Grieser Twins

Full with Pictures. :)

2011-12-28T05:28:00.003-06:00

Zach obviously thinks he has somewhere better to be.

Zach is looking, but I am too busy tickling Max to look at the camera.

There he goes again... Photoshop anyone?

Although our kids are busy and our hands are full, our hearts are fuller.

Frustrated Daddy

2011-12-19T11:47:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. Welcome me back, thanks.

There is a lot of things that people don't understand about raising twins (or trips, quads, etc. .) That's not to say that I was enlightened with any of this information before having boys of our own but rather things that both Sara and I have learned along the way.

Raising twins is not the same as singulars. Multiples have an unwritten and unspoken bond that unless you are one, it can never be understood. They play off of each other in how they interact with us as parents, and everybody else for that matter. That can't be "parented out," nor should it be. It's simply a part of their neurological makeup and can not be changed.

Max's speech is slightly delayed for two reasons; he couldn't hear for the first two years of his life and Zachary, his TWIN brother, answers for him all the time since he is the big brother by all of one minute. Zach is literally one minute older and the "big brother" mentality is already programmed into him. I have no doubt that if Max had come out first, this situation would be exactly reversed. It is what it is and, as I've already said, this can not be changed.

Part of the reason for me blogging again is that I want people to understand that our boys, as twins, do not react, interact or converse in the same way as "normal" children do.

I get extremely frustrated when parents try to throw their dictating tactics for discipline at us when in reality they have no idea what it's like raising multiples. Two children, separated at birth by one minute, who could not be more different in their personalities but couldn't be any more connected for the rest of their lives. If one is crying, the other instantly stops what they are doing and investigates the cause. If we put one in timeout, the other one waits outside the door until they know that their "brudder" is OK and not harmed.

Christmas is a joyous time of year but the nuances of making all the appointments work really drains the life out of you sometimes. Sara and I want to make everything work for everybody but that just never happens. There is so much more involved in getting two active and sometimes defiant two year old twin boys to places that by the time we get there, it just isn't fun for anybody anymore. Add to this the various challenges presented by different households in keeping their little hands off various knick-knacks, rocks, ornaments and candy and no one can truly enjoy themselves in the spirit of the holiday season.

We know this will get better as they get older and we get more accustomed to meeting these challenges with the information that we have accrued in two and a half years of being new parents.

All that said, Sara and I both wish the best for everybody this holiday season. May your next year be better than this one.

Dustin

Tired.

2011-12-13T01:26:00.003-06:00

Today wasn't a good day. It was a combination of a tired mommy, two tired boys, a messy house, a huge pile of laundry and a mile-long to-do list. And it didn't end well.
The boys woke up in fairly good moods, I made breakfast and we migrated towards the family room. We had a bit of snuggle time and then I started my "to-do" list.
The boys love to help and I need to learn to let them do what they can, even though it makes the task longer and harder for me. I had put the car seats back in the car after cleaning them last night, and Zach only ran out of the house once when the door was open. When I got a load of laundry out of the dryer, the boys decided to "help" by drying 2 packages of fruit snacks and 6 cans of Pepsi Max. The fruit snacks melted a bit, but thank God the soda made enough of a racket that I pulled them out of the dryer before they exploded.
Zach was obsessed with climbing on things today. He climbed on a chair to be able to reach higher on the Christmas tree and he started pulling down the "good" ornaments. The rest of the tree, from 4" and below is empty, as they have all ready cleared it off and thrown all the balls down the stairs. When I "shooed" him away from tree, he ran into the kitchen, and again climbed on whatever he could (a Tupperware, a chair, his brother) and started pulling things out of the cupboard. He opened a package of Ramen and crunched it on the floor, as well as dumped out a Costco size container of Craisins.
I encouraged nap time, which was a no-go and after an hour of insane yelling, I got them up. It started a cycle of kicking, hitting, biting, pulling back and forth at the tree. Not to mention that during that one hour of yelling, Zach managed to get the closet door open and pulled out ALL of his drawers and the clothes in them.
They also managed to take all of the little containers of Jell-o and smoosh them into the floor. And then, cue the hitting, kicking, biting.
Max gets so tired, he can't walk. He just sobs. You can't put him in his room, you can't get him to do any type of activity. He just sits on the floor, chews on his blanket and sobs. Zach gets tired and he gets rowdy, and naughty.
At one point, I asked Zach if he needed a spanking and he turned around and stuck his butt in my face. Kind of defeats the purpose of that threat. The kid has never had a spanking, maybe a swat on the behind once or twice. Today, he should have been swatted at least 50 times if I was going to tell him NO every, single time.
I try. I know that they want discipline, but sometimes, I am just tired of talking. I am tired of saying no. I am tired of redirecting. I am tired of yelling, tired of picking up toys. I am tired of laundry. I am tired of a messy house. I am tired of pine needles from the Christmas tree.
I am obviously missing the boat on the whole holiday thing, because I am tired and so are the boys. So, why won't they sleep?!
I made dinner, Max screamed the entire time because he wanted to push the buttons and I wouldn't let him up by the stove. I tried to cook and keep the boys safe while I was making dinner. Then, I open the oven and find a AAA battery on the bottom of the oven. No clue HOW that got in there or WHEN. I didn't get a look inside the oven before I threw the green bean casserole in it...
Max refused to eat dinner, he wouldn't sit in his chair, kept climbing on the table. Zach wouldn't eat off his plate, only mine. Dustin was mad because I was being quiet and I was so tired.
I cleaned up the kitchen, living room and vacuumed up some of those damn pine needles and went to bed.
Did I mention I am tired?

Big Boys

2011-12-09T03:20:00.003-06:00

Well, I guess it feels like it is getting "easier" as the boys get bigger, some moments are more difficult (temper tantrums!), and the sheer fact that the boys are getting bigger, it makes me a little sad.

Dustin and I decided when we first found out we were having twins that we wouldn't have more children. Those feelings were cemented with return thoughts of miscarriage, infertility and pregnancy complications. For the most part, I am ok with just having the boys and our angel. But, watching them get bigger and needing their mommy's help a little less puts that ache in my uterus.

Last week, I made the impromptu decision to separate the boys and get them their own rooms. They had been sleeping in their cribs, which were converted to toddler beds, with the open side facing the wall (I have no idea how this "fooled" them for so long) but, Zachary had began to climb out of his crib, into his "brudder's bed." This would cause insane amounts of anger for Max, who would be so tired and then, Zach would jump into his bed. And not only did Zach climb into bed with Max, he also bit him. One day, he had over 8 bite marks on his back. Bitten 8 times in the span of time from Max screaming to me pulling Zach off. Zach wasn't being malicious, just "playful."

On Friday, the boys were exhausted and had settled down for nap time. I got them in their beds and sat outside their room, listening, just in case Zach tried to bite Max. Within one minute, I heard Zach climb out of his crib and into Max's. I went into their room, separated them, did the "goodnight" routine again and waiting outside the door. After the 3rd time of pulling Zach out of Max's bed and Max getting angrier, AND no nap in sight... I had enough.

I unplugged the computer from the wall and drug the desk into our bedroom, without moving a thing. I threw the mattress and box spring for the guest bed into the hallway. I frantically searched for the allen wrench and started disassembling a crib and pulled that into the hallway.
Dustin got home and seemed a little shocked. I had texted him earlier and asked, "are you ok with own bedrooms?" I don't think he understood the seriousness of my message, nor the determination to get these children to nap.

That night bedtime went without a hitch for Max. He climbed up into his big boy toddler bed, chewed on his blankie and fell asleep. It wasn't so great for Zachary. He sat in front of the bedroom door and sobbed for over an hour, crying for his "brudder." When he finally quieted down, we moved him to his bed for the night.

The boys woke up in great moods Saturday morning. However, Zachary woke up with the reddest face I have ever seen. He must have broken every blood vessel in his cheeks when he was screaming for the hour I made him cry it out. Of course, we had Christmas card pictures scheduled for Saturday morning. And although pictures went well, Zach looks ridiculous. If anyone asks, my excuse for his red cheeks will be that he got trapped in a nursing home with hundreds of little old ladies who pinch cheeks. Truthfully, he cried hard enough to get a red face.

He has never cried at bedtime again. And on Saturday, after pictures, they EACH took a FOUR HOUR NAP. Alleluia.

They wake up happy and the boys are actually happy to see each other. I know emotionally that separating them was more difficult for me (once I got past my initial crazy mommy moment of disassembling the guest bedroom). It was the same when the twins got their own cribs at 6 months. They shared a bed before that and when they each went into their own crib for the first time, I cried. They slept through the night and late into the morning. That transition was definitely harder for me than them.

I have a sneaking suspicion that is how watching your babies grow up feels. They hit transitions and adapt without issue. While the transitions will be harder for me. And as they continue to get bigger, needing less help from their mommy and my uterus will ache a little more. ;)

Halloween Pictures

2011-11-27T03:42:00.003-06:00

C is for Cookie, also known as Maxwell

Fuzzy, Furry Lovable Brothers

Smiles!

Zachary: Elmo; Maxwell: Cookie Monster

Elmo off for trick or treating!

Z.C.

2011-11-27T00:23:00.004-06:00

Zachary is a child with personality. There is simply no other way to put it. He does the craziest things, says the funniest things and will never be accused of being dull.

Zach has a very independent, dominate personality. He wants to do things "my self." Today, he went upstairs, into the fridge, pulled out the apple juice, got a cup, brought it downstairs, and then when he brought it to me, he said, "self." Zach wants people to see him independent. Maybe he thinks he will get even more lee-way. He is very much the "big" brother. He speaks for Max (which certainly has attributed to Max's speech delays). When ever Zach gets something, without blinking, he then asks, "for Brudder?" While trick-o-treating, after Zach got his candy, he would put his bag out a second time, "for Brudder" even though Max was standing right behind him.

Zach is growing and developing faster than I can keep up with, they both are really. He is learning so much. We have new fish, and Zach fed the "fishy supper" on Friday, dumping the entire bottle of fish food in the tank. Then, in the most dramatic voice, he yelled, "Oh no!" Followed by, "No No!" (in a scolding tone.)

He likes Calliou, even though we really don't love when he watches the show. That kid is ridiculously whiny. Zach doesn't have one thing that he fixates on (like Max's love for Cars), but he does like to do whatever he isn't supposed to. He imitates a lot. He will often "fix it" and use his tools to fix the baby gate, his crib, the heat vents, anything he can.

When he is naughty, he says, "sorry" in the most sarcastic voice. It almost makes you madder at him. The child is a wonderful climber (he mastered the rock wall at the elementary playground late last summer.) He likes to climb onto the TV stand, the table, the counters, the toilet to the sink, anywhere really. When he gets up there, he will usually get into some type of mess (pull out cords, pull pictures down, get into food--i.e. dumping out the entire bottle of salt, pumping a bottle of soap into the bathroom sink) and then he will yell, "oh no!" Followed by, "No! No!" and then he throws out a sarcastic, "sorry" and I can't get him to clean up his mess and march into time out fast enough.

He does like to help, and he is good at it. Zach's job is to put the silverware from the dishwasher into the drawer. He doesn't organize the silverware yet, more like just throws it all into the drawer, but I am not going to discourage him from helping! He LOVES to wash windows. Last weekend, he even helped my mom give the turkey a bath and break up bread for dressing. :) When you ask him to help, he is very quick to quip, "K!" and jumps right in.

