Over Two months without an update!

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.

24 Week Doctors Appointment

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

Cloth diapering adventure

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!