We had been using Green Baby Diaper Service of Rockwall, which we would happily recommend to anyone. Unfortunately, the diaper service didn't have anything between pre-folds and potty training type pull ups (meant to be used for a short amount of time), so if we knew if we wanted to continue on with cloth we were going to have to invest in some ourselves.

Evie sporting her cute cloth diaper self while she dances

For economy (primarily since we didn't really know if we were going to be able to pull of washing them ourselves and the fact that we would need enough for two days worth of diapers for two babies (28+ diapers and covers) to give it a solid try) we opted for the pin-less Dappi diapers with the Dappi nylon covers. I’ll admit, this is one of the cheapest cloth diaper you can get, but we were trying to be realistic about the amount of time we had to clean diapers – working full time with twin daughters is already very time consuming.

About the Dappi pin-less diapers: They are very trim fitted diapers (available in S, M and L) with extra layers for absorption in the center and velcro on the side to help make it easier to change the girls while they are standing (the majority of cloth diapers have this feature too, it was just hard using the pre-folds while they were standing). They have some elastic in the leg gusset that is built into the diaper. It is not adjustable, but provides a snug fit that prevents most leaks. The velcro on the sides seems stiff (but durable) so far and sticks out a little awkwardly, but maybe that’s because the girls are on the low end of the weight for their sizing. There is a tag to indicate the back, but it is still hard to tell what's inside and what is outside. If you put it on to avoid the awkward sides then the rough side of the Velcro faces the girls skin. Since I'd rather the girls look a little silly than potentially have rough Velcro tough their skin, I make sure that the rough side of the Velcro faces out.

The weird stick out on the side, possibly due to the really firm Velcro.

Initially the main diaper material was not really ‘stiff’ but wasn’t really very soft either. Since we have been washing them for two weeks they have softened up considerably.

Sizing: Since the girls have a lot of tall slender Tberry working for them and we were on the high end of the medium size weight range we opted to get two of the mediums just to try. We were glad we didn’t get all of them in that sized because the girls would not have been able to wear them for long. So we opted to go with the large size diapers. I would say the sizing runs pretty close to what is recommended. The mediums fit really well, but since we opted for the larger size to get more use out of it they fit the girls a little awkwardly.

Mina in her diaper without the cover

About the nylon Dappi pants: The covers (available in sizes Newborn-XL) we decided to get in a size medium since they seemed very generous in size. The rise in the crotch seems to be what will push the girls in to the large size eventually. It really looks like the girls have a big old balloon on their bottom, but they keep the girls clothes dry and we haven’t had any leeks.

Diaper liners: We did invest in about 6 overnight liners to add some absorbency for night time. They are long and wide enough, but not very soft (maybe with more washing they’ll soften up).

Cost: We bought our diapers at Buy Buy Baby and each diaper was about $4. The covers, while also available at Buy Buy Baby we purchased from diapers.com (because I love that company, they do free 2 day shipping, and I didn’t have time to run out to the store) at 2 for $4 so ultimately we spent about $185. Since most cloth diapers that I’ve researched I’ve found to be priced in between $20-$24 I figured we spent about 1/4 of what we could have spent.

Overall: These diapers aren't near as cute as the diapers they were wearing, but they do what they are supposed to and we haven't had any real leaks. For those on a tight budget, or just wanting to try out the cloth diaper experience, I think these diapers are pretty good. They don’t have all the bell and whistles as some others, and aren’t as soft as some of the more expensive ones, but they are functional and do what they promise.

Balloon bottom Mina

One thing I have done to help with the softness is to cut up some fleece strips to put in between the girls bottom and the diaper. I had already been doing this for the pre-folds to not only help the girls feel drier, but to keep from compromising the diapers absorbency when we had to use creams on the girls bottoms. Since fleece is relatively cheap, does not fray and is easy to cut this solution was relatively easy to do and worth the time, effort and cost. In case you are wondering I cut my strips to be about 3”x7”. I may make them a little more fitted later (widen in the front and back) but since I was in a time crunch, this has gotten us by in the mean time.

Cleaning: So far cleaning the diapers hasn't been too bad. I've been doing it for just over two weeks now. Since we have enough for about 2 1/2 days, I try to do a load every night to stay on top of it. The diaper sprayer we installed really REALLY helps (I think this is a good investment even if you aren't washing your own diapers).

The washing process: Since we usually just slide the diapers off the girls and place them in the bin, I have to pull out the all of the diapers from the day and separate the diaper from the cover and place them individually in the wash. I make sure that all the Velcro is secured together so that the covers don’t get stuck to the Velcro in the wash. I separate out the ‘dirty’ diapers from the wet diapers and put them in a separate plastic bin so that I can spray them out into the toilet with the diaper sprayer. I spray off as much fecal matter as I can while wearing gloves, reconnect the Velcro and place them with the previously soiled area facing out. After putting the rest of the soiled diapers in the wash I then run a cold prewash cycle to help loosen up as much as possible before running a heavy soiled load with my homemade detergent plus a little extra oxyclean in hot water. After they final spin I hang them on the line outside (thanks to grandmamma for installing the line). We also have a drying rack for inside when it rains. They will usually be dry by the morning if I hang them up right before 10.

Diapers on my indoor rack.

So far I’ve had a little bit of staining and there is a bit of very very slight – I’m talking about minimal - smell, but is sure to get more prominent with time. I think I might just need to look in to other detergents to deal with the harder water we have here.

Conclusion: I'm pretty happy with this adventure so far. I'm not going to tell you there's no ick factor, but seeing as how I wipe their little bottoms to get poo off it's really not that much more, and the cost savings are worth it. Even though it requires a little bit of time ultimately will be saving $170 a month from now on (since that is what we were spending for a month for the diaper service - they picked up/dropped off and washed enough diapers each week for both girls providing pre-fold diapers, thirsty covers and overnight fleece diaper liners). All of our cost savings we will be putting directly into the girls college fund. Also, I also feel better about not adding diapers to the landfill. Have you ever seen those statistics?

I don't regret using the diaper service at all, we really loved using them. They were very pleasant to work with and always very responsive when we needed something. Honestly, washing our own diapers is something I think I had to work up the courage to do anyways. When the girls were really little there's no way I could have done it, but now that we have really settled into our routine I think it will really work.

For the future: We plan to keep on moving ahead with our cloth journey. Now that I know it is something we can keep up with I might even invest in a few other diapers for special occasions when I want them to have the cute cloth diaper booty back – seriously cloth diaper bootys are too cute :-) I also have decided to invest in some more diaper specific detergents. I ordered some Hard Rockin’ Green last night from diapers.com (seriously I love that store) so we’ll see if that helps – I’ve heard really great things about it.

Bonus cuteness just for reading the whole entry :-)

I’d love to hear if any one has any recommendations, tips, or just wants to share their experience

Second October weekend update (16 months)

2011-10-10T07:31:00.001-05:00

Our weekend started off with a softball game. The girls really loved watching dad run around the bases and I got a really cute video of Evie squealing for dad. For now you will have to make do with some pictures of their cuteness.
oh No it's....Attack of the Dad!!!

At one point Mina went out to lay in the grass; she was just content to lay there. It was too cute!

We lost the game but had a great time playing :-)

On the word front we've made more progress with both girls adding "bubbles" and "choo choo". Mina even snuck in a "hello" and "baby" over the weekend. It's so much fun communicating with words!

We had aqua babies on Saturday which was way fun! We worked on kicking and wall crawling. Our homework os to float :-) Next time I'll try to get a picture it's just hard to when we both have to be in there at the same time. The girls love to water though and had such a great time.

The rest of our weekend consisted of battling diaper rash, laundry (the girls love to help), and house cleaning. We managed a few more play opportunities in though with some sidewalk chalk drawing and some choo chooing around the house.

Can you believe these babies-

Are 16 months old!

Unfortunately I only got pictures on Friday, hopefully that cuteness will get you through to the next post :-)
- Via BlogPress on my iPhone

The girl's first word caught on video

2011-10-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

I never officially uploaded this to the girl's webpage, so here it is for your viewing pleasure :-)

Playing with shadows

2011-10-06T07:21:00.001-05:00

Lets start off with random before bed cuteness:

Evie has started noticing her shadow. I'm sure Mina has too, but I was on Evie watch on our walk last night (and Mina and dad had hurried ahead of us). It was so cute- she was pointing to it and talking to it. She even bent down to touch it. I just wished that I had had my camera.

We also have new words to add to the girls list: Bye and we think they said some version of high five :-)

In other news, we got a package from Gradmama with Seths request for Halloween costumes hand made for the girls. Anyone want to guess what they'll be this year?

Don't worry, I'll definitely post a picture of their costumes for you all to see. Thanks Grandmama! Hope you are having fun in England, Scottland and Ireland!

- Via BlogPress on my iPhone

Official first word! (besides mom and dad)

2011-10-03T07:28:00.001-05:00

Good morning!