He doesn't really have any special comfort item like Max. When Zach goes to sleep, we always have to put footie jammies (with the feet cut off) on him, backwards. Otherwise, he is naked before I can shut the door. He likes his little bunnies. Today, while getting the boys ready for bed, I was trying to clean their room. I had set up some stuffed animals on the book shelf, all sitting up... Zach went behind me, laid them all down and asked me for a blanket. He preceded to tuck them in to go "nigh night."

And, he is a flirt. Dustin and I joke when we take the kids to store and split (one with each kid), who will take Zachary, because he always HAS to say "Hi!" to EVERYONE. If someone doesn't respond, he continues his greeting and gets progressively louder. He points to women and says, "oh! Cute girl!!"

He is sweet. He will snuggle up and read a book. He loves to paint. He LOVE to dance. He likes to run, jump and play. He loves the park, his bath, anything with water. He likes puppies, girls, and dirt.

He tests our patience and fills our heart.

Besides having Transient Tachypnea of Newborn (when he breathed too fast and the reason he spent 2 days in the NICU), he is fairly healthy. Respiratory colds stick around a little while longer with Zach. He has allergies and gets sinus infections, but other than that. Healthy. He is the same height and a little smaller than Max.

The Christmas I was pregnant with the boys, we were planning on naming them Maxwell and Mason. I had read an article if one twin is to have a nickname, the other should also. The child without the nickname (in this case, Mason) could grow up and feel that he isn't as special. We received a Christmas card from Dustin's (ex)step-sister and she has a named Zachary. I had never considered the name before. Since the name Mason was to be for Baby A... I gave it some thought and since Z was the opposite of A in the alphabet and the name could be shortened. I bounced the idea off Dustin. He liked it, and so, Mason became Zachary. Because Baby A was always going to be 1st born, he was to have the middle name Clifford, after Dustin, who is named after his Grandpa.

He's my little baby Z.C. :)

Maxy Baby

2011-11-15T00:41:00.002-06:00

Two year olds do the craziest things... Especially our two year olds. I swear, people don't believe some of the stories I tell, and in order to remember those stories, I am going to dedicate the next few blog posts to some stories and notes about each boy to help myself remember these little moments.

I am going to start with Max. Even though he is younger (by one minute) and nearly never gets to go first. We've often said "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" and our Maxy is definitely not a squeaky wheel. But, we do smother him with grease. ;) (Also known as attention.)

Max has no patience. None. He wants what he wants, now. He doesn't throw all-out-fits though. If he doesn't get what he wants, he will let out a scream and usually bite something. He has gotten better about biting people, but he will gnaw at the couch, a blanket, etc. during a frustrated moment. He only has a few frustrated moments a day, he is very quiet and deliberate. Easy-going and rarely has an "I want" moment.

He is smart as a whip, both "book smart" and "street smart."
Example of "street smart": On Sunday, the boys were eating dinner at their table and they were fighting over a cup. They had gone round and round, fighting over the cup, etc. Zach had gotten up from the table, and Max used that opprotunity to get up as well. Max grabbed a spoon and the cup and started running towards the kitchen. About 5' from the table, he dropped the spoon and kept running. Zachary began to follow him, but stopped when he noticed the spoon, thus, giving Max a few more seconds to enjoy the wanted beverage in the coveted cup.

Max loves cars. Cars, the movie, cars that drive, Matchbox cars. This child will sit still for hours and run his little Matchbox car over ever inch of the house making "Vrooom" noises. He has a red, "Cars" shirt that we got in a bag of hand-me-downs and I can barely get him to take it off. He will often pull it out of the laundry and wear it while dirty.

He also loves "ChooChoo" trains. He is very into Thomas. Not so much watching the movie, but items with Thomas on them. He is a dream come true for the companies who use Thomas/Cars to market their products. We have Thomas swimming trunks (that Max sleeps in), Cars fruit snacks, ChooChoo cups, you get the idea.

Max loves to count. He is very good at counting to 10 and can say all of his ABCs. He is working very carefully on his colors and still is terrified of cows. We have a farm puzzle, and one of the pieces is a cow that mooos when you get the piece in the correct slot. When that happens, Max is terrified. Yesterday, he cried for nearly 10 minutes, wanting mommy and daddy and needing his blanket for comfort. He now refuses to work on any puzzles.

He still uses his blanket for comfort. He chews on one corner, which is now black and nasty. He sleeps on his tummy, like he always has, with his butt in the air and his blanket in his mouth.

He has come such a long way since getting tubes in May. He had a special ed. eval last Spring for delayed language development, now that he is able to hear, his words have really blossomed. He is more careful with his speech and puts a lot of thought into what he wants to say and how he will enunciate letters and syllables.

He loves to sing. Some of his favorite songs are: "Twinkle, twinkle, little star", "I love you" (Barney song), "Barbara Ann" (Beach Boys). He has the sweetest little singing voice.

He likes to pretend he is on the phone and is almost always taking to his papa.

His fingernail is starting to grow in and he still has occasional issues with staph bumps and herpes sores. Each time he breaks out, I am heartbroken. Our pediatrician is amazing though and is an excellent resource and quickly treats his skin issues.

When I was pregnant, at 9 weeks, Dustin and I went to Omaha for a Metallica concert (I swear I felt the babies move at that concert) and on the way home, I was determined that we needed to name the babies. We were driving through Iowa and passed a sign for the town, "Maxwell." I said to Dustin, "what do you think of Maxwell?" He liked the name and it stuck. However, I was so terrified that people would call him Maxy. I did not want him to be made fun of and called "maxi-pad." Several people reminded me that kids will find a way to make fun of any time, yet, I remained determined NOT to call my son, "Maxy." However, the first time I held that sweet baby and as I watch this boy grow, he is no doubt, my "Maxy baby."

Such a little stinkin' cutie piiiiee. :)

Pictures

2011-11-14T04:02:00.003-06:00

We had every intention of taking the boys to get their pictures taken today. Actually, we were going to do it last Sunday. I picked out what they were going to wear, ironed their shirts and pants. Set out their good socks, looked for shoes. Planned to get Max's hair cut... when I tried to make an appointment, the time slot I needed was booked and Max fell on his firetruck and got a black eye.
Plan B: get their pictures taken this weekend. I have been needing to do this for a loooooooooooong time. These are their two-year pictures. Yeah. My mother-in-law gave me a gift certificate for portraits in July.... I need to get this done, but I just have not been able to muster up the courage to get it done.
I don't mean to be such a pain about it, but Dustin hates activities such as these. I do too. I usually end up sweating like a pig, crabby and hungry, all while sneezing--hoping to get the boys to smile, or at least sit still. They don't like to sit still. Or together. They are much more interested in taking the "peecture."
I have no idea what Plan C is. When the boys were 1 month, the only reason the photo shoot got completed was because my sister, Betsy, came over to help. Same thing when the boys were 6 months. Hmmmm... I am seeing a pattern.... BETTTTTTTTSSYYYY!! ;)
Either way, I will get their portraits taken. Hopefully before they are old enough to drive to the studio themselves.

Mommy Musings

2011-11-10T00:09:00.003-06:00

I usually use this blog (well, I need to use this blog) as a way to keep friends and family informed about our ever growing boys, also, as a way to keep track of the milestones the boys achieve as they grow. Life in general is so hectic, that I often fail to write down all the little things.

But, today, I am not going to do that. I am going to just write to get a few things off my mind. I have had a heavy heart lately, full of sadness for parents who lose their children. My Facebook feed has been full of stories and prayer requests for people who have lost their infants to cancer, SIDS, and stillbirth. My heavy heart brings a lump to my throat that I can not swallow.

I just don't understand why. Why do parents have to endure such heartache? One story: a couple marries, struggles with infertility, is finally successful with IVF and conceives twins, a boy & a girl. She loses the boy on a Wednesday and the girl dies on Friday. Both stillborn. When she lost the boy, the heartache must've been so intense, but the glimmer of hope was still there. The baby girl was alive. But, then to have to deliver two stillborn babies? To have a funeral for your twins, whom you prayed for, wished for, hoped for. Certainly IVF isn't cheap and there is no price for a human life... I just don't understand why it happens.

I believe in God. And I know that these things all happen for a reason. I know that. I understand that. But, I still don't think it's fair and it doesn't stop the heartache I have for these parents who are grieving the loss of their babies.

And, Michelle Duggar is pregnant with her 20th child. Really?... I won't watch their show, but at one point, there was an interview with Jim-Bob and someone in a restaurant had bet him $100 to name all of his children's birthdays, and all Jim-Bob did was opened his wallet and gave the man $100. He couldn't start to list their birthdays. Imagine, not being able to name the day of your child's birth.

The parents whom lost their children, they will never forget the day they discovered they were pregnant, brought their babies into the world, the first night home. The way their child looked, felt, smelled. Never. Yet, Jim-Bob Duggar won't even try to name birthdays.

I don't understand why you would continue to bring children into this world if you can not give them the attention they need. I am certain that the Duggars' love their children, but there is no possible way that they can meet the emotional needs of 20 children. I'm not sure what Michelle is waiting for? Her uterus to fall out? Exhausting every possible "J" name in the bible? It infuriates me that those parents stretch themselves so thin between 20 kids and then exploit them on television, and the mommy's & daddy's whom have lost babies will never see the 1st smiles, watch their children go to school, get married, and have children.

It makes me sad. I have been following the Penn State child abuse case too. The fact that the coach pried on these children whom had a poor home life and then used his money, his position within the college, his money to molest young boys. It's beyond disgusting. And sad.

I just feel like their is so much sadness in the world. So much disappointment. So much exploitation. I worry about the parents who lose their babies. I worry about the children who have been exposed to horrible, unthinkable acts and will grow up to be parents. I just can not get rid of that lump.

I can focus on being the best mommy to my boys and I do. But, I have to admit, I am terrified to have to send them into a world with so much hurt and heartache.

Saturday Night Dance Party!

2011-11-06T13:19:00.004-06:00

I promised I would keep this better updated, and I failed. I am juggling a lot, loving it all. The boys are growing, healthy and happy. They are both the same height and weight (36 lbs.) I'd have to double check their heights, but it is certainly over 36".

I am attaching a video of some "Saturday Night Fever." Last night, the boys climbed up and turned on the radio (a daily activity), but last night, I had my smartphone ready to record. Their favorite song is Michael Jackson's "Thriller" but, this country song came in a close second.

Zach put on my socks and he has his shirt over his jammies. He needs to wear jammies for naptime, or else he ends up naked with God knows what smeared in his crib. I am not taking that risk every day, so, he sleeps with his jammies on, backwards. Normally, he is dressed a little more stylish. ;)

Maxy makes a camo appearance, sans pants.

Sorry it's sideways. ;)

Much love always.

Two.

2011-07-31T02:00:00.003-05:00

New post... April 18, 2011. What is wrong with me?! I haven't updated this blog since April!!?? I will tell you what is wrong with me... I have twins.

Yep, that's right. I have two toddlers. Two two-years olds. The terrible twos times two. I have this dilemma. It mostly has to do with my job as a nurse. I take care of very sick babies. I have watched beautiful babies pass away way before their second birthday. I have followed the stories of baby, after baby, dying in their mommy and daddy's arms. How can I ever even begin to complain about my life?! I have twins. Two healthy, boisterous little boys. Two little boys that we had trouble conceiving. Two. I feel horrid even whining about my situation for a second, but I do anyway.

It is difficult seperating home life from work life. I have a hard time sometimes shaking off the sadness that comes from work to come home and enjoy the life my little boys have. The biggest feeling that I struggle with is guilt. I feel so guilty that I have been so abundantly blessed. I feel guilty that I carried the boys to 35 weeks, that we were home in 4 days, that we didn't have months and months in the NICU.

But, right now, the NICU is behind us. My uterus is closed. We are blessed, we know it and APPRECIATE it. But, at the same time, we have two toddlers. Two. And sometimes, I just need to whine about it.

The boys turned two on May 6th. I had to request the same presents for both children. If you were to buy one a truck, buy the other one the EXACT same truck. Don't try to get all cutesty-twin-like and buy one a red truck and one a green truck. This will lead to a fight. One that I don't really want to do deal with. See, as the boys are getting older, they are noticing things. That not EVERYTHING they have is the same. Mainly, this unfolds during playtime. Our fights used to consist of Zachary taking whatever Max had, Max crying or getting sad, but quietly going to another toy/activity. Not anymore. Now, if Max gets upset. He bites. Oh yeah... we had this problem before with Zachary. Biting. But, he wasn't nearly as strong, nor had nearly as many teeth as Max does. Holy shit. That kid bites and it hurts. He will send Zachary running to tears. When Max gets mad, he bites whomever is close... not always Zach. And it hurts so bad that you can't even properly discipline because you are in tears. Keeping things the same helps this and keeps me less bruised.

One of Max's issues stem from a language delay. He couldn't hear, followed by ear tubes on May 10th. He can hear now, he is catching up amazingly well. But, he still hasn't quite grasped the "use your words" concept.

Two toddlers. This means two tantrums, usually simutaneously. Two little hands reaching into the fridge. Two kids pouring all of the salt on the floor. Two kids pulling the clean laundry out of the basket. Two kids washing their hands in the bathroom, while one is overflowing the sink, the other is putting the entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet, causing overflow from the toilet and the sink. Two kids running in opposite directions outside. Two kids arguing over what to watch on TV. ("Arney...No Elmo, ARNEY, ELMO!!!") And one mama trying to be fair and stay sane.

I am blessed. I don't take a second for granted. I know how lucky I am. I see it every second of every day. But, I am tired. I let things slide... possibly too many things. (Yeah, I let them wash their hands in the bathroom while I sat outside the door reading through the mail...) I don't want to raise horrible, out of control children. But, hey, they're two, right?

Hippity Hoppity!

2011-04-18T13:43:00.001-05:00

Easter is on it's way!

Few More...

2011-02-13T15:04:00.005-06:00

Christmas Pictures.

2011-01-23T20:09:00.003-06:00

In the tub, with their clothes on... Very excited for bath time! (Zachary (left) is obviously obsessed with eating things, don't worry, he didn't get any toothpaste. I haven't had to call poison control since the magazine eating incident when they were 6 mo. old.)

New wagon and new sweatshirts for Christmas. They have their names on the back, Zach (right) is "Thing 1", Max (left) is "Thing 2."
(Notice the attempt to climb out of the wagon and the little brush in his mouth--one of the reasons we have few pictures of them together, we can not get them to stay still long enough!)

Our Maxy Baby

Of course Zachary would wear the Santa hat. This kid has cried at bedtime until he got his fisherman's hat and wore it all night long!

Maxwell with Baby Brinley's pacifier. (Then I wonder how we got sick after Christmas!)

Zachary LOVES cranberries. He is sitting in Brinley's BRAND NEW high chair. (Sorry baby, we kind of destroyed your things... but we still aren't used to not being the babies at Grandma and Grandpa Hoheisel's!)

Our beautiful family.
Dustin, Max, Sara & Zach

Sammie Kaelin

2011-01-18T02:35:00.005-06:00

Three years ago today, our first baby's heart stop beating. We didn't know yet... and continued our hopes and dreams, while my body held on.

I found this poem and I know our angel is with Jesus, waiting for her mommy, daddy & twin brothers.

I'm just a little baby
who didn't quite make it there,
I went straight to be with Jesus
but I'm waiting for you here.

Don't you fret about me mommy
I'm of all God's most blessed
I'd have loved to stay there with you
but Heavenly Father knows what's best.

Many who dwell here where I live
waited years to enter in,
they struggled through a world of sorrow
and their lives were marred with sin.

So sweet mommy don't be sad,
wipe those tears and chase the gloom,
I went straight to be with Jesus,
from my lovely mother's womb.

Thank you for the life you gave me,
it was brief but don't complain,
I have all of Heaven's glory
suffering none of the worlds pain.

I would have loved to stay with you,
and lived a life by your side,
but the Lord has called me home,
I know it's hard to understand why.

Thank you mommy for making me,
You made me out of love,
I can't wait for the day I see you again
so you can see what I've become.

I'm an angel here in heaven.
The Lord's here by my side,
He wants me to let you know
He's sorry he made you cry.

He has a plan for me up here,
And a plan for you here too,
Someday we'll be together again,
and this I know is true.

Mommy Time

2011-01-15T04:31:00.002-06:00

I really don't have anything magnificent to say. Usually it is something like, "do you want a snack?" "be nice." "don't hit your brother." "we love each other." "nigh night." etc.

Last weekend I got a chance to spend a little time alone. I love the boys with all I have, but I was starting to look like I had been hit by a truck, not to mention that Max broke my glasses over 3 months ago and I was wearing the incorrect prescription, leading to headaches. So, I headed off for a day at the beauty salon and the optometrist.

The thing was, all I wanted to do was be with the boys. It was a rare day that Daddy was home too. And I wanted to spend time as a family. I enjoyed the adult conversation, but I missed my babies.

I spend a large majority of my time with them. I still work nights, which means I sleep right away when I get home and then through the boys' nap time. We are up together in the afternoons and then we have dinner as a family when Dustin gets home from work after 5 p.m. He gives them a bath, I clean up dinner... We get them dressed, watch "Wheel of Fortune" (which I rock at--just thought I would throw that out there. I answer puzzles with one letter on the board, I always know it before the contestant does. I also play on Facebook. I am on level 28 or something, with a cool 2.5 million dollars.) I go to sleep for a bit after that and then get up and go to work.

I see my husband for approximately 40 minutes a day. We communicate via text message. We share a bed, but I sleep in it during the day, him at night. It works for us. We've never fought, we certainly aren't screamers... But, being apart makes us enjoy our time together a little more.

We rarely have time, just the two of us. We would rather spend it with our boys. But, tomorrow night will be an exception. We are going bowling (I am hoping to break 50) for Dustin's work Christmas party. The Packer's are also playing in a play-off game. I am not sure Dustin will be able to handle me kicking his rear in bowling AND watching the Packers, I might need to load on him on betablockers before hand. ;)

In all seriousness, we are thankful for the time we spend together. Even if it is only 2400 seconds a day. And I enjoyed my day to myself, and look forward to the next one, in 100 or more days... as soon as I look like a rodent under a Mack truck.

"herre"

2011-01-09T21:47:00.002-06:00

The newest word in our house, here, which sounds like "herre." Zachary is giving us whatever he has and says, "herre." It is adorable. He is mellowing out a little bit and becoming quite caring.

Tonight, Max fell off the coffee table (I knew that damn "babyproof" post was going to bite me in the ass), and Zach ran over to him and gave him a toy. If Max is sad, Zach will find a blanket or sippy cup. It is SOOOOOOOOOO cute.

They are really into puppies lately. They notice puppies in books, on TV, out the window, etc. It is adorable to watch them point and say "puppy." We have thought about getting a puppy, but I am sure I want them potty trained before we try to potty train a puppy.

And speaking of potty training, Max has been grabbing at himself when we ask him if he went poop. All potty functions are poop so far. Today I asked if anyone needed to go potty. First Zachary sat on the potty. He didn't go, but he did wipe. lol. Then, Max went pee! Yay! They love the potty, and so far, no more splashing in the toilet, so we are getting somewhere.

We seriously are loving each stage they go through the best. Dustin's mom, Nancy, wrote him a book when we got married. I was reading it last night and there is a part that says,

"When you were very small, I often thought that I couldn't stand to see you grow older. When you first started school, it broke my heart that those baby days were over... then you delighted me with the things you learned and I was so tickled with how proud you were of every accomplishment. As you continued to grow up, I realized that I loved you best at each age you suddenly were."

I couldn't describe my feelings about watching the boys growing up "herre" any better.

Sara

BabyProof

2011-01-06T01:55:00.002-06:00

I got an e-mail from a dear cousin who commented on the blog. It was so nice to hear that people still read this, so, I shall keep typing.

I haven't been stellar at keeping baby books. I have them, I wrote in them before they were born, but since then, I haven't been as faithful as I want to be. I remember when I would look at my own baby book and couldn't believe that my mom hadn't filled in every page, like the guest list for my 2nd birthday. I believe I know why she didn't now!

We are all getting over the Christmas cold. The windows in the house haven't been open for two months, germs breed like rabbits, and we all get together & hug. We might as well lick the toilet bowl! Speaking of toilet bowls, I finally bought a child lock for ours. The boys seem to love splashing in the water and besides the initial safety aspect, it is nasty. I did a bunch of research on-line, posted a status about it on Facebook. I ended buying the only kind that Target had. It is effective. They have even tried to "double team" the lock (which is effective for most of the kitchen cabinets), but they couldn't get it open, so instead, Max moved onto something else, while Zach decided to stand on top of the toilet seat and climb onto the vanity. I wonder how I baby-proof that?!

Our house is safe now. I feel like they can't get into anything that I don't want them in. I have locks on nearly everything. I can always buy more though. The latest trick is pulling out the drawer on the stove to get a little closer to the top. Don't worry, our range does not have the burners or the covers on them. ;) It has locks on the controls and if I cook, I take the control right off.

Pretty clever, I know!

My youngest sister, Emma, is getting married in June and I am all ready nervous for what the boys will get into. They will be 2 then, and will hopefully have a better understanding of the word, "no." Which I was informed at Christmas time that they need to hear more of... really?! They are 19 mo. old, oh wait....ACHOOOO! Sorry, did I not cover my mouth? You want to talk smack about my parenting skills, I will get you sick. Hahahaha--evil laugh. At any rate, my other sister, Betsy (mother of 3) offered for us to stay at her house, which I am so grateful for. My comfort level rises knowing that her house is baby proof too.

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I do like this blog thing. I may try to blog more. Sleep more. And I promise to try to keep my children as safe as possible. Even if that means all the chairs are turned on their sides to prevent climbing on the table. Even if I have so much junk crammed into the one space in the living room that they can't reach, it looks like I am auditioning for Hoarders.

I am fully aware that they will still get hurt. They will fall down, chip their teeth, cut their fingers... but, I am going to try to be more aware of my actions which could prevent injury to them, but still allowing them to explore and learn.

Until next time, with 20 fingers, 19 fingernails, 20 toes, and 20 toenails-- which need a trimming--

Mama

Maxy

2010-12-23T03:49:00.002-06:00

So much for being a better blogger!

I tried to get everything together, the honest truth is that lately, I don't have it together. If you want proof, come over to our house. I used to have everything in tip-top shape, but it seems as though our home has been ransacked by two 19-month old young men. They must be looking for money or something, it seems as though all they have found is toys and manage to leave them lie all over the house.