Mina is in dads lap.

The girls both said a version of "more" last night at dinner! They already could sign more, but now they have started to say it too! I have video, but I'd like to clean it up first. It's really cute, they both have their own way of saying it. Mina's is kind of long and Evies is very quick. I'll try to clean up the video tonight and post it tomorrow. Any guesses as to what their second word might be?!?

Word count: mom, dad, more
Sign count: all done, shoes, eat, milk, bird
Signs we are working on: walk, bath, dog, sleep, water, hurt, help, dirty, diaper change
Sounds they like to make: lederlederleder, bwwwaaakkkkkk, !ooh!
I think I'll put that list on a page so I can add to it and track some of that stuff :-)

We also had a few other firsts this weekend - dad went to his first major league football game with some of his coworkers. He had a lot of fun, despite the fact that the boys lost.

The girls had their first encounter with the kids club at 24 hour so that Nita and mommom could go to Zumba. They seemed to have fun. They love getting to meet new people and within a minute of them going inside they had already made new friends.

The girls also had their first visit to Starbucks. They recommend the pumpkin bread :-)

Mina says Starbucks is no.1, Evie says "true dat yo!"

Mommom made her first attempt at granola bars. I used this recipe, substituting the peanut butter for Sunbutter, adding flax meal and leaving out the raisins (we forgot to put them in the grocery list). I think they were quite delicious and the girls seemed to agree. I'll definitely be making them again!

Mina left, Evie right enjoying moms granola

Evie and momom

Ugh, I do look as tired as I feel!

Hope you guys have a great Monday!

- Via BlogPress on my iPhone

A twin mommas reflection on nursing

2011-09-29T07:21:00.001-05:00

After much deliberation Seth and I have decided to stop nursing the girls in the morning. This might be a little TMI for some of you, but hey this blog is to document our journey with the girls and breastfeeding has been a big part of our journey. If it is TMI feel free to skip the rest of this entry :-)

So... I'm really kind of sad about it. We still plan on doing our sessions after school for a bit longer, but this step closer to full weaning is hard. We decided a while back that we wanted to wean before it became a real battle with the girls, which I think if we continue on much longer it probably would be. Since they'll be 16 months on the 8th of October I really do think we we've had a good run (especially considering my initial goal was 12 months).

This decision seemed easy to make, but emotionally it's hard for several reasons. I'll discuss just a few of them.

Since they were born 6+ weeks early and were in the NICU for over a month, providing them breast milk was the one thing it seemed I had some control over. I felt really good knowing that I was providing them with the most nutritious thing I could, passing along all the immunities I had to give to hopefully make their life a little bit easier.

This is not to say providing breast milk was easy. I worked hard, harder than I've worked at anything (and that includes my Masters Degree in Architecture, recovering from spinal surgery and my international distance triathlon). I had friends and family worried about its affects on my well being (the sleep deprivation and my nutritional upkeep). I had multiple visits and one on ones with the lactation consultants while the girls were in the NICU trying to get the girls and I to work as a unit. I had bouts of severe engorgement, plugged ducts, yeast infection (did you know you could get them in your nipple?!?! Crazy!) and worries of mastitis (fortunately it never got to that). I pumped every three hours for 20 minutes+ up until the girls managed to build up the sucking capacity to do the whole session on their own. We had to use bottles bottles while we were in the NICU since the girls were having trouble maintaining their latch. I was really worried that with all the bottles and pacifiers that the girls and I would never master the art.

My life revolved around pumping for a good two months. It took about that long before we were brave enough to go it without the use of bottles. The main thing we were worried about was just that they were getting enough. After we had a follow up with the lactation consultant we determined that the girls were doing great and we didn't need to worry anymore.

By being able to bypass the pump and let the girls go straight to the tap our lives simplified greatly.

Once we had nursing down we even managed to juggle tandem feedings which made thing even easier. Tandem feeding really intimidated me before we really had the courage to give it a go. With practice it eventually proved to be no big deal and then everything became even easier. Juggling two sleepy hungry babies at night was hard, but we found our routine and were pros before long. (I don't know if it would have been possible without My Twin Brest Friend nursing pillow, this pillow is seriously amazing!) Every now and again I would opt to do one on one sessions, but they always lead to a much more tired momma. Tip for those interested in nursing twins - nursing them at the same time will help you get more sleep, which as a new mom is invaluable!

When I returned to work I continued to pump twice a day. My coworkers were very understanding and let me use a screen for privacy at my desk so that I could work while I pumped. Their willingness to put up with my not so discrete screen and the odd humming noises allowed me to be able to provide the girls with 100% breast milk for 99.99% of the first year of their life. This was also made possible by another wonderful product - my hands free nursing bra.

Nursing my babies has been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I have loved every single minute of it, even when it was hard. I loved going to the doctor and seeing everyone's look of surprise when we told them we were still going strong. I really loved watch the girls legs get chunky and know that I put that there.

Please know that I don't look down on anyone that has decided not to breastfeeding - for any reason. As I said before, breastfeeding can be very tough physically and emotionally. I just know that I wouldn't have done it any other way and I have never been more proud of something I've done.

I will miss those milk drunk looks and the times when the girls would fall asleep on the nursing pillow after (or even during) a session. I will never forget the quiet peace that would come while I held them close and stroked their little noggins. The light in their eyes and the smiles they would give me between suckles are forever imprinted on my heart.

To my darling daughters-
I love you more than words can express. You have enriched my life immeasurably. As you grow and gain independence, I know that I cannot share this experience with you much longer and while this makes me sad, I know it pales in comparison to the pride I feel in you both as you amaze your father and I with all the wonderful things that you are learning to do. I hope that you know that my #1 objective has always been and will continue to be to nourish you physically, emotionally and spiritually in the fullest way possible.
Love-your Mommom

Mina is in the pink, Evie is in the yellow
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weekend with friends

2011-09-27T07:15:00.002-05:00

Thursday night we took the girls out to eat at Reds. They really enjoyed looking at the ducks and fountain from the patio.

Our weekend kicked of with us barely making dad's softball game at 6:30 on Friday. The team they played was pretty good at bat and took a big lead right from the first inning. The Bluepers managed to make up a large part of the deficit and prevented them from scoring the rest of the game, but the other team came out on top. We were all surprised by the visitor that stopped by at the end of the game.

The People in the balloon were flying really low so we had a really great view. They even waved down at us :-)

Saturday were very excited our friends the Cory and Robin Cash. They were married back in June in Lubbock. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture with them and the girls, but you we all had a great time. Mina especially liked showing Cory her dance moves :-)

Seth and I also took the girls swimming on Sunday at Oak Point to prep them for their second round of aqua babies here in a couple of weeks. Again, it's hard to get pictures of swimming since it's an all hands on deck type event. Next time I'll get some shots before and after. These girls love the water though! We even managed to get a few underwater moments :-) the girls were so tired Sunday they almost slept through dinner!

They were also being super cute this morning.

Mina poses for the camera

Evie dances for finding moms granola bar

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

International Day of Peace

2011-09-21T07:34:00.005-05:00

So today the girls' school is participating in the International Day of Peace (have I mentioned lately how much I adore their school!). The school asked that all the students wear white today so I set a calendar alarm to help me remember to dress them in white.

Guess who apparently messed up their alarm (set it up as a pm reminder by mistake). Boo!

At least they are super cute!

Dad helping Evie put on her shoes (oh how the girls love shoes!)

Mina enjoying her breakfast scone

The girls racing down the hall to go to school (they love their school too).

Despite my inability to remember to dress in white today, I definitely intend to spend some time today thinking about those that are in real need of peace, those that protest and push towards a more peaceful world, and what I can do to promote peace and help others find peace.

I'm curious - what things do you do to promote peace? I'd love to hear about it.

Peace be with all of you today and all days.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Are you ready to potty!!!

2011-09-20T07:35:00.001-05:00

There's a toilet training workshop at the girls school today, how are we even at the point of talking about it already?!?! The teachers say it could happen as early as 18 months if we take advantage of their curiosity now. Crazy isn't it!

Monkey bar Mina

Evie the fashionista

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Talk like a pirate day

2011-09-19T20:16:00.001-05:00

Dad reading Pirates Don't Change Diapers for talk like a pirate day. The girls loved it!

(Mina's on the left)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Berry home

Homemade Laundry detergent

2011-09-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

So I've been making my own laundry detergent and I love it (especially how much $ we save)
The hardest part is grating the soap-

Everything else is cake :-)

Here's the recipe I used.

I used 1/2 a bar of Dr. Bronner's lavender soap for the antibacterial properties in lieu of the Felis Naptha. Can you believe one batch makes 5 gallons!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random hi

2011-09-16T07:36:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd say hi and see if the latest blogger update was any good :-)

From a year ago today:

Can you guess who is who?