Which isn't really fair to our Maxy though... because starting this week, he picks up his toys. He runs around the living room and puts his toys in the bucket. This behavior is encouraged by clapping and cheers. Even Zachary gets in on the action. Not the picking up of the toys, but rather sitting on the couch and applauding.

Maxy has had a very rough week. His infection is back on his finger. We are just sick about it. Poor little guy. He is starting to get the nail back, but right at the cuticle base, he has herpetic whitlow. This is basically a cold sore or "herpes" on the finger. It is a virus, which comes and goes. I am sure that he contracted the virus from me (I have always had cold sores) right after he was born. When we were discharged from the hospital, I woke up the first morning at home with my face covered in cold sores. Certainly a reaction from stress & no sleep. Max's finger is not nearly as sore as it was before and it does not have the green pus, or the staph, that it had before. He does not have a fever and does ok using the infected hand.

Our little Maxy is left-handed, and his infected finger is his 4th finger or his "wedding ring" finger. I know someday, I am going to watch him get married and think about how horrible I feel each time he breaks out in these infections. I do worry about something more... why is his immune system low? But, I can't let myself go there, I won't. At least not right now.

Another heart breaker for our Max is that he fell on the stairs this week and chipped his front tooth. It is a small chip, but noticeable, nonetheless. He then hit the tooth again, while he was riding around on his car in the kitchen and his lips/gum started to bleed. Max is one of the sweetest children you will ever meet, which is why all of this tugs at the heart strings a little more.

I usually rant about Zachary. He has started biting. His main entree, Max. :( But I want to share some things about our Maxy. He has a very quiet demeanor, unless he is alone with one on one time. If we get him up when Zachary is sleeping, he is the craziest kid. He runs around, babbling and pushing every button he can find.

He is built like a brick shithouse. Certainly because he crawled until 15 months. He has the most amazing upper body strength and he is so brave. He used to cry when the vacuum came on. Now, if it comes on (which is rare...lol) Zach will usually go lay on the couch or cover up with a blanket, while Max will puff out his chest and run up to the outlet and unplug the cord. He does it with such bravery. You can see how proud he is when he is done.

Zachary makes this noise, it is a cross between whining and screaming, which drives us all crazy, but when he makes it, poor Max loses it. He starts to cry immediately. And a hard, big tear cry. We have tried to get Zach to stop, to realize that he is making Maxy sad, to remind him to use his inside voice, but nothing works. And Max shakes with cries, but yet the bravery he shows to unplug the vacuum is admirable.

He definitely isn't the "show stealer." He doesn't wave and blow kisses at complete strangers EVERYWHERE we go, but he has such a happy, pleasant demeanor. He has such a special relationship with people and really is a Daddy's boy. If he doesn't feel good, he will pass up me at any point for Dustin.

He is just such an amazing kid. He doesn't demand attention. He waits patiently. He LOVES raspberries and chocolate milk. He likes to sit and look at/read books. He loves Baby Einstein. He is a big fan of Jason Mraz, and if he is having a bad moment, and we put on some music, he calms down right away.

Maxy has a special little twinkle in his eye. It is hard to see the bruises from the biting and the chipped tooth, you never want to see your child suffer or hurt, but for some reason, my want for Max is different. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about something happening to him. I feel the same way about Zachary too, but for some reason, I feel like I need to protect Maxy more.

Even though he is the one who puffs out his chest and shows me what it is like to be brave.

Mommy

Feeling like a Mom.

2010-11-26T21:43:00.002-06:00

I finally feel like a mom. I don't know why I didn't before. Maybe it was that whole breastfeeding fiasco that DID NOT work. I can't help the fact that I tried for 11 days and I never actually got any milk. That the boys would cry because they weren't getting it faster. Have you tried to hold two babies at once while pumping? It made me crazy, the were bottle fed and we all were a little more sane.

I held Maxy for 4 days in the hospital in August while he was poked at, prodded at and treated like a leper because of an infection. He was secluded and isolated and cried for hours on end.

But, the real kicker happened today. I was on the couch, Zach was snuggling next to me, oh so sweet, he got a little fussy and it looked like he was drooling. I said to Dustin, "oh, I think he is nauseated" and 2 seconds later, he projectile vomited all over us. I got puked on. Not a little spit up or baby puke (after all, Maxy had horrible, nasty reflux), but vomit. And I picked him up, brought him to the bathroom while puking and bathed him... All while I wanted to barf, but I didn't. I then cleaned him up, showered, entertained Maxy (with mascara, the kid loves to play in my makeup). We all sat on the couch and cuddled... And it was pure bliss.

Update

2010-10-29T13:04:00.004-05:00

I said I would be better at blogging, but yeah, not so much. I have ever intention to blog more, but I usually have millions of things that end up taking priority. Go Figure.

It is such a blast watching the boys grow up. They are so different, yet so alike. It amazes me how much "nature" plays a role in personality formation. Really, the twins are being raised the same way. They shared a womb, they had the same the same birth. They shared a crib, eat the same things, etc. Yet, they are so different.

Max has such a sweet spirit. He is more of an introvert, but has a crazy, cute side too. He has excellent fine motor skills and will sit and play with one toy for quite some time.

Zach is a little wild, but also, very sweet. He is an extrovert. He will blow kisses at every woman in the store. He will pull his diaper off, pull bread off the counter. He actually has some great independent skills.

It has been a crazy ride so far, we love every second.

New Pictures!

2010-10-29T12:58:00.002-05:00

Maxy with Mommy's glasses

Zach with the vacuum. He will cry when it turns on though!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Hi! :)

Gorgeous eyes!

With Mommy's Dolce&Gabbana sunglasses. :)

Pictures

2010-09-29T20:28:00.003-05:00

Return to Blogging

2010-08-24T09:32:00.002-05:00

I am thinking I want to blog more. Basically, I am annoyed with Facebook and I have been horrible at keeping up on baby books... I haven't even printed the boy's pictures off since 3 mo. If it wasn't for my sister, Betsy, we would have NO recent pictures of the boys. Nor would family members. Thanks, Bets. You would think that she has it easier than me, so she can print off more pictures. Not exactly true. She has a 3 year old boy, 2 year old boy and a 5 week old baby girl. Yeah, she has way more time than me! ;)

Fall classes started for me yesterday. I actually did homework last night, so I am off to a good start. I hate when I am in school though... I look around the house like I have so much to do... and I end up doing nothing. I never really used to procrastinate, and I don't actually. I just know that it is pointless to scrub the floor weekly, when the boys are just going to drop their sippy cups off the high chair trays in 30 minutes. Our house is clean, but not spotless.

I remember reading when I was pregnant that it isn't good to have EVERYTHING germ free. Kids actually get sick more. This recent thing with Maxy's finger has really had me wondering. Am I too clean? Am I not clean enough? Do I let them eat more dirt? Less dirt? I had a little break down with the pediatrician about this. I was feeling so bad about myself and my parenting/housekeeping/motherhood skills. He reassured me that it was normal to have these kinds of bugs on your fingers. That poor Maxy just had bad luck. Yeah, I'd say.

But, I will say that he is getting much better. His finger is healing, but he is using it again. I have been watching that closer, in case I would need to work with him on some PT/OT type things, but he seems to be bouncing back pretty well. That is what I love about kiddos. They bounce back so well.

Momma, not so much. I am still feeling the effects from living in the hospital. Not sleeping, not showering, etc. Dustin & Zachary got some nasty bug when we got home. Also a combination of not sleeping. I am now studying on homeostasis for school. How we need homeostasis for our body and how we respond to stress either leads to wellness or illness.

The boys are so resilient though and so fun. Max has started feeding me his snacks. LOL. He will pick up his cereal and put it in my mouth, like a thank you. And Zachary, well, that kid! He will snuggle in, kiss my cheek, act like he is watching TV or something and then, take my glasses off my face! I love watching them grow into little gentlemen.

I think we are going to attempt to play outside today. We haven't really been doing much of that. It is too hard when they run in opposite directions and our swing set was really damaged in the last storm. Not to mention that the sand box has about 6" of rain water in it. It stormed while Maxy was admitted, so I guess that makes sense on the lack of maintenance.

Well, enough procrastinating and back to reality. Aka: dishes, laundry and vacuuming during naptime.

Home with a bandaged finger

2010-08-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

We finally came home late Thursday night, about 8 p.m. He was supposed to have surgery on Thurs. to debride the wound. They were going to lance his finger in the OR and clean up the owie. He was still having more pus and whatnot gooing out of that finger. He couldn't eat or drink... and they wanted him to wait on pain meds. We went down to the OR and had to wait for the surgeon for over an hour. When he got there, Maxy was beyond fed up (not to mention hungry, thirsty and in pain!) The surgeon squeezed his poor little finger, decided he didn't want to do surgery and told us to go home.

Max had just been poked twice to get an IV, and we were supposed to meet with another surgeon in the a.m. to decide if he wanted to debride it. I didn't want them to have to do another IV, so we went home... with the IV in his foot.

We basically had to stay in the hospital so long for Vancomycin, a really strong IV antibiotic, until the doctors had the labs back, so they would know exactly what oral antibiotic to send him home on. Until then, he needed to be treated with the Vanco.

The cultures came back late Thursday night. He had staph (not MRSA--the one that is resistant to antibiotics) and strep in his finger. Both germs are very common and everywhere. They are naturally on our skin. Little Max probably ended up with a hangnail that got infected.

He is doing better at home. We are cleaning it and wrapping it. He is on Keflex for 10 days. He finally pooped (he was constipated for 3 days in there!!) and is all full of smile. I ended up with a cold in there. Dustin & Zach have some kind of nasty bug too.

We are supposed to go to Brinley's baptism tomorrow. Hopefully after another night's sleep, we will be ready to be around other people!

Thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers. It was very scary, but we are so glad to be home again.

Loev, Sara

our 1st hospitalization

2010-08-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to send a little update on our Maxy.

Last Thursday, he was up a lot during the night, had a fever, but had got better when he laid down in his crib. He had a fever during the night, up to 103.3, but he is getting 8 (!) teeth and we weren't really positive on the reasoning. His behavior was a little sluggish, but all in all, he was ok.

On Friday, he woke up and while I was changing his diaper, he put his hand up and on his left ring finger, he had a huge blister. It looked the size of a grape and was full of thick, green pus. He still had a fever, and was miserable. He didn't injure it, that we knew of, and we literally had NO idea what was going on.

I found a babysitter for Zach, and tried to take Max into the urgent care. They wouldn't look at him with a fever that high. We tried to get into the regular clinic (all in Princeton) and they were full. The triage nurse finally brought him to the ER, after he screamed in the waiting room for over 40 minutes. Dustin's mom, Nancy came up to take care of Zach and were were going to try to find out what was going on with Maxy.

When we walked into the ER, his fever was 105.6. They checked it later and it was going down, to 104.2. The doctor was sure he had strep throat from daycare (... Max doesn't go to daycare!!) The ER doc had no idea why his fever was so high, but since he did have staph infection in his right hand in December, she decided to put him on Septra and send us home.

He had an ok weekend. He still had a very high fever, but it would come down with Tylenol and Ibuprofen. We were draining his finger every morning, so he could use it... we were soaking it, etc. He wasn't using it and refused to really play.

On Monday morning, Mom was planning on coming anyway, she got there and now his finger was turning black, smelled of rotting flesh and he had a red streak going up his hand. I called our regular doctor, who was booked, but offered to see him anyway during lunch. Mom stayed with Zach and we ran down to Elk River. Max didn't have a fever, but he did have a NASTY infection. The doctor admitted us right from the clinic to the Princeton hospital. They started him on IV Vancomycin every six hours and an oral antibiotics.

It looks like we will be here again tonight. They are thinking that it may be some kind of Strep got in his finger, not Staph. (Staph will not send a red streak up the arm.) Zach is at mom & dad's and loving it. (The kitchen cupboards don't have safety locks on them! Imagine the fun!) Just wanted to let you know what is going on with our little boy and his poor finger.

Dustin is here with me today. My little client is back in the hospital, so I wouldn't be working anyway. Nancy, Dustin's mom came up last night and Mom or Betsy is going to bring Zach up here today. Emma is planning a visit too.

Birth Story, One Year Later.

2010-05-12T05:01:00.003-05:00

I was still going to school, despite bed rest. I had a big presentation in lab that I was working on with a partner. My partner on the project was a crazy procrastinator and since I was 35 weeks pregnant, I had wanted to wrap up the work as soon as possible. I had written the paper and did the majority of the work and she needed to add a table of our data. When she shows it to me, RIGHT before lab, there is no data table. Nope. The one part that was her responsibility, not completed. I stressed to say the least. I didn't really feel that great anyway, but standing in front of my lab class, huge, missing this piece... wasn't a good combination. I made it through and came home.

I was starving, it was Cinco de Mayo and I wanted beer and tacos. I obviously couldn't have beer, and for some reason, we didn't get tacos. We went to Merlin's in Princeton. I had a hamburger with fried onions and chocolate milk. We got home and watched some TV. I started vomiting about 9 p.m. and just did not feel good. I took my Procardia at 10 p.m. and went to sleep on the chair downstairs. Dustin went up to bed.

I think I slept a little, in and out anyway. I woke up often to pee and usually ended up vomiting. I took my Procardia again at 2 a.m. and remember saying goodbye to Dustin when he left for work at 7 a.m.

I woke up around 8 a.m. and called my mom. I had sent my sisters a picture of my swollen feet on their cell phones, and they showed mom. I had a horrible headache and my vision was starting to blur. I really thought I was fine. I hung up from mom, went upstairs to get a bowl of pineapple, forgot to take my Procardia at 10 a.m. Around 10:15 a.m., my sister Betsy called, she was on her way from work to take me into the hospital. I thought that it was ridiculous for her to take off work, so I decided to call up to labor and delivery first.

Nurse Jodi answered the phone. I went through the whole scenario, I am a patient of Dr. Roberts, 35 weeks pregnant with twins, have been vomiting pretty consistently for the last 12 hours, bad headache, blurred vision--and she stopped me immediately. She asked me how far away I lived, I told her about 10 minutes, she said she wanted to see me in 15. I don't even think she caught my name.

I called Betsy back and told her I needed to go up to Labor & Delivery. She was all ready 1/2 way between Milaca and Princeton. My mom had talked to her also. Mom had a cousin who lost full-term twin boys to pre-ecclampsia and I was showing all the signs. They were scared.

I took a shower, but didn't put on any makeup. When Betsy came, she made the comment that I was wearing the same green shirt that she wore when she went into the hospital to deliver her son, Ethan. We went up to the hospital, and when I went to check in, the registration lady told me she was expecting me. Obviously, Jodi had all the alarms sounded. Betsy wanted me to use a wheelchair and I refused. I waddled upstairs and Jodi had all ready been talking to Dr. Roberts. I had an appointment scheduled to see her that afternoon, and Dr. Roberts said that I could come in early and she would check me out in clinic.

That had sounded pretty good to me. But not Betsy. She asked Jodi to take my blood pressure first. Then, look at my feet. My BP was 120/90. My feet were "pretty swollen" and Jodi left to call Dr. Roberts back. She came in the room again and told me that I was going to be admitted to triage. Yippee. Another day sitting in the triage room. I had just been up there one week earlier.

I switched into my gown, peed in a cup, told Dustin what was going on, got comfy. Jodi started an IV, lab came up to draw blood. I was a little dehydrated, but they didn't want me to eat or drink anything. It was around noon now. My BP had settled down, but I was having contractions, every 4 minutes or so. The boys' heartbeats were all over the place too. I tried to relax, but Betsy was nuts. She was so excited, she was making all of us insane.

Around 2 p.m., Jodi came in and told me that I could have the babies that day. I had protein in my urine, a horrid pain in my side, my headache & blurred vision were getting worse, not better. So I needed to get Dustin there. Dr. Roberts had made some calls to the U, because I was still early and showing signs of pre-ecclampsia and HELLP syndrome. My blood work had came back with low platelets. I all ready have trouble clotting. I could bleed out. Yippee.

Dustin got to the hospital & Betsy left. She went to our house first and grabbed the hospital bags, camera, etc. She was going to come back later that night with my parents, and other sister, Emma. We had just bought a 1/4 of beef, and they were going to bring that up. The next few hours were a blur...

A nurse came in and checked my cervix. I was dilated to a 2. I had an ultrasound to check babies position. One week earlier, Zach was head down, baby B was breech. This ultrasound showed both head down. I have no idea when Max flipped. I imagine it was sometime during the violent vomiting. Dr. Roberts came in and checked me again. She said with both babies head down, she could give me something to induce the labor, and I would most likely have the boys vaginally by 8 a.m. the next day. She said I could have a C-Section and be holding them by 7 p.m. I didn't know what to do. I knew that vaginally was better for the boys, and I suggested that but I was also in a ridiculous amount of pain and my BP was getting higher and toxemia was getting worse. She scheduled the C-Section.

Earlier she had called down to the U of MN, to see if I could be transferred there for delivery. There were no beds for me, and only one bed for the twins in the NICU. It was decided to have Dr. Roberts deliver in Princeton and if the twins needed, they could either be flown or sent to a NICU via ambulance.

Dr. Roberts told me not to tell anyone about the pineapple that I had earlier ;) and everyone started flooding in. They brought scrubs for Dustin, lab came in, ultrasound, anesthesia, nurses, and nurses. We were watching the news and the weather had gone from foggy, to sunny, cloudy and then, stormy. There were severe weather warnings for Mille Lacs county, with a bad storm in Foley. At 6 p.m., Brian (anesthesiologist) and a nurse brought me back to the OR.

Dustin and I had met Brian earlier. He was the anesthesiologist in on my emergency D & C when we lost Sammie. That day, 1 1/2 years earlier, he took care of me while Dr. Roberts removed the tissue from my body and Sammie. Now, in the OR, they were delivering our twin sons.

I had my spinal, which didn't hurt at all. I bent over and kissed my babies. The phone was ringing like crazy in the OR of people who wanted to get in on the action. I don't remember meeting everyone, but I know that in the OR there were 2 scrub nurses, Dr. Roberts, Dr. Scott, Brian, Dr. Kubika (pediatrician for the twins), nurses for each boy, two surgical techs, Brian, Dustin and three other people standing in the doorway.

I was draped, Dustin came in. When she was starting, I was supposed to tell Brian if I felt like I was going to throw up. At one point, I didn't feel so great. I told him, and his response, "I know." I look over and he is squeezing the IV bag with both hands, and my BP was 40/20. Next thing, Zachary is born.

He didn't cry right away, he had to be suctioned and spanked. I got to see him for a second, and then the doctor was working on him like crazy. I couldn't see what was going on, but one minute later, Maxwell was born. He cried. I could see his "giraffe" perfectly. The first thing they did after wiping him off was gave him his Vitamin K shot, put the Erythromycin in his eyes, checked him over, and gave him to Dustin.

I cried during the whole delivery and pretty much lost it when I saw Max. I told him I was his mommy and kissed him. Dustin took Max to the nursery, and Zachary was whisked away for "a little extra help." Meanwhile, under the blue curtain, I was falling apart. Later, I find out that I had a huge blood clot around my liver, among other things.

I finally went into recovery at 7 p.m., a half hour after the boys were born. My recovery nurse was Brenda, who also cared for me during Sammie's D & C. I don't know exactly what was going on, there was a lot of whispering and I couldn't leave. I kept trying to see if I could go and see the babies, but they just said I wasn't ready.

Dustin was trying to go back and forth. Our parents and my sisters had came up to the hospital. They were watching through the nursery glass. I still hadn't really seen Zachary and at 8:10 p.m., when they wheeled me to my room, Dr. Kubica held him up, for me to see.

I got into my bed, my family came in to see me and say goodbye. I wanted to hold my babies. The nurse brought Max in, Wayne & Nancy came in to see him. Max tried to nurse, and I kept asking for updates on Zach. He was "not adjusting." But no one would tell me what was going on, even after I told them I was a nurse!

At 10:30 p.m., the pediatrician came in and told us that Zach had not made the 4 hour window that they give babies to "recover." He was breathing very, very fast and needed to go to a NICU. We had the choice between St. Cloud and Fairview Southdale in Edina. We chose to stay in the Fairview family, she called the ambulance. I asked if I could hold him, after a little humming and hoing, she brought him in.

I put him on my chest, skin to skin and immediately, his breathing slowed. He pinked up. He calmed, he nursed. He was like "a different baby" according to the nurse. She called the pediatrician, but the NICU team was all ready on their way. We said our "goodbyes." I bawled until I don't think I had any tears left. I was so devastated, but mostly for the boys. It was my worst nightmare to have the twins separated.

I wanted the twins in the same crib until the ambulance came, around 1:30 a.m., they came in with a ton of paperwork. There were two people with the ambulance, a RN from the NICU and a nurse practitioner from the NICU. They brought Zach in his isolette, with a nuk! and took him to Edina.

Dustin couldn't go with in the ambulance. They suggested that he go home and sleep. It was going to be at least 4:30 a.m. by the time he would be able to see Zach anyway. He went home. Max went to the nursery and I went to sleep...

(to be continued...)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2010-05-06T08:54:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOYS!!! 1 YEAR OLD ALREADY!!!

A few pictures

2010-05-03T11:45:00.002-05:00

The blue bird on the swingset

Zachary, enjoying his birthday card

Maxwell, waiting for his cake

Birthday party

2010-05-02T16:03:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures and lots of thanks for all who made it to the birthday party yesterday. It was so awesome to celebrate with our friends and family. Rachel, Mark, Auntie Betsy, Uncle Rob, Ethan, Owen & baby, Uncle Darrick, Auntie Emily and baby Susan, Grandpa Wayne, Grandma Nancy, Auntie Emma, Aaron, Jocie, Jessica, Grandma Debbie, Papa Marty, Amanda, Arlyn, Alec, Arycin-- THANK YOU!

The boys got so many great things, including these very cool ride on toys. Dustin and I bought them a swing set. And ever since it has been in the backyard, a little bluebird perches itself on there. It isn't spooky, it just sits there, and looks around. Protects the swingset. We have lived here for three years and have never had a bluebird in our yard. I believe in spirits being in animals, and I realize I am going to sound a little out there right now, but every time I look at that bird, I think about our angel baby, Sammie. Looking over her brothers, playing on the swingset too. It literally leaves me speechless.

And that takes a lot.

Love, The Mommy

Hello, what about me? FAIR is FAIR.. This is ZC.