From this weekend:

A new decal by their table (lasted two days before they found a way to tear it down...

Evie loved the splash park and had no fear!

Mina was a bit more cautious!

Which way does mom go?!?!

My how time flies!

So far I'm liking this upgrade, if the bugs really are fixed I'll be posting much more!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Their Berry first Easter!

2011-04-29T11:19:00.001-05:00

For those of you missing your berry fix, here are a few videos of the girls from their first Easter.

Enjoy!

Thornberry Photo shoot Spring 2011

2011-04-11T14:04:00.002-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-21T07:30:00.001-05:00

From our little Lasses

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The girls first knit garment

2011-03-18T17:25:00.000-05:00

I started this on the way home from our first baby shower. Needless to say it took a while. Mina was kind enough to model it form me while sister slept :-) (Pictures taken on February 12th)

Blueberry classroom gets new play equipment

2011-03-14T22:14:00.001-05:00

The girls class got some new things to play on. See Mina in action!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Grandee Visit

2011-03-13T21:54:00.001-05:00

All the Berries had a wonderful weekend with Grandee. Saturday we went to Watters Creek and had a nine month photo session with Laura from Still:Photography. It was a beautiful day and the girls were in a great mood! I'll make sure to share the pictures when we get them. Needless to say the girls were a little tuckered out after we finished :-)

We had a really enjoyable weekend. We got a little shopping done and dressed the girls in the latest outfits from Grandee.

The rest of Grandees visit was spent enjoying snuggles and playing with our little Berries.

Thank you Grandee for coming to visit we miss you already!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy nine months my beautiful darlings

2011-03-08T22:03:00.001-06:00

Our Magical Mina Bean

Our Enchanting Evie Berry

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Option 2 on blogger

2011-03-04T17:24:00.000-06:00

One

Testing from my new blogger app

2011-03-04T17:01:00.001-06:00

Cute girls in green :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First Feeding

2011-01-24T21:34:00.001-06:00

So this past Saturday was the girl's first encounter with anything other than milk. We managed to document it in the video below:

I know I have a really big gap between posts, I am working on a 'catch up' post and hope to get it up soon :-) I've been letting that keep me from posting the latest and greatest - but I won'g let it stop me anymore.

Have a Berry Christmas!

2010-12-25T22:13:00.001-06:00

16 weeks in our Berry world

2010-09-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

So today we had another first, our first 'sick visit' to the Dr. :-( It wasn't really too bad, the girls have just been super duper congested for the past two weeks and yesterday Ms. Alberta (the girls' teacher) said she thought she could hear some congestion in the chest. In addition to that the girls haven't really been eating as well for the past few days and we were a little worried about that. The Dr. gave them a good look and found an infection in Miss Evie's ear. She went ahead and prescribed an antibiotic for both girls that should knock out the congestion and take care of little Misses ear. Good news is the girls haven't had a fever and are really holding up well, despite the constant stuffy nose. They did really well with their first dose of medicine and we are looking forward to getting over this little.

We did get a quick little update on about how much the girls weigh - Mina is around 10 lbs 12 oz and Evie's around 10 lbs 4 oz. I say around since they had their diapers and all their clothes on so it wasn't an 'official' weight. The fantastic thing about that is that both girls are finally on the weight chart. Evie's in the 4th percentile while Mina's in the 7th. This is really great since they weren't even on the chart before. Our little berries are catching up!

In other news we got a visit from Grandy this weekend and even got the girls out for a bit for their first Greek Food Festival - yum! The girls managed to sleep the whole festival.

For your berry goodness we have some pictures to share:


16 Weeks Grandy visit

Tutu Berries

Miss Mina Berry

Evie in her cool shades

The girls love the butterflies!

2010-09-24T17:38:00.000-05:00

15 Week Old Berries

2010-09-23T12:57:00.001-05:00

I know, the week was a busy one

Beautiful Berryies on Bellies in Bathing suits

So the girls had a fantastic week at school. They really have adapted well and have been deemed the best eaters in their class. Their teachers all adore them and comment daily on how wonderful and easy babies they are. We really are so lucky. The girls favorite thing at their new school is their butterfly mobile the school got from the Joyful Child. It seems to really be a big hit with all the kids. I think we might have to get one for home :-) The girls have also been having lots of fun with scarves at school. This has inspired us to grab ours at home and play with the different textures. The girls really seem engaged when we play with the scarves smile so big when we stroke their cute little cheeks with the soft materials. The girls have spent a lot of time sleeping the past couple days (they must be growing) and have been called the sleeping beauties of their class :-) The school gives us little written reports each day for the girls that are so cute. I'll make sure to share one soon. We couldn't be happier with the decision we made on where our girls stay and play while we go off to work.

On Saturday Plano had its balloon festival's fireworks show so we walked down to the park that night to watch them. Our little sleepy heads enjoyed the ride so much they were asleep by the time we got down to where we could see them. We'll just have to try again next year.

In other news the boogie man has been by our house almost every night. He won't seem to leave our little ladies alone. This has prompted us to invest in a humidifier for their room which really has helped a lot. The girls are such troopers when it comes to us having to suction out their nose with the bulb syringe. They will fight us a little bit, but at the end – once they realize they can breathe again – they'll give us the biggest, most sweet smile.

All in all we've had a fantastic week. We're still getting used to our schedule, but every day it gets easier every day.

This post I'll leave you with some pictures from a few weeks ago that I hadn't posted yet since they were on Seth's phone – the girls in their bathing suits! How fun is that! They won't get to go in a real pool till their at least 6 months, but we may have to hang out in the tub one afternoon just to splash around a bit, unbath related ;-) I'll let you all know how that goes :-)

The girls love their suits!

Mina with Grandmom

Evie with Grandmom

Berry Berry Beautiful

2010-09-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

Mina and Daddy

Sleepy Evie

Just had to share Mina and Evie's beautiful outfit today. All thanks to Heidi and Haley! You're so crafty Haley!

Day two of Montessori

2010-09-15T04:07:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to do a quick little update on the girl's second day at school. They both had a fantastic day and didn't spit up at all. We went back to eating smaller amounts every three hours instead of larger amounts every 4 and that seems to have solved the problem. They both slept and ate really well. They also enjoyed the butterfly mobile. Their teachers were very surprised by how well they did saying that the girls seem so comfortable there, it's like they'd been there for months. I'll post a new pic of them at school soon.

In other news, I had my check up with my PCP for my blood pressure and have been given the ok to start lowering my dosage and weening my way off my medicine. yippee!

New beginnings

2010-09-15T03:50:00.001-05:00

It's been a big week for our berry household. We said good by to Grandmom Leane on Saturday, the girls started their Montessori school (Healthy Beginnings), and daddy berry started his new job at Softlayer.

Grandmom really helped us prepare for the first day of school (I don't know if we could have done it without her). She helped us gather all the things they would need for the week as well as pick out a plant for each of the girls to have up at school. All of her help really made the first day easier. It was a little difficult to leave the girls for their first day of school, but we managed. It made it a little easier knowing they were in good hands.

Seth really enjoyed his first day at his new job and is welcoming the new challenges it will bring. He is very encouraged by the friendliness of his new co-workers as well as how organized the company is. My favorite thing about his new job is that he's close enough to my firm that we might even be able to go to lunch together on occasion :-)

Despite his excitement about his new job, it held no comparisson to the excitment we both had for getting back to the school house to pick up the girls. The girls gave dad big smiles as soon as he came in to the room. I wish I could have caught them on camera. The teachers had nothing but wonderful things to say about the girls. Apparently, they impressed them with their snuggling skills :-) We're still working out some of the kinks with their feeding (especially when it comes to spitting up), but if anything our girls are just too good of eaters and over indulge a little bit. Seth and I were super impressed with the early signs of how the girls are transitioning. We really think they are going to like it at their new school.

Seth Takes the girls up to the Montessori House

All in all we had a fantastic (but busy day) day and we're going to need a little time to get used to our new schedule. Wish us luck!

Over Two months without an update!