2010-04-16T03:07:00.004-05:00

I know, I know, it has been a long time since anyone blogged. And I have to admit, I was a little jealous that Max got to blog first. I mean, I AM OLDER. By one minute. I came screaming into this world first, in a thunderstorm too. I rode in an ambulance. Max hasn't done that. But, he got to blog first, just as well though, he deserves some special perks. Sometimes, I demand way too much attention and like everyone says, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

It is almost our 1st birthday. We are having a party on May 1st, at 5 p.m. for all who would like to make it. It is a "double theme." Mommy made some really cool invitations, but they were expensive, so we can't really mail them to everyone. But, if you would like to come to our party, you can. And just email Mommy or Daddy for directions. I don't really know how to get to where we live. You can't see jack from the back seat!

I have gotten in a bit of trouble lately. See, I like to bite. To my defensive, if you were to see Max's thighs, you would bite too. They are so plump and juicy. And he is so sweet. ;) I shouldn't bite though, he really is a nice twin brother. He shares his toys, he gives me hugs and kisses. He doesn't even get too mad when I poop in my crib and stink up our room. (Oh yeah, I do this daily. I poop after my nap, can't really blame a kid for being regular.)

I still climb up the stairs, but Max does too. It is fun. And Mommy sings this song that says, "it is a race, it is a race, who is going to win first place?! "We take turns winning. Max is a super fast crawler. I am getting better. We love to zoom into Mommy & Daddy's bedroom. Mom has all this stuff on the floor that she puts on her face. It is all kinds of pretty colors, and it tastes pretty good too.

I am thinking about walking. I took a few steps towards Daddy the other day, but I am tall and it is a long way down. I don't like to cry either or get hurt, but really, who does.

We are planning a fun summer too. Mommy got accepted into a RN program. She will have to go to Bemidji sometimes, the longest is for 3 days and 3 nights. We will all miss each other like crazy, but it is going to be such a good thing for her. Daddy is going back to school too. He is going to be an accountant. They just want to give us the best lives they can. Plus, football pads are expensive.

We are getting a baby girl cousin in July. That will be fun, she better watch out because pink makes Max puke! Haha. Actually, he is outgrowing the puking thing. :) We have some family reunions and we are going to Des Moine in September to meet the Grieser's. We wish we didn't have to live so far away from them.

I better get to bed. I didn't take an afternoon nap and I get really cranky without sleep. I get that from Mommy. Love to all and don't forget about our birthday party if you can make it. We won't remember our party, it is really more of a celebration for Mommy & Daddy. THEY made it. They survived their first year as twin parents. And Max and I love them bunches.

Zachary C. Grieser

A Special Post from Baby B.

2010-03-17T03:02:00.004-05:00

This is a very special blog post from Maxwell T. Grieser. Yeah, everyone has been thinking that Zachary is sooooooooooo cool because he can climb up stairs, but, he can't type! I try really hard to follow him, I get to the first step, and I grunt and pull, it makes Mommy so sad that she picks me up and sets me down at the top of the stairs next to him. Then, my brother and I race down the hall. I always win. Always. He Army crawls, but, if he would lift his belly off the ground, like I do, he would be much faster. Don't tell him that though, he gets into enough trouble the way it is.

We are twins, which I really like. When I wake up in the morning, I look out of my crib, and I always start laughing. Zachary is usually standing up, waiting to talk to me. I just have to laugh at him, I know that it is way better to get a couple more minutes of sleep, than to stand up in my crib. He just falls over, I prefer to sit on my butt, that way, if I were to tip over, it isn't as much of a fall. Zachary is pretty tall. The last time Mommy took us to the doctor, he was 31.25 inches. I was 1.5 inches shorter than him, but I weighed more at 23 lbs. 10 oz. He was only 23 lbs. 8 oz. I have been trying my whole life to weigh more than him, so I was pretty proud. Anyway, when he falls, he looks kind of like a tree tipping over. He is pretty strong though and he really doesn't cry unless he is tired or gets hurt really bad.

Like this weekend, we were at our cousin Ethan's 3rd birthday party and there was a little chair tipped on its side. I just sat next to it, I knew it wasn't very sturdy, it didn't even have any of the legs on the floor. Well, Zachary, he didn't care, he stood up anyway. And guess what, yep, he fell. Really hard too. He actually put his top two teeth through his tongue. There was blood all over. Mommy took him into the bathroom, she thought he knocked a tooth out. But nope, just bit his tongue. Auntie Emma got him a freezy then. He is such a brat about that sometimes. I bet he will try to fall again, just so he will get a freezy. Especially at Auntie Betsy's house, because she only buys the brand name freezy's. Our Mommy & Daddy buy the generic ones. I was playing with Grandma Debbie when Zachary was getting his tongue put back together. When they came out of the bedroom and back to the birthday party, Grandma noticed that I didn't get a freezy, so she took it from Zachary and gave it to me. It was cherry too. :)

See, Zachary is kind of a brute. He does first, thinks later. But not me, I think about what I am doing. I plan my moves very carefully. I play with my toys the same way. I do not just throw them all over, I look at each one very seriously and then decide what I want to play with. I am very good with my hands. Mommy thinks I should be a surgeon when I grow up. She has been making me watch "Grey's Anatomy" with her since I was really little. Daddy hates that show, but that is an entire other post! It's kind of funny, because my Great Grandma and Grandpa Hoheisel told Mommy that they have a theory, Zachary is going to crash the cars and I am going to fix them. All I have to stay about that is he better give me all of his allowance for labor! Especially if I am going to have to fix something before Mommy & Daddy find out!

I really like to crawl. I especially like to go by the window and bang on it. This past Sunday, it was so nice out, that I got to play outside. Our neighbors came over (& I love them). Zachary and I got to crawl around on the driveway and in the grass! It was so fun, I even ate a rock! Jessica took it out of my mouth right way, but still! It was awesome. I can not wait until this summer when I am going to get to play out there all the time!

Our 1st birthday is coming up, we are having an awesome party. It is on Saturday, May 8th if you would like to come. Our actual birthday is May 6th, but that is a weekday and our parents have to work. Mommy & Daddy need to decide on a theme. I am so excited. I am hoping to get a Radio Flyer red wagon, it has a canopy and I will be able to look at Zachary when we are in it together. We also would like a slide for the yard, probably some ride-on toys and more books. We love to read. Even that crazy Zachary will sit still long enough for Mommy to read books to him.

I should probably go to bed. It is getting late and I see Zachary's butt wiggling in his crib. The next thing, he will want to help me blog. The last time he "helped" me on the compter, he ripped the Caps Lock button off and tried to eat it! The button is still missing from the laptop, but that is ok, I don't really use it anyway.

Love to all my fans,
Maxy T. aka Baby B.

Stairs

2010-03-10T12:59:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Zachary decided he was going to climb up the stairs. And he did. Five times while I was trying to find the camera. Today, he did it again, I caught him on the 3rd step (I was doing laundry, I had a gate up, but that was down and Max was sitting on it). I did grab this little video of his tush taking off.

Maybe I will add some pictures of my gray hair next.

Zachary

2010-02-16T08:38:00.005-06:00

I was getting ready to go to surgery and my Mom had put the boys in their cribs. They were being so loud and giggly, we opened the door and witnessed Zachary standing UP in his crib, followed by what we captured on video. (He was completely fine & giggly!!)

I am doing ok. Very, very sore. :(

Love, Sara

Mama, Dada, Baba

2010-02-01T11:57:00.007-06:00

This is the first time in a while I am not napping during nap time. Thank you to the great babysitter who came over this morning while I went back to sleep. :) She is so amazing. We are so grateful that she lives so close and the boys love her so much. What a joy. After they saw her this morning, they started smiling and did not even look back at me. That is such a great feeling. You all must know about my fear of daycares, but this family is so great to us. They are what keep us here. Why we want to stay in our neighborhood of bombing suspects and dilapidated houses, unkept lawns and MOUNTAINS of shit piled up in the front yards, rude people who do not wave, smile or converse and little kids who play on the road. They know who they are and we love you. In an instant, we would leave the boys with them and have complete and total faith and trust in them. How do you put that into words or put a price on it?

So, I am listening to the lecture recordings for my Anatomy test tonight. It is really nice that she does record these, but it is so annoying to listen to other people ask questions that I can hardly handle it. I hope I do well. I sent off one of my applications to the RN program this morning. I am applying to 2 programs. One is a summer start, online, with occasional weekend clinics in either Bemidji, Grand Rapids or Park Rapids. The other is a fall start, on campus, days, in Coon Rapids. This semester, I need to finish A & P II and also a Political Science class for my A.A. in General Studies. When I am a RN, I will stay with my current, beautiful little client. Just make some more money.

The boys are doing so great and developing well, I think. It has been a while since I looked at where they are supposed to be. They LOVE eating, bath time, getting their teeth brushed, playing, and reading. They hate getting dressed. I used to continually change their outfits every time they puked or got dirty, but I finally said enough. I strip the dirty clothes off and they end up in what they end up in. We can not do laundry every day. I understand some people do that, but not me. Our house isn't as clean as it used to be, and I know that Dustin struggles with that, but I am ok with it. Because it is filled with so much more love.

It is so amazing to just watch them grow. I love when they crawl up to me and give me one of those big, mmmmmmmmm kisses. Maxy is a little more of a kisser. And that kid LOVES his grandmas. I don't know what it is, the way they smell, their skin, or what. But, give him a grandma (Gma Nancy or Gma Debbie) and he will start laughing, cuddling, playing, and is just in heaven. I don't remember much about my Grandma Brown (Mom's mom), but I do remember loving when she held me and loving playing with the flab on her arms. LOL. She passed away in 1990, and I am certain she loved when I would fondle that loose skin. She had 59 grandkids, I am amazed at the love she had for all of us and that I would be lucky enough to be able to have memories of her holding me.

Zachary definitely loves his Gma's too, but he has a little more of an affinity for his grandpa's (Gpa Wayne or Gpa Marty). They can get him giggling. He has such a deep laugh. Something about that kid, he came out of the womb looking like an older man-lol, and he is finally starting to look a little more like a baby. I don't really know what it is. Maybe because Max looked so much like a baby?

We don't continually compare then, but it is hard sometimes not to. They are developing at the same time in the same environment. I am looking to join a MOM group. I looked into some when I was pregnant, but never found one that I could relate to. ( I am not just interested in the damn garage sale!!) But I have been emailing a Mothers of Multiple group in St. Cloud and think I may go to their next meeting. I want the boys to play with other twins too. And I have an increasingly difficult time relating to others with singletons. Maybe it is just me and my proudness of being a "twin mommy."

I have a hard time when people complain about their kids, period. Especially when they only have one to feed, dress, etc. And I have a hard time when people say, "oh! Double Trouble!" I want to say to them, "oh, you have one kid, what a brat." Seriously. Don't say that to someone with twins. It isn't trouble. And when they say it in front of the boys, I get really livid. You are calling my kids trouble, in front of me and in front of them?!

I am somewhat of a mamma bear in this regard. I don't know why lately it has bothered me so much. Maybe from some of the comments we recieved at church during baptism. (Which went ok, Zachary kicked and screamed when I held him because he wanted the book and then, we had to hold a baby and the baptism candle-- 8 mo. olds and fire?!? Now I think I know why the Godmothers used to hold the babies. This would have all been fixed up if we gave them BOTH to Auntie Betsy. lol) I know people are just generally trying to be nice with the comments, but if I only had a quarter every time I got one.

I better stop procrastinating before nap time ends and I didn't even really study. It is about blood and the heart. I actually know a thing or two about how this works, but maybe not all the little scientific names for the pre-cursor cells. I really struggle in Anatomy. I took this class in 2001-2002, but to transfer, it needed to be recent in the last 7 years. I have a hard time mostly because I all ready am a nurse. I know realistically what you need to know. Like, the little kid who asks the teacher, "do we REALLY need to know this?" No, you don't. You need to know how to do CPR, run the AMBU bag, change the trach, call 911, press the code button and keep them breathing. Ok, you need to know more than that, but you must have the big things down. It doesn't really matter that the precursor cell to a thrombocyte is a megakaryoblast if your patient is bleeding out. Thank you.

The longer I listen to this, the more sarcastic I get. Oh well. We hope all is well out there in blog world and thank you all for following us and our blessings. We are truly grateful for all those we have met on our own journey.

Love, Mama (I usually don't hear Mama that often, ZC is the rambler, lots of Dadadadadada and baba. But, when he gets mad at me, he will look right into my eyes and scream, DADA. haha. Maybe double trouble isn't all that far off.)

Mommy Update

2010-01-22T01:37:00.002-06:00

So, this update is obviously ridiculously overdue. The truth is, I have tried to type up an update several times and I get almost ready to publish the post, and I lose it. I get so upset/frustrated that I give up and go onto doing something else.

I have been busy, I am working full time (and continuing to love that aspect), going to school part time (not loving that aspect as much), plus staying home with the boys, studying, etc. Oh yeah, and trying to keep our house clean. It isn't as clean as it used to be, but it is safe and not too nasty, so, there! lol.

The boys have been relatively healthy. About a month and a half ago, I noticed this little spot on ZC's groin, then his tummy. I really wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a little sore, but it didn't really seem to bother him. I got home from work one day and noticed Max had it on his finger and face. I freaked out. Whatever it was, they were spreading to each other. I for sure thought that it was MRSA (An antibiotic staph infection). I took them to the doctor and no MRSA, but it was Staph. I can not fathom where they got it from?!? But, they are little boys and they are going to get that stuff. And it never really seemed to bother them.

They are eating champions. I weighed them on the bathroom scale yesterday and they were both right around 24 lbs. ZC is a little taller than MT, but not by much. They love "real food" and with 8 and 6 teeth respectively, they are able to eat lots. :) Including Mommy's finger.

The boys are both good at lots of things and seem to be developing right on track. They both have their strengths. Zachary is very verbal and is constantly babbling and saying, "dadadadadada." He will be crying and mumbling and then look right at me and loudly say, "DADA." lol. I usually respond with something like, "Sorry Kid." JK. I try to get the whole dada thing to work towards my advantage if he wakes up in the middle of the night, to smack Dustin and let him know that Zachary wants him, not me. It hasn't worked so far, but I am going to keep trying.

Maxwell is a stellar scooter. He doesn't quite get his belly off the ground, but he loves to move all around the kitchen floor. He is also a big fan of the heating vents. He knows exactly how to open and close all of them. And then, I wonder why their room is so cold at night. Oh yeah, Maxy shut the vent. :) He enjoys giving lots of kisses and kissing the marble floor. The boys love playing and interacting with each other. They really worry if one is gone. We haven't really separated them at all lately, the look on their faces when they don't know where their brother is--breaks our heart.

We are (finally) getting them baptized on Sunday. I know, I know, we should've done this a long time ago. I wanted to wait until they were fully vaccinated against H1N1 and Seasonal Flu. We also had a little trouble deciding who would be their sponsors. We wanted to keep it fair, with someone from each family. But, Dustin is an only child and we do not see his family from Nebraska near enough... We finally decided that the boys would have the same Godparents. My sister, Betsy and her husband, Rob. So, fair is fair will follow in that aspect too.

We continue the same house rules. 1. Don't wake your brother. 2. Fair is Fair. LOL. :)

I am finally getting my gall bladder out (see all the finally's). I am just tired of the pain and attacks. I am doing it on February 15th and I will be unable to lift the boys for one week! My mom is coming Monday-Wednesday, but we have shifts open on Thursday-Saturday morning. If anyone is interested. I should be able to still do all of the work, just not the lifting. I will be off work for a week. That should give me plenty of time to recover.

I just almost accidentally deleted a whole bunch of this, so, a posting I will go.

Love to all, Sara

Big Picture Update!

2010-01-02T12:41:00.005-06:00

Santa!

2009-12-17T06:13:00.003-06:00

Tis The Season

2009-12-01T19:57:00.001-06:00

Toe Heads

2009-11-19T12:01:00.000-06:00

He also said that the boys have VERY light retinas, from their German heritage. He could tell that they will both most likely be blonde and have blue eyes. :)

Eye appointment

2009-11-19T11:41:00.003-06:00

First, LOL at Kristi. One out of two smiling IS an accomplishment! :)

We just got back from the eye doctor. Our appointment was at 9 a.m. in Elk River. I would like to say that we got up at 6:20 a.m. (and I had to wake the boys, which just killed me!), I gave them breakfast, bathed them, dressed them. They had a little playtime with Daddy, then bottles. I showered, got ready (hair & makeup!), put the kiddos in their carseats and we were in the car at 8 a.m. WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

We went to the eye doctor as a part of the InfantSee program. http://www.infantsee.org/
It offers free eye exams to infants 6 mo. to 1 year. I have horrible vision and my mom's is even worse, so it was important to me to get the boys checked as soon as possible.

They did so well. Dustin is at work, so I went alone, and I seriously could not have been prouder of the twins. They even had lots of yogurt melts in between different things. They had their eyes dilated and received a "prescription" of what their vision is, if you will.

Babies eyes continue to develop after birth..But, at this age, they can tell what kind of things could be issues for them as they get older. They should have a "prescription" between a 2-3.

Zachary did really well (especially because he had O2 at birth). He fit right in that range. He is SUCH a flirt, it is crazy. He was also a very squirmy, wormy wiggle. Such a jokester. But, he behaved.

Maxy also did well, but his eyes are a little worse. He is between a 1.5-1.75. Certainly nothing alarming, but we will watch him. He has a fairly high chance of being nearsighted, like me. We will watch him and bring him back into the Kennedy Vision Center at one year. If we aren't concerned, they will both get checked out at 2-3 years.

I was very impressed with Dr. Anthony Traverse. He did a really good job with the babies. Very throughout! They also dilated the boy's eyes to look inside.

So, another thing checked off!

They are teething like crazy. Both have their two bottom teeth and Max is getting three more on top. Poor honey. It breaks my heart.

Today is my day off and I have a mound of laundry in our room that no matter how much I wish, will NOT wash itself. :( Zachary is playing with his hands, but is about to go in his crib for a nap, he doesn't know that yet though! :) Max is all ready sleeping, little honey. He has been up all morning. Smiling for the girls.

Hugs, Sara

6 months

2009-11-18T13:19:00.001-06:00

Here is another recent picture. Maxy HATES the camera... :( He is as happy as Zachary.

Six Month Well Child Checks

2009-11-14T09:16:00.003-06:00

So, I was suppose to blog this earlier, but the end of my week became really busy with life. :)

First, our well-child check went perfectly. The boys received 5 immunizations, 4 shots & 1 oral. They were such troopers. It helps that they have such great thighs (inherited from mommy, of course!) We DID get our boys the H1N1 vaccine. Thinking about it, if they would get sick from something that we could have prevented, how would I EVER forgive myself? Over 100 children have died. It is 2009, children should NOT have to DIE from Influenza. I got the mist & Dustin also got the shot at the boy's appointment. We are a H1N1 vaccinated home! :)

The boys are growing so well. Both over 90th percent for height, weight and head circumference. We aren't positive that their weight was taken accurately, but, Zachary weighs 20 lbs. 4 oz. and is 28 1/4" long and Maxwell weighs 20 lbs. 10 oz. and is 27 3/4" long. They are growing boys.

Our only concern was the way Zachary breathes. Sometimes, he is SO loud and almost wheezy. He never turns blue or cries for the sole purpose to breathe, so Dr. Guertin wasn't concerned. She thought his nasal passages were on the small side of normal (something he certainly got from his daddy), but there is nothing that we would do about it now.

We will go back in a month to get the H1N1 booster and hopefully the seasonal Influenza vaccine. They didn't have that when we were there on Tuesday. The boys were so good. Zachary got jealous when Max was being examined. But, Zachy did get to go to the front desk with Dustin to register and he got his fair amount of flirting in with the office staff.

The boys are doing so much. They constantlybabble, coo and giggle. They are sleeping separately now, which is going very well. They are taking naps, in their cribs. :) They are rolling all over, especially Zachary. Max does very well with fine motor. He is always finding out how to play with his toys intricately. He will spin them, etc. Zachary is more of a brute when it comes to playtime.

They both go to bed like little angels, but for some reason, Zachary thinks that after Max goes to bed, it his his time to clown around. He usually gets to stay up later. But, after all, he is older. LOL. I told him the other day that he sure gets away with a lot of shit because of one minute! :)

We ordered them new car seats last night, they have outgrown their carriers. We also are going to other bath chairs. It isn't really working to bathe them in the little tub in the sink anymore. Especially since they LOVE to kick and play in the water!

Today, after Dustin gets home, we are going to take their Christmas card picture. OMG. It is going to be so so so cute! I am PUMPED. :) I hope the boys are too and we actually get some smiles. Maxy HATES the camera, and he usually will NOT smile. I don't know what it is, but he is this amazingly happy child and he looks miserable in every photo we have. Maybe he is shy about his teeth? :) He has two on the bottom and is getting two on the top. Zachary has one and a half teeth.

I will add a picture from Halloween. Maxy was a Bumblebee (because he was baby B, fitting, right?) And Zachary was a chicken, for no particular reason. I wanted them to be pea pods, as in "Two Peas In a Pod" but they didn't fit into the costumes.

The boys are taking their "after breakfast/after bath" morning nap, so, I better scoot into the shower while I can. I got my haircut last week and LOVE it! (Thank you Donna!) It is so fast, easy and fun.

All our love to all of you,

The Grieser's

Dustin, Sara, Zachary & Maxy

6 months

2009-11-09T09:47:00.002-06:00

Oh! What a dork my husband is, but I love him. And yes, all faith has been restored in the cell phone Gods.

The boys were 6 months old on Friday. I will get Dustin to post the pictures soon. They are so adorable and amaze us more each day. They are playing with their toys, feet, us, each other. They really like to figure stuff out. Maxy is a little more intricate in play. Zachary is rolling all over. I can not believe how fast the first 1/2 of their 1st year has gone! What a joy to be their mamma.

Grandma Nancy bought us a second crib, so they are no longer co-sleeping. :( I think I am sadder than that then they are. Wait, I know that they are not sad about it because there have been no more kicks to the head. However, last night, before I went to work, I went into kiss them goodbye and they were each in their own cribs, curled up into little balls in the corner of their respectable crib. Lol. I guess they are just so used to having to share. It was the sweetest thing. I carefully put them in the middle of the mattress with a kiss and a giggle.

Tomorrow we are going to Fairview Elk River for their 6 month well-child check with Dr. Guertin. They get a bunch of immunizations. I am not sure if the clinic will have the seasonal flu vaccine or H1N1, or what we will choose to do. We will certainly follow Dr. Amy's recommendation. It is such a big decision. We are ALL about vaccines though. I went to Little Falls on Friday and received the H1N1 mist. At least I am protected.