2010-09-10T03:32:00.000-05:00

So it’s been a long time since we’ve updated our berry blog, but that doesn’t mean that things haven’t been moving along for us. Really we’ve just been busy trying to settle in to our schedule and getting ready for the girls to start their Montessori school (they start on the 13th). Some of the highlights:

    *          Aunt Trish came to help out (Auntie Trish is hard to catch on camera)
    *          We started our cloth diaper journey (we’re really loving it so far)
    *          Mom and Dad went to classes for the girl’s baptism

double berry goodness

* The girls had their first pediatrician’s appointment. Mina weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. Evie was 5 lbs 12 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Froyo visit

* We took our first trip out of the house - for froyo

Grandmom Leane double burp pose

* Grandmom Leane has been helping us a ton
* The girls enter the system – we receive their social security cards

Off a walking we go

* We went for our first ride in our jogging stroller

First Play date

* The girls got to have their first play date with Miss Clara

Mia and berries

* Granddad Richard and Miss Mia came to help out

Evie boppy berry

* The girls made an appearance at their first Bluepers softball game

Granddad Richard with berries

* Seth & Granddad cut tons of dead leaves off a massive tree in the back yard

Evie the game show host

Mina the Flamenco Dancer

* Magnifico reveals what our girl’s are going to grow up to be – Evie a game show host, Mina a flamenco dancer

Aunt Lala and Unkie Monkey with Berries

* Grandee, Unkie Monkey, and Aunt Lala came for a weekend to help out

Auntie Trish captures some fun photos

* Auntie Trish came for a weekend to help out
* Our great friend Larry took pictures of the girls for us

* The girls started sleeping together in a crib in their room

Yin/Yang Twin moment

* The girls had their second pediatrician’s appointment (with bonus immunization shots). Mina weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 21 ½ inches long. Evie was 7 lbs 4.5 oz and was 21 ¼ inches long.

Snuggleberries

* Mommy had her follow up appointment with her OB and was released for all activities, she still is on meds for her blood pressure
* Mommy started swimming again (1-2 times a week)

Grandee, Mom, Berries

    *          Grandee came for a week to help out
    *          The girls attended their first knitwits
    *          The girls got to go up to Mommy’s work to meet all her coworkers
    *          Daddy was put back on the job market

Berries with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jack

* Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jack came to help out for a week
* The girls had their first visit to IKEA

double daddy changing system

    *          Mommy and Daddy had a week or two flying solo
    *          The girls started sleeping 4 hours between their feedings at night
    *          The girls outgrew all their newborn clothes!

Mina Smile

Evie Smile

* We've seen some real smiles from the girls
* Mommy started back at work

Mina Spider booty

    *          Grandmom Leane came back to catch us up before the girls start school
    *          Mina saw the Dr. to have her umbilical cord site recloterized, Mina had her weight checked at the Dr. – she’s over 9 lbs!
    *         Daddy accepted a new position at SoftLayer in Addison (Starts September 13)
    *         The girls have started mimicing us (especcially when daddy sticks out his tongue).
    *         The girls lift up their heads really well (with great neck control) and have started grasping things
    *         We've finally managed to take all our feedings from mom over the weekend - boy is it nice to not to have to worry about bottles 24/7! This definitely helps us all out!

Three months

* The girls had their third pediatrician’s appointment. Mina weighed 9 lbs 7.5 oz. Evie was 9 lbs 2.5 oz. The pediatrician is beyond impressed with their weight gain and says we can feed on demand now and don't have to wake them for feedings any more.

Now that you all are caught up, here’s the plan for the future – I’m going to start a new feature – “TWIN TUESDAY”. Every Tuesday I am going to do a quick update on what our family has been up to and post at least one photo. Hopefully this will keep mommy from slacking off on the blog.

Hospital Photos

2010-07-16T16:33:00.000-05:00

So things have been super busy at the Thornberry house. We all got to go home on Friday 9th of July. But not before the hospital took a few snapshots of our little ladies.

Mina Evie

Mina and Evie are one month old tomorrow - my how time flies

2010-07-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

Things have been moving along at warp speed! Last night the girls were measured and weighed. Mina is 19 1/4" and a whopping 5lbs 11.9oz and Evie is 19" and 5lbs 6.5 oz!

In the most exciting news ever, we found out that the girls will be going home on Friday. Seth and I are BEYOND ecstatic about this! They've been doing fantastic on their feedings (the nurses in the NICU have really helped Seth and I with this). Our girls even helped the nurses by pulling out their own feeding tubes (for the hundredth time - or so it seems like). The nurses will be doing their carseat study tonight and we've already got them an appointment with their pediatrician on Friday!

Seth and I can't say enough positive things about the wonderful NICU team at Presbyterian Plano. They've really helped get us to where we feel comfortable bringing the girls home to take care of them. I really don't know what we would have done without them.

We've also had a lot of help getting the house up to par for their arrival - with much thanks to Seth's parent's, My dad, my stepmother, my mother, Seth's sister, and my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Kenny. They did everything from clean the floors to install a ceiling fan in the girls bedrooms!

Words cannot express our gratitude to all of our friends and family for helping us get ready for this whirlwind of and experience.

Now for your next dose of berry goodness (we'll have pictures from the hospital taken soon too).

Mina's first finished bottle

Sleepy Mina with a fully tummy

Sleepy Evie on Grandmama's Tberry's shoulder

Happy 4th!

2010-07-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

Our berries are three weeks old today! Can you believe it!

2010-06-29T16:16:00.000-05:00

Today our little girls are three weeks old and making great improvements every day. They haven't had any alarms in a long while so now we are just getting the feeding down. The doctor has bumped them up to 5 feedings each day that will be taken by bottle (our goal is to get to 8 in one day before the get to go home). We were just moved up to 4 the other day so the girls must really be getting the hang of it. We're crossing our fingers that our little berries will be home with us by the end of the week.

Minerva and Evelyn at three weeks old

Enchanting Evie - 4 lbs 13.7 oz

Magical Mina - 5 lbs 2.8 oz

Minerva's first bath

2010-06-29T13:40:00.000-05:00

Evie is ready for more bottle

2010-06-24T22:42:00.000-05:00

Akimbo Kangaroo

2010-06-24T22:41:00.000-05:00

Tara and Mina

2010-06-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

11 Days Old Llittle Berries Update

2010-06-19T19:44:00.002-05:00

I just thought I would post a little update for everyone since I had a few minutes (such a rare thing these lately). Things are gong well for all the berries. We've just been staying busy with our visits to the hospital to see the girls and pumping (they say pumping takes dedication - man what an understatement!)

The girls are gaining weight daily. They were back up to their birth weights in with in a week from birth. Right now, Miss Mina's is at 4 lbs 7 oz (started off 4 lbs 2 oz) and Miss Evie's 4 lbs 3 oz (started off 3 lbs 15 oz). We've been able to start breast feeding and bottle feeding which is one of the major steps for them to be able to come home. In order to come home the girls have to be able to have 5 full bottles without help in one day and go 5 day without any alarms going off (they're mainly monitoring their heart and respiratory rates). The alarms they are counting are when they both drop and the girls don't recover self recover. The majority of multiples don't go home together so they may come home on different days, so that is something we're trying to prepare for. Really though, both little ladies are doing wonderfully and but are both getting stronger every day.

I've got to say NICU is the hardest things I've ever experienced. I feel like a visitor in my own daughter's lives right now It really just doesn't seem right. It's not really something I really anticipated :-( But then again, I don't know how one would go about preparing for it.

Seth and I know the girls are in the best hands possible. The people at Presby Plano's NICU have been amazing. They've helped us so much in preparing for our girls care and understanding how their needs are gong to be a little different than term babies. I would never wish a NICU stay on any parent, but if this is the place to go if anyone needs it.

Here's some pictures from our morning visit today :-)

Double Roo Daddy

Miss Mina sleeping girl

Mommie and Evie Rooing away

Jack and Pam shared photos

2010-06-16T23:29:00.002-05:00

The Harper Grandparents added a gallery of their photos of the T-Berry Berries:

2010-06-12T19:24:00.000-05:00

The girls got out of their isolets today and have joined each other in a single crib! Minerva was quite fascinated with Evie, but Evie seemed more interested in my Spider-Man blanket. (I must remember to take it back before she steals it from me!) We were very excited to be able to dress them for the first time. Tara also was discharged from the hospital today. She has bounced back from the delivery super-quick, as she always amazingly seems to do from surgery. I am taking the next week off from work so Tara and I will be adjusting back to home life and bi-daily trips up to the NICU at the hospital to see the girls. Speaking of which we're heading up there in a little bit so I better wrap this update up! Enjoy the pictures!

Quick Update

2010-06-11T10:49:00.002-05:00

I had a few moments so I thought I would post a quick update. Pardon the brevity. Leave comments if you need more details!
* Minerva Leane Thornberry was born at 5:51am on 6/8/2010 - she was 4 lbs 2 oz and 17.5"
* Evelyn Josephine Thornberry was born at 5:52am on 6/8/2010 - she was 3 lbs 15oz and 17"
* They are both incredibly beautiful, just like their Mom
* They are progressing *very* well
* Mina is completely off breathing support of any kind
* Evie is due to come off the cannula this afternoon (the last of the breathing supports)
* They both had a habit of grabbing the breathing stuff when they were on and pulling them off. I think this shows incredibly good hand-eye cooridination at what is essentially an almost negative age. ;)
* We have been rapturous having our Kangaroo Time (laying the baby on our chests, skin to skin contact) with Mina and should be able to start Kangaroo time with Evie tonight or tomorrow!

Pictures!

2010-06-09T09:24:00.002-05:00

I've uploaded all the pics we've snapped so far - enjoy!