I have no idea what they weigh, I think we are pushing 23 lbs. They are so healthy and big, that sometimes, people forget that they were little 35 week old preemies. I haven't forgotten, especially in the wake of cold and flu season. We have had to make some tough choices about holidays, outings, etc. We literally take them no where. I am terrified of what this flu could do to them.

I will update tomorrow. Both boys have had breakfast (oatmeal and cereal), I have done manis and pedis on 40 little nails, and Maxy is bathed and smelling wonderful. Zachary is up next, his feet are sweaty! :)

Love you, Sara

Sara's Cell Phone Drama

2009-11-08T10:26:00.001-06:00

Just thought I would give an update to Sara's cell drama.

I got her old phone fixed and all was well for about a day and then things went all wrong. The reception started to tank and she could no longer receive calls. :-(

I got her a new phone and all faith was restored in the cell phone gods.

A Day Of Mourning

2009-10-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

Sara's cell phone is not turning on anymore.

smhoheisel@gmail.com

If everyone could send her a note of condolences, I am sure it would make this tough day just a little bit better for her.

Thanks, and god bless.

Happy (cough) Anniversary (sneeze) Mommy & Daddy!

2009-10-19T22:53:00.003-05:00

10/20 is our 2nd wedding anniversary. If I really think about it, two years doesn't seem like that long of a time to be married, but then, I think about the fact that we have two beautiful sons, an angel, a home, etc. and in these two years, we couldn't be more blessed. Or have had each one of these days since our wedding more blessed. We are so thankful for so many things.

We have had offers of babysitters, but all we want to do is spend the evening at home, with our babies. That would be the perfect night. We have some TV shows from Monday night on the DVR. I can't think of anything I would rather do than cuddle up with my boys and enjoy an evening together to cherish every minute of the last two years and look forward to a lifetime of more special moments.

And judging by the cough/sneeze, we have the crud. Thank God, we do not have fevers, nor Influenza or H1N1, but we do have colds. It is so heartbreaking to see the boys so miserable. Zachary takes it a little harder. His eyes have been red, and he rubs them a lot. He has a bad cough and cries really hard. Maxy sneezes more, and he must have a sore throat. Today, he wouldn't eat his cereal, because every time he needed to swallow, he would cry. Luckily, they are still drinking their bottles well and I am not worried about dehydration. I use the bulb syringe a lot and they tolerate it quite well. Zachy actually gets excited when I come at him with the blue thing. He knows how much better it makes him feel. He breathes really hard though. Nights have been up and down. One night, Max has a tough time and the next night, Zachary does.

I would just like to take the opportunity though, as a mommy of sick babies (and a nurse) to remind people, if you are sick, STAY HOME. Do not use your sick day to go to Target, the grocery store, etc. Your illness could KILL infants, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Thank you, I will get off of my soap box now.

Just wanted to send a little update. I am typing in the dark. I went to Walmart after class and am not quite ready for bed. I can hear Dustin coughing in the background and the boys are nuzzled in for the night. I have to scoop them up for kisses when I get home!

Love to all, Stay HEALTHY.
Sara

A bunch of pictures...

2009-10-10T16:04:00.005-05:00

A few pictures...

2009-10-06T10:32:00.003-05:00

"Uh, hi Mom. We weren't wrestling, we swear."

See, we love each other!

Whoa! They are too little for standing! (Max)

Zach hamming it up for the camera!

I'm feeding the boys and trying to blog, lol. I will finish later. <3, Sara

Update

2009-09-27T01:50:00.002-05:00

Hi Blog Friends,

I am sorry I didn't update this after Zachary's appointment last week. He does NOT need a helmet. He has something fancy, I can not think of it right now, pol---cephaly. Anyway, it means that the side of his head his flat, basically from sleeping on his back and being squooshed in utero. The plastic surgeon said that he would not recommend a helmet. We do need to put him on his back so he looks to the left, his right side is flat. Now, you all remember the Zachary TV stories, so clearly, now that his TV watching is "therapy" he enjoys it rather well. He doesn't get to watch TV alot, but when he does, he gets put on his side. :) That should fix it. If for cosmetic reasons, at 8 months, we don't like the shape of his head, we can go to Gillette and get the helmet.

The boys are teething and it his HELL at our house. I feel so helpless. Zachary has never felt pain, and he literally can not handle it. He throws himself back, kicks, screams. Just like a child having a tantrum. It is so sad. You can hardly hold him to calm him down. Maxy knows about pain from his reflux, but he also gets into these crying bits. Dustin does so well with them. He has an unbelievable amount of patience. Of course, as their mother, I just want to hold them and take it all away. I certainly want these damn bottom teeth to poke through!

The boys are growing and changing every day. It is such a joy to watch them grow. They are really starting to notice each other. Which is ridiculously fun. Right now, they coo at each other and grab at each other. Max is always trying to pull at Zachary's face. :)

We were also blessed by a special "angel" friend this weekend. I came home from work to find a package inside the door with a cute fall decoration, candles, a card and $250 gift card to Target. I can not even find the words. I am still so shocked, blessed, overwhelmed and so many other things. We are so, so thankful to Arlyn & Amanda Wall, my sister Betsy's in-laws. What a selfless, generous gift. It is expensive having two babies. The latest financial figure is that it costs $11,000 to raise a baby the first year. That doubled is $22,000.

Every thing that people have done for us is so appreciated. I never have been good at accepting gifts, I never, ever know what to say because "Thank You" seems so insufficient. I can promise that giving is the best thing in the world. I can not wait to do for someone else what The Wall's did for us. Whether it is making a meal, sending a note, a gift, thoughts, watching the boys, etc. Those things all mean so much and make our job of being parents to the most amazing twins a little easier.

Love you,

Sara

Clarification

2009-09-18T08:59:00.001-05:00

Supposedly, Dustin thinks that my 100th post was actually the 99th post.

But, when I logged on today, it said that we had 101 posts, making this 102. He doesn't think I can add, but I just think HE is the confused one! :)

So, that is what that little tidbit was about.

Dustin has a 1/2 day and is going to spend some one on one time with Maxy. I am taking Zachary to the doctor in Elk River to get evaluated for his helmet. I really don't know what they will say about it.

I better get scooting, it is cereal time!

Love,
Sara "The Math Wizard" Grieser

Addition

2009-09-17T09:07:00.000-05:00

72 + 27 = ??????

100th post!!

2009-09-14T14:19:00.003-05:00

I get to post the 100th post! I can not believe there have been that many entries about our twins all ready. It seems like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant (and it actually was 346 days ago). And now, I have two darling little boys sucking on their hands, giggling, playing and being super sweet.

Yesterday, they rocked out in their Aaron Rodgers jerseys for the first Packer win of the year. I would do these dumb little cheers, which of course made them smile. That is for sure, the best part of being a mommy.

I really don't know where time goes. I suppose that is why most of the time I just can not even believe so many things. "I can't believe they are 4 mo." "I can't believe they wear 12 month clothes." "I can't believe how much more they look alike." :)

They haven't laughed at each other yet, but I am waiting for it, any day I am sure!

I am supposed to be studying for an Anatomy test, so I really better stop the procrastination. I just wanted to declare how happy I am, how much I love my boys and my life. Even though we are so busy I supposedly brush my teeth like a llama.

Love, Sara

4 month Well-Child Checks

2009-09-08T15:50:00.003-05:00

We're home from our four month well-child check at the clinic. We still completely adore our pediatrician, Dr. Guertin. She is so sweet. She has twins and sees a ton of twins. She is going to give our name to some other twin mommy's & daddy's to see about starting a "Mothers of Multiples" group in Princeton. In May, our boys were the 5th set of twins born at Fairview!

Maxwell is proud to announce that he FINALLY weighs more than Zachary. He has always been lagging a few ounces behind. Today, Max weighed 17 lbs. 8 ounces with Zach weighing 17 lbs. 7 ounces. They are both 26" long. I can't remember how big their heads are. I know Maxy has a smaller head, but they are both in the 80th percentile for head circumference. They are over 90% for height and weight with their actual age. They are so big that we no longer have to do adjusted age because they were preemies. GO BABIES!

They are different in so many ways too. Max is a little more fragile. His feelings get hurt easier and he wants to cuddle and be held. Zach is very much a "big" brother, always watching what Max does. We have a new babysitter, who we adore, and she told us how cute it was that whenever she does anything with Max, how Zachary watches her every mood. :)

There really wasn't anything else at the appointment to discuss. We are going to make an appointment to have a plastic surgeon look at Zach's head. It has a little flat spot on the back, thank you- back to sleep program & big babies... Our doctor didn't think a helmet was needed, but still said we could see the "expert."

They are napping now & I think I'll join them.

<3, Sara

Zachary In the Jumper

2009-09-06T11:59:00.003-05:00

Too funny.

4 Months Old Today!

2009-09-06T10:46:00.007-05:00

Wow, time really does fly quickly when you are watching your boys grow before your very eyes.

They have gone from five pound premature twins to well over sixteen pound little chunks - smiling, laughing, cooing and scooting the whole way. What a fun trip it has already been and we absolutely can not wait to see what the future has in store for all of us.

The boys have made a ton of amazing progress. Both are fully interacting with us - they have both found their hands and prefer their fingers to pacifiers most of the time. Thank goodness for that.

As the title says, today is their four month birthday. In honor of them, I am putting up some pictures that we have amassed mostly over the last month. These are in no particular order, but I will try to caption them best as possible.

It's our fourth month birthday and Mom made us take pictures in our pajamas. (Max on left, Zachary on the right)
Note: Boys are wearing 12 month pajamas here - wow.

It's tough being a baby, man, let me tell ya... (Max)

Mom wasn't quite quick enough with the food and I got bored. (Max)

YEP. (Max on left, Zachary on the right)

Dad pretending to be all artistic with the fancy camera. (Max)

Duuuuuuude, is that, like, the special cereal? lol
Zachary's stoner eyes crack me up.

MMMMMMMMMMMMM! (Max)

Wait... I think I'm full now.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!@#$!@# I LOVE FOOD!@#%$! (Zachary)

My first bite of big-boy food. Not quite sure what to make of this quite yet... (Zachary)

I HAVE FOUND MY HANDS! (Zachary (Max has found his hands, too!))

Entranced by dangly-stuffs from the playset. (Zachary)

We took the boys to Munsinger Gardens in Saint Cloud and I took this picture - thought it was pretty neat. No other reason to post it. :-D

All he needed was a pint of Guinness and a bowl of pretzels and we had this night locked down.

Thanks to everyone that has followed this blog for so long - if there is enough interest I will continue to post pictures as they get older!

Things Are Good

2009-08-28T18:14:00.002-05:00

Just a quick update.

The boys had their echos and they both do have innocent heart murmurs - absolutely nothing to be worried about.

They are both, however, growing like fertilized weeds. At their appointments, Zach weighed 15lbs 9oz and Max weighed 15lbs 5 oz. Both were 24" long - officially two footers.

They're doing great - laughing, smiling, interacting and everything. Never thought parenthood would be this cool.

Will blog more later.

Great boys, improving mama

2009-08-08T21:34:00.002-05:00

Good Evening,

Zachary and I are still awake, Max and Dustin are sleeping. Zachary seems to have a little bit of an issue with bedtime. He is in a good mood, kicking and playing, but NOT sleeping! :P Right now that is. Actually, the twins are doing amazing with sleep. They go to bed around 8 p.m. and don't wake up for their first bottle until about 5 a.m. Yeah. They rock.

They turned three months this week. Unbelievable. They are getting so big. Max laughed