Big news

2010-06-08T03:36:00.000-05:00

Our water broke at about 2:45 this morning. We just made it to Labor and Delivery and are getting checked in. Will keep you posted.

32 Week and 5 day Belly Profile Pic

2010-06-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

So since we're on home rest we've got a new location for our belly pics :-D

Week 32 Doctors Appointment

2010-06-06T17:03:00.001-05:00

A few days after our visit to labor and delivery we went to see the doctor to follow up. My blood pressure was still a little higher than the he would have liked, so he wants me to monitor it twice a day now. Thus the purchase of a handy digital blood pressure cuff. Yeah! The doctor listened to the girls and checked me out. He doesn't seem worried about my cervix any longer since we've been able to make it this far. What he is worried about is my blood pressure and any swelling that might indicate signs of pre-eclampsia.

At this time his recomendation is that I go on home rest so that I can minimize the amount of time that I am up on my feet. He's fine with me working from home so I have made arrangements with my firm to do so part time so that we can put off going on short term disability for a bit longer.

I'm heading back to the doctor after one week so that they can do another sonogram of the girls (a bpp - biophysical profile). They'll do lots of measurements on the girls and make sure they aren't under any stress. Until then all I can do is make sure I do take it easy until then. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for us until we verify that they aren't under any stress. I'll get up another update after our appointment. Hopefully we'll get some more pictures of them too. :-)

Unexpected Trip to Labor and Delivery - 31 weeks and 6 days

2010-06-04T16:47:00.001-05:00

On May 27th right after dinner Mommaberry was having some pain in her upper right abdomen. I got horizontal to see if they'd go away and they only got worse. When it didn't go a way for a while we ended up calling the on call Dr. to see if there might be anything we should be concerned about. It was recommended that we go ahead and head to labor and delivery to get checked out. As soon as we got up to go leave the majority of the pain subsided but we decided we would go ahead and go since I'd been feeling a little off all day.

Once we got to labor and delivery they decided they wanted to monitor me, set me up on an IV, and check the girl's heart beats. My labs all came back normal, which was good (apparently a pain in the upper right side of the stomach could be a sign of liver distress). Turns out my contractions were actually pretty regular (around 5 minutes apart). Fortunately, they weren't really painful, just uncomfortable. They checked me to see if the contractions were dilating my cervix (the good news is that they weren't). They ran the test to see if I was going to deliver in two weeks or not, that came back negative.

The Dr. on call decided it would be best if they observed me overnight so we settled in as best we could. The doctor also insisted that the girls heart beats be monitored all night. It's normally really nice to hear their heart beats, but they were being quite stubborn little berries. Once we would find one heart beat the other would move. They were definitely being little stinkers. The poor nurse was having such a hard time getting them. We'd have to get re-situated every time I got up which always took at least 30 minutes, but we made it through the night without too much stress.

Our Dr. showed up around 8:30 and suggested a shot that would slow/stop the contractions since they had continued through the night. It slowed them for a little bit, but they came back so the Dr. wanted me to stay through lunch to see if the shot really worked. We talked about the possibility of a steroid shot to help the girls lungs mature if they came early. We decided to wait it out to see how things go. He cleared me to take a shower. After the shower, the contractions actually stopped so by the time he came back after lunch he decided to let us leave the hospital :-) He did want to see me again on Tuesday so that he could check my blood pressure since it had been a little high while I was in the hospital.

So that's what happened with our little trip. The good news is everything is going well, we're just keeping a close eye on things. The nurses at the hospital are really nice and we got a little run through of what to expect when we go in there for D-day :-) Now we know better what to put in our hospital bag too. I'll get an update on our Tuesday's doctor's visit soon (hopefully tonight or tomorrow).

Week 31 Doctors Appointment

2010-05-26T07:51:00.002-05:00

Sonogram:
Can you believe the girls are still changing locations! Baby A has shifted to a breech position with her feet constantly dancing on my bladder and her noggin is angled to my left side. Baby B is oblique transverse and is folded in half with her head angled toward my lower right side and bootey around my belly button. The girls had lots of fluid in their sacs still, but are definitely cramped for space. It was really hard to get a decent picture of them since they are so smushed, but we were able to see little A berry kick little B berry in the noggin. The sibling rivalry is back in full swing!

Sibling Rivalry pic

Baby A Face

HB 135
Weight 3 lbs 14 oz

Baby B Face

HB 153
Weight 3 lbs 8 oz

Visiting with the Dr.:
The doctor was quite pleased with the way things are looking. My cervical length hasn't changed since he last saw us, which is great news! We were a little worried since the past week had been pretty busy. He said that now that we're past 31 weeks he'll still be checking the length, but we're past the point he was really concerned about :-D He was happy with the weight gain and my blood pressure. We talked to him about the braxton hicks contractions I've been having. They happen several times a day, but nothing's been painful (just uncomfortable). He told us what to look for that might indicate something more and told us to give him a call if any of those things happen. All in all things are great. Momma berry is a little more tired each day, but she gets two more weeks of going to work (which means I get two more weeks with the girls after their born - so yippee!!!)

Next appointment is June 7th at 3:30pm (one month from D-day) :-D

Dallas Shower

2010-05-26T07:47:00.001-05:00

I have got to say we have the most wonderful, generous, and talented friends in the world. We had so much fun at our shower this past weekend. They had a woodlands theme for us and coordinated everything wonderfully around that theme.

Food: All the food was labeled according to the theme (like the punch was the Fox's watering hole - how cute!). There was even a hedgehog shaped cheese log! All the food and drinks were wonderful. They even had a little yogurt parfait bar! Miss Emily Tillman was even commissioned for the cupcakes - oh she makes the best cakes/cupcakes in the world! What a treat!

Activities: Since my mobility was a little restricted I got to mainly sit in the most comfy Ruggle's chair and visit most of the time. They had some really fun activities though - a onesie decorating table, a baby food in diaper game, a guess who this baby is game, and a team relay that involved putting diapers on a Raggedy Ann doll and then pushing the doll in a stroller through an obstacle coarse. Everyone seemed to have a great time socializing and participating in all the fun.

My mom was able to fly in on Friday for our shower too, which was awesome. Grandee (as my mother would like the girls to call her) had so much fun getting to meet everyone. She also enjoyed washing all the little girl clothes you all generously gifted us with while she was here :-D

Everyone was so very, very generous! Our little girls are already so very spoiled (not only by your gifts, but by all your kind wishes and prayers for them). Thanks to you all we're almost ready ready for their arrival. We were so happy to see everyone. All of the Tberry family is so blessed to have such a wonder base of support. We'd like to send out a special thank you to the lovely hostesses - Annita, Elizabeth, Michelle, Racheal, and Randi - it was one of the most special days we've ever experienced. We love you all!

Pictures now available for your viewing pleasure!

31 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-05-23T19:54:00.005-05:00

Hospital Tour

2010-05-20T17:15:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday Seth and I were able to take a little tour of the maternity ward at Presby Plano and were really happy with what we saw. Since the tour was over an hour long, I had to swallow my pride a bit and let Seth push me in one of their wheelchairs to make sure I didn't overdo it.

General hospital:
As far as the general location of the hospital it is West of the Tollway, South of Parker Road. Our tour started in the main lobby where we would enter the hospital (provided the girl's arrival wasn't an emergency situation). The emergency entrance is located on the East side of the main campus, off of Communications. Parking is free at the hospital (unless you opt to valet - that's $4). They also have a free parking garage off of Parker Road if covered parking is desired (it's free as well). The hospital has a security system set up to ensure that the babies don't leave with unauthorized people so that is reassuring. There's ample waiting area and some places for children to play while people wait on all of the floors (it looks like the 4th floor area has the most kid friendly areas though). They have a level 3 NICU which is comforting (hopefully we won't need it, but it's nice to know that they have one should we need it). Also we were told that the cafeteria has been rated and should actually have some decent food available :-D

Third Floor - Mother's Store, Antipartom, OR, and Labor and Deliver rooms:
The labor and delivery rooms are very nice and quite roomy. It is my understanding that we will start out there, head to the OR for the girls' big entrance, and then return to my labor and delivery room to recover for a few hours before I am transitioned into a postpartum room. They will get almost all of their tests and treatments with us in the room. On this floor there's even a Mother's store run by the lactation consultant that is supposed to have lovely gifts as well as all the nursing accouterments you could ever desire.

Fourth Floor - Nursery and Postpartum:
The postpartum rooms are all single rooms which should ensure our privacy and minimize the hospital staff coming in and out of our room. They were considerably smaller than the labor and delivery rooms, but still quite nice and provide Daddyberry a place to sleep too. Some of them have had the interiors redone recently, but that just depends on what tower your room is in. The hospital encourages the parents to have their babies 'room in' so the girls will be with us the entire time. The nursery is on the same floor, but is empty most of the time since the preference of the hospital is to give the babies as much time as possible to bond in the room with you. They really only take the babies to the nursery for procedures (like circumcisions and such - which our little girls obviously won't need) or at the doctor's or parent's request.

We didn't get to go into the NICU or the OR's for sanitary reasons but the areas were pointed out to us and are in logical locations. Overall we were impressed with the facility and are really happy to have our girls starting their journey of life there

We've been really happy with everything at the hospital so far and really feel like it's the right place for us. I'll update you all on the cesarean section class (which we had last night) and the breastfeeding class (which we have tonight) as soon as I have the opportunity.

Week 29 Doctors Appointment:

2010-05-19T17:48:00.003-05:00

Sonogram:
So the girls keep shifting around - not quite sure how since they don't have a ton of room. They're still looking great. Baby A had a heart beat of 136bpm and Baby B had a heartbeat of 145bmp. We managed to get a couple of pictures of them and got to see our little Berry B give us the biggest cutest yawn in 3d. Too bad we couldn't have recorded that! It was beyond adorable. The girls are kind of oblique at this point with their heads down on my left side and their feet up by my upper right rib. No wonder I'm getting lots of punches in the bladder and kicks in the ribs (boy are my ribs sore)!

Baby A Profile

Baby B Yawny girl

Meeting with the Dr.:
Basically he said I narrowly missed being put on bed rest. So I bought myself two more weeks before another appointment. My cervical length had dropped 1 millimeter, but he was confident that if we could keep it to that for each week we'd be fine carrying the girls to the date we want to. I am to continue on the restricted activity that I was on this past week that essentially means I can go to work, but I need to be laying down on my side when I am home. We can go out on occasion, but I'm not to do a lot of walking around while we're out.

He suggest that if I have any of the symptoms that might indicate that I might be headed into premature labor that I should call him and let him know. He suggested we have an 'itchy trigger finger' when it came to anything like that.

So for now - Yeah for two more weeks! Now I can go to Revit training at work and we should be able to go to our breastfeeding and cesarean section class at the hospital :-D We have opted to miss our last two operas (Madame Butterfly and Moby Dick) since it won't really allow me the opportunity to at least put my feet up. It's a small price to pay though to keep the girls 'cookin'.

Our next Drs. appointment is Monday May 24th.

49 more days till the 7th of July!

30 Weeks and 3 Days Belly Profile Pic

2010-05-17T17:00:00.000-05:00

29 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-05-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

Baby knitting

2010-05-05T17:34:00.002-05:00

I bought some yarn at dfwFiberfest a few weeks ago and picked up this pattern from the knitting fairy. Here's a quick snapshot of my progress on the first one:

I just love the way they are knitting up! The second one will have the same colors, just not at intense.

Also here's a picture of my first knit diaper soaker -
I used the free CurlyPurly pattern (pdf):

Number two is in the works!

Week 28 Doctors Appointment:

2010-05-05T17:15:00.003-05:00

Sonogram:
Our little berries aren't quite berries any more, or at least they are the biggest berries I've ever seen! Baby A measured at about 2 lbs 14 oz with a heart beat of 143 (puts her in the 53 percentile) and Baby B measured at about 2 lbs 10 oz with a heart beat of 136 (puts her in the 36th percentile - that's up from 28th percentile). They both have plenty of fluid in their sacs and seem to be quite happy. Man are they wiggly too, despite their cramped quarters :-D It's definitely harder to get good pictures of them since they don't have as much room, but we managed to capture a few pictures. The Dr. said he was very pleased with their development, especially since their size discrepancy had gone down from 9% to 8%, which he said is fantastic (anything below 15% for twins he said was good).

Baby A 3D - Snugly little girl

Baby B - Smiley little girl :-D

Meeting with the Dr.:
So after the Dr. said how pleased he was with the girls he moved on to a different subject. Something I noticed during the sonogram, but didn't quite realize how much had changed. Apparently my cervix has shortened to a point where he wants me to come back in a week for him to check it. If the rate that it is shortening continues he will put me on bed rest starting next week - boo!

To give you an idea of the change - we started out around 16 weeks with a measurement in the 50's. By week 24 it was down to 37. By week 28 it's down to 24. The Dr. said that there are two camps of doctors when it comes to cervical length, one camp that will call for bed rest at 25 and one at 20. I'm fortunate that he belongs to the 20 camp - although, he said with the twins he was really teetering on the edge of going ahead and putting me on bed rest...

So at this point, bed rest isn't necessarily a matter of if - it's more a matter of when (and where since he wouldn't speculate whether or not it would be home or hospital bed rest). I guess it all depends on how I measure next week. For now my activities have been limited, so no more walking, weights, yoga, or swimming for me. I can go to work, but I need to keep my feet propped up and when I'm at home I need to spend the majority of my time laying down on my side. In the meantime I am talking to HR at work and trying to get things set up for my absence (which is a little earlier than I was anticipating). I don't know at this point if I will be able to work from home or not, they said they would tackle that hurdle when we get there.

So that's what's new with us. As surprising as this development is, ultimately we're just happy to have two happy and healthy little girls. We'll do whatever we can to keep them that way. I may just get to spend more time knitting soon.

As far as our date is concerned, we talked to the doctor about July 7th and he said we shouldn't have any issues making that work :-D Hopefully we can keep the little girls in for that long. I'm feeling pretty positive about it. I just need to relax for three now and enjoy my little wiggle worms while I get to have them close.

28 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-04-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

Glucose tolerance test results

2010-04-30T17:22:00.002-05:00

So I got a call from my doctor around 4pm yesterday with my results. He said I passed (but by the skin of my teeth). Basically he is suggesting that I cut out all sweets and monitor my carbohydrate intake just to be on the safe side. We've got our check up scheduled on Monday with our 28 week sonogram to check on the little berry girls so I'm hoping to go talk to him about how strict I really need to be. I already make the choice of complex carbs over simple carbs when I have the option so I would like a little more direction as far as What exactly my 'limit' is. I'm a little frustrated that the one time in my life I'm supposed to have a little leniency regarding food, I can't take advantage of it. Then again, I am very lucky to have two happy healthy little girls and I want to make sure to keep them that way. I'll do anything for my little girls.

On Monday's appointment we're also planning on asking the doctor if we can go a head and 'schedule' a date during the week that he was anticipating we'd get to meet the girls. That is unless the girls pick a date before that, but the plan is to hold out for as long as we can.

Baby Related classes:
Seeing as how we're probably going to have a cesarean section, when the woman from Presby called to tell me they were moving my Multiples Lamaze class to another day I went ahead and canceled it and scheduled a cesarean section class that will include a hospital tour. That class will be on Wednesday, March 19th. I have the breastfeeding class the next day on the 20th. That week is really going to be busy since my mom will come in on Friday night and we'll have my local baby shower on Saturday! June 14th we have our Babycare and CPR class. We're also looking at scheduling baptismal classes soon too. Hopefully that will get us all caught up on classes :-D

Cribs:
Purchased, put together, and photographed -

Aren't they lovely!

We finally had the opportunity to go through all of our shower gifts too and put them in places. Everything is really starting to come together! Now I just need to finish up all the thank you notes.

New Poll - Day Care / Early Education

2010-04-28T15:05:00.003-05:00

After the babies are born, I think our biggest decision will be what to do for day care / early education of the girls. I've added a new poll to the right, so give us your opinion!

Healthy Beginnings Montessori

Primrose Schools

Children's Light House

Kids R Kids

Kiddie Academy

27 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-04-24T09:15:00.002-05:00

26 Week Doctors Appointments

2010-04-23T13:43:00.003-05:00

So I had two appointments on Wednesday – one with my pulmonologist and one with the OB (the big gestational diabetes screening).

Pulmonologist

The first appointment with the pulmonologist went well. My lung capacity test showed that I had slightly less capacity than I did last time, which is most likely due to the girls taking over my midsection. The doctor said I wouldn't need to come back until about a month after the girls are born, unless I have any issues. Things have been going well so I'm hoping that I won't need to go back till then. For now I just need to stay on the meds that I've been on and everything should be fine.

OB Visit

After I visited with the pulmonologist I drank my orange dextrose drink for my glucose screening and headed over to my OB's office (across the hall), about 45 minutes early for my appointment. The drink was not as bad as I had heard from others. It was very sweet (like a flat sweeter version of Sunkist or Crush). I think drinking it quickly through a straw helped a lot though. The check up with the doctor went well, I got right in even though I was early. I told him all of my new 'symptoms' which all seemed to be within the normal range of what to expect when you are pregnant. Really it's only been the round ligament pains that seem to happen in little spurts. They had just been pretty painful lately. I think the girls are just going through a growth spurt. He listened to the girls' heartbeats and checked my cervix. He was happy with where I was. It was really a pretty quick visit so I went out to the waiting room till my hour had passed so that I could have my blood drawn. It was only one vial so no big deal.

Glucose Results - PASS OR FAIL?

I got the call from the nurse yesterday about how my test came back and it turns out that I didn't pass my first round. I scored 146 and needed 140 to pass. Close, but no cigar. Now I'll need to go back on Tues. for my 3 hour test. It'll start with a fasting blood draw (no food after midnight the night before) at 8:30am. Then I'll drink 2 orange dextrose drinks and they will do more blood draws, 1 at 1 hour, 1 at 2 hours, and 1 at 3 hours after I finish. This will be so much fun – NOT! I tried really hard to eat really well the 2 days before this past one so I'm really kind of disappointed, but at least I know I did everything I could. The bottom line is the girls are taxing my body a little more than it's used to. I definitely need to be careful about what I eat and make sure that it's nutritious, even if my next test has more favorable results.

On a more fun note:

The trim is all finished in the nursery! We've got the dresser moved back in and we're ready to start putting some of the girls stuff in there. Our friends and family at our baby shower were very generous! I'll make sure to take some pictures of the gifts and put them in the album if anyone wants to see. We're going to order our cribs, mattresses, and glider with ottoman this weekend too! So excited!

As far as things upcoming. I have my test on Tues. so I'll let you all know how the next test goes. The next sonogram and Drs. visit is May 3^rd :-D I'll be getting a belly shot up later today too!

Baby Shower (Nothern Edition)

2010-04-20T16:59:00.005-05:00

Tara and I had a wonderful time in Amarillo at our (Nothern Edition) Baby Shower. Everyone really outdid themselves in preparing us for the girls, as you can see at right. Super big THANK YOU to everyone who was able to make it out, especially those of you who traveled up to Amarillo. It was great toenjoy the wonderful Cakes and Company. I know I saw a lot of cameras flashing, so if you have any pictures you'd like to share, please leave a comment with a link or drop us an email. If you need an easy online place to put your pictures, I highly suggest a service like Picasa or Dropbox.

26 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-04-16T17:10:00.003-05:00

less than 84 days to go!

24 Week Doctors Appointment

2010-04-14T17:08:00.017-05:00

Sonogram: So our 24 Week Dr. Appointment went well. We had to reschedule the actual visit with the doctor for Tues. since he was out of the office sick. On Monday we got to see our beautiful little ladies again. The measured their noggins again and checked their heart rates. At this point baby A is about 1 lb 10 oz and has a heart beat around 143. Baby B is about 1 lb 8 oz and has a heart beat around 153. They both have plenty of fluid around them, but are looking a teensy bit more cramped than they were last time we saw them. When we first got her up on the screen, baby A was moving her mouth like she was talking to us - so cute. When we went to take a peek at Baby B she must have been practicing some yoga moves as she was apparently bent at the waist with her head between her knees. It doesn’t quite look comfortable to me, but the ultrasound tech said she sees it all the time. Such a silly girl that baby B.

Baby A ProfileBaby A 3DBaby B peaking out between her legs (1 of 2)Baby B peaking out between her legs (2 of 2)

Tuesday I went back for my Dr. apt. Here are some things we talked about:

Overall, the doctor was nothing but pleased with my progress. He said the weight difference between the girls was less than 9% and really anything less than 15% is good. Both of the girls look to be developing very well and my body’s still doing well at providing them a safe place to grow.

Pregnancy symptoms we discussed – I’ve been experiencing a little numbness in my hands later on in the day. It seems that carpel tunnel may be the culprit. I’ve been advised to sleep with wrist supports and to try and wear them at work if at all possible. I’ve got to say sleeping in these contraptions is really cramping my snuggling L I still need to try them at work though…

My next appointment – with bonus Glucose screening - So next visit I will get to down my sugary drink and they’ll test my blood for insulin resistance. The doctor gave me some tips on how I can increase my odds for passing the test, especially since with twins I have a 1 in 4 shot of failing it. If I fail it then I will have to do the four hour test with involves 2 sugary drinks and 1 blood draw each of the four hours after. Since that’s not really high on my list of fun things to do, I think I’ll take his advice and do my best to eat the most balanced meals possible the few days leading up to my test.

The girls arrival - We talked a little about when we might want the girls to make their debut, provided if the girls don’t choose their own date. According to the studies that he’s read, it’s been proven that twins develop faster in utero than singleton babies do. So when it’s commonly believed that singleton’s lung development is done around 37 weeks, it’s 35 weeks for twins. I never would have thought that, but I guess my body is much further ahead in its preparation for the girls than I am ;-) That being said, the doctor said he wouldn’t want to schedule anything before 37 weeks just to be on the safe side. He really didn’t think it was necessary for me to go past 38 weeks though. So it looks like we’ll have the girls sometime between July 2^nd and July 9^th. That’s about 12 weeks away – can you believe it!

In other news – last night, April 13^th was my first Plano Mom’s of Multiples meeting. I was amazed at the turn out! They are very sweet to their expecting mothers, providing water, snacks, and very helpful welcome packets. There was a woman there that spoke to us about cloth diapering (which I am very interested in) and another woman that talked about chemical pollutants to be on the look out for. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay for the potluck dinner or the main speaker (about safety in the house), but I did have a good time and am looking forward to seeing these ladies again. There’s a lot I can learn from them. I also got to meet my MOM (mother’s of multiples) mentor, Juliet. She’s so helpful and encouraging. She makes me believe I can actually do this whole twin thing! There’s no meeting for May, but I’m definitely going to try and make the June meeting.

As far as what we’ve got coming up soon –

Our West Texas baby shower is this Saturday – April 17th. We’re super excited to see everyone!
We’ll have our next appointment on April 21^st, so I’ll make sure to update you all on that.
We’ll be interviewing some more daycares soon too – such a crazy big decision!I’ve got to admit, I’m a little overwhelmed and nervous about it.

As you can see, things are moving right along for us. All the Tberries appear to be moving in the same direction – early July :-D

25 Week Belly Profile Pic

2010-04-12T20:14:00.004-05:00

Sorry I'm a little late. The Drs. appt. went well. I'll post the
details soon.

Nursery Build: Detail Day

2010-04-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

I'd been holding off on posting any more nursery pics until we were done, but I just can't contain the final detail pics we got yesterday. HUGE thanks to everybody who came out to help. Tara had a distinct vision for what she wanted and you guys pulled it off perfectly! I especially like the flourish of the branch with the lovebirds on it over the door.

24 weeks belly profile pic

2010-04-01T17:04:00.007-05:00

So today the girls are supposed to both be the size of a large papaya :-D That's quite a coincidence since I had a papaya smoothie yesterday!
The best thing about week 24 though is that the babies are "legally viable" now. This means that they would have a reasonable chance of survival outside of their womb in an intensive care unit. It'll only get easier for them from here :-D

OB appointment on Monday at 3pm! Stay tuned for the update!

Nursery Build: Day 6

2010-03-30T10:27:00.002-05:00

Friday Grandad T-Berry flew into town, and when Grandad T-Berry comes to town, that generally means a trip to the hardware store to fill out more of the holes in my tool set. :) Speaking of holes, John swung by again Saturday afternoon and walked me through patching the hole we dug out of the window seat. John knows his dry wall and really taught me a bunch. You can see in the picture to the right the extent of his success in coaching me through it. Tara was as busy as ever on Saturday, so we tried to make her rest in between all the Team in Training and Michelle's wedding work she was doing on Saturday. You can see her in her lovely Co-Matron of Honor dress in some of the pictures here. On Sunday we rested, so we'll have more pictures from the finish work we're doing this week later.

Nursery Build: Day 5

2010-03-30T10:16:00.001-05:00

The bulk of the painting is all done now and we've pulled the tape off the trim. Everything looks just perfect and we're super happy. We are really lucky to have had GrandMom T-Berry in town this last week to almost single handedly paint the entire room. Tara and I both are really looking forward to getting cribs in and with the help of both of the Grandparents we will be getting that going soon.

23 weeks and 3 days belly profile pic

2010-03-29T18:09:00.000-05:00

Nursery Build: Day 4

2010-03-25T21:42:00.003-05:00

We have trim! Mom got all the trim and the posts in the window with the dark brown and the room is now really coming together! John (Merch) came by and gave us some ideas for what to do about the shelves in the bottom of the window seat, but in the end I decided that was probably too much right now for our nursery remodel. Maybe some day. :p John hooked us up with all the tools supplies and even the sheet rock to patch up the big hole we made in the wall. As soon as we get that patched up we'll apply the magnetic paint down there and that should be the final touch.

Nursery Build: Day 3

2010-03-25T19:13:00.003-05:00

Day 3 Progress was great! Mom had the major sections of the walls painted perfectly and I "requested" that the girls take it easy tonight and enjoy themselves at Knit Wits. Tomorrow it's the trim!

22 weeks and 3 days OB with bonus Dentist appointment (was Monday March 22nd)

2010-03-25T17:57:00.001-05:00

So today was a really busy day, or at least it was supposed to be. I had a Pulmonologist appointment scheduled at 9:30, an OB appointment at 10:15 (no worries, they're right across the hall), and a dentist appointment at 11:15 (now that one was cutting it a little close)...

The Pulmonologist cancelled about an hour before the appointment saying there was a medical emergency - so one down, two to go :-D Fortunately I haven't had any additional respiratory issues (at least since Thanksgiving) so this was really just a check up to make sure everything was going o.k. Good thing it is :-D

The OB appointment went well. I found out my little firefly friends (I had a couple of incidences where I was seeing little floaty light - very pretty, but probably not supposed to be there) were probably signs of me skimping on the water. This wasn't an intentional skimping - more a matter of just being busy. No worries, I'm definitely making it a priority.

The OB said everything is looking great. Blood pressure was normal, cervix was nice and closed. He listened to the girls with a doppler doing his best to listen as they flipped and turned. He ultimately decided they were doing just fine since they were movin' and groovin' so much. :-D

I talked to the Dr. about who will be able to be in the room during the delivery. He basically said that since each baby is going to have their own medical team, he'll have a medical team, and then the anesthesiologist will have a medical team that Seth would really be the only one allowed in with me while the girls make their entrance. This is a little disappointing, but understandable. I was hoping the grandmas would be able to come in (especially since they both have medical backgrounds). Seth will just have to take the girls out one at a time as they make their arrival to show them off.

Regarding the actual delivery - while I was hoping to be able to try for a normal delivery it seems the odds are not really in my favor. 95% of multiples, or so I've been told, are delivered via C-Section. Apparently there was a study done (the Hannah study I think) that came out saying that (multiple) babies did better when delivered that way, basically since doctors didn't have enough experience with multiple vaginal births. Ever since that study Drs. have done even less, boo. I am lucky that my Dr. said if the babies presented themselves favorably that we could talk about it. He did deliver many sets of multiples that way when he worked at Parkland (back before this study), but even he admits, the opportunity presents itself so rarely that even he is out of practice when it comes to multiples.

Ultimately though, the check-up went well and I'll be back in two weeks for another follow up with an ultrasound. I am seriously so spoiled getting to see them every month! I just love it!

After the OB, I made it to the dentist with time to spare. The appointment went really well. I was told my teeth are in great shape and there's no sign of infection (I only mention this because I've read that it can negatively impact the pregnancy if there were).

That's about it for the appointment updates. I'll make sure to update when we have our next one. It's fun times in Berry land!

Nursery Build: Day 2

2010-03-24T09:00:00.004-05:00

GrandMom T-Berry made great progress getting the room prepped and painting the ceiling and back wall by the time Tara and I got home. While I finished up the ceiling the ladies verified the paint colors and went and picked up the rest of the paint. Tara taped off the walls while GrandMom T-Berry touched up the back wall and then I had to drag them both away so they would get some rest. I think the colors turned out great!

4D Sonogram photos

2010-03-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

Tara posted the pictures from our 4D sonogram last week. Here's a small collage I made for Grandma Buchanan so she could take some pictures back with her. That's baby A on the left and baby B on the right. I think baby A looks just like Tara. :D

22 Weeks - 4D Scan

Nursery Build: Day 1

2010-03-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

Grandma T-Berry got in to town yesterday and the Nursery planning started in earnest. After punching some holes in the wall of the window seat to see what's under there we're not sure if our book shelf plan is going to pan out. Attached are some some photos of the Nursery before we start painting and from our Lowe's trip for paint & supplies. We got some paint color samples and a big bucket of blue for the ceiling. Grandma T-Berry is starting on the ceiling today and then we'll try out some samples of the paint for the wall and trim and see how they look this afternoon. We'll post pictures of our day-to-day progress.

22 week belly profile pic

2010-03-19T17:00:00.001-05:00

5 months - say hi to Daddy!

2010-03-16T10:16:00.000-05:00

Seth got to feel one of the little ones kick for the first time today. He thought he had felt one before, but this time there was no doubt about it. His eyes lit up with pure joy. I love my hubby.

Cloth diapering adventure

2010-03-13T10:15:00.000-06:00

Today, after a most enjoyable trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo for Racheal's birthday, we met with April from Green Baby Diapering Service. We are really excited about starting our girls out with the cloth diapers and April made everything sound perfectly doable. We'll definitely start out using the service, but I would like to eventually like to stock up on our own diapers so that we can benefit from their use on the financial side of things too. I'm really excited, I'm thinking about making the inserts myself.... Wish me luck!

21 week belly profile pic

2010-03-12T10:13:00.000-06:00

20 weeks and 3 days Drs. appt

2010-03-08T10:08:00.000-06:00

Today was the 'big scan'. It was so amazing. Seeing not only the girl's hearts beat, but seeing the four chambers of each of their hearts beating beautifully. The technician measured around their little noggins and their tummies. She measured the length of their legs and arms. We got to see their adorable little feet as well as their kidneys and stomachs. The technician even surprised us with a 4d picture of each of them. They're just beautiful. They've apparently already started sucking on their thumbs and playing footsie with one another. Baby A was especially active starting out head down, kicking her sister in the head, and then flipping over so that they were both feet down.

Baby A had a heart beat of 148 and was 14 oz and baby B had a heart beat of 152 and was 13 oz. Needless to say they are two very healthy girls.

After the Dr. reviewed our scans he came into the patient room saying that really he couldn't be happier with their development and progression. He also said that with the way my body is adapting to the pregnancy he was really optimistic about us being able to make it to term and come home with two health 6 or 7 pound little girls. My Dr. seems has started referring to my support system as a 'cervix of steel'. He gets a big grin on his face every time he says it. Even though it's silly, part of it makes me feel a little proud. It's like I was made to bring them safely into this world, even though I've got to admit sounds a little scary from the view point of my elastic belly. Really though, I'd do anything to make life easier for our little girls.

Here are some of the pictures from today's visit:

Baby noggins:

Baby A 4D:

Baby A Profile:

Baby A 'girl':

Baby A stretchy legs:

Baby B 4D:

Baby B profile:

Baby B 'girl':

Baby B feet:

19 weeks and 6 days belly profile pic

2010-03-04T09:52:00.000-06:00

Mobile phone test

2010-02-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

Hi from the lounging momma berry

It's cold outside so we're working from home :-)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

16 Weeks and 3 Days OB visit

2010-02-08T10:00:00.002-06:00

Looks like they're both little girls! They were playing footsie with each other too!

Footsie

Baby A's a girl!!!

Baby B's a girl!!!

They're both girls!!!

Baby B profile

Baby B looking at us

Baby A Profile 1

Baby A Profile 2

15 Weeks and 5 days Belly Profile picture

2010-02-03T20:51:00.001-06:00

Documentation of the first day that Seth noticed I had a belly bump :-D

12 Weeks and 3 Days OB Visit

2010-01-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

From the e-mail I sent out Jan. 11th:

Just thought I would send out a quick little update. I know some of you have sent e-mails that I'm behind on responding to. Please don't think I forgot about you, we've just been busy. Things are slowing down from the holidays and hopefully I'll have time to catch up soon. Pleas know that Seth and I really appreciate all of your well wishes.

We couldn't get video this time, but should be able to on the 20 week scan.
They were both sleeping till the tech woke them up (by bouncing the ultrasound scope on my belly), then there was no stopping them them from moving and grooving. They were both stretching out and wiggling their arms :-D Baby A kept rolling over and waving - too cute! I swear baby A was banging on the top of it's sac telling baby B to cool it up there - haha!

Baby Stats:

Baby 'A' (closest to the cervix) is measuring at 12 weeks and 4 day (1 day ahead) with a heartbeat of 155.
Baby 'B" (up higher, closer to my belly button) is measuring at 12 weeks and 5 days (2 days ahead) with a heartbeat of 163.

Testing:

They did the Nuchal translucency scan and from the measurements the tech said everything was in the normal range for both of them, hopefully the blood tests will say the same. Ultimately, the Dr. said he couldn't be happier with the pictures we got and with the way things are progressing.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Love from the big berries and little berries!

Baby A and Baby B head

Baby A Wave

Baby A looking at us

Baby B Profile 1

Baby B Profile 2

Birthday surprise

2009-12-09T08:31:00.003-06:00

Since today is my birthday I thought I might share some news.

I had originally wanted to wait a little longer to start spreading the news, but my darling husband couldn't contain himself and posted something on facebook (really I can't blame him too much). I am sure has already started to work its way around, so some of you may already know this via social networking...

Seth and I are about to go through a major….. MAJOR life change.

It looks as though we are expecting, not one…. but two additions to our family (and no, they are not new little birdies).

See the photo below if you want to see what I mean. :-D

Not only are we pregnant, we've got twins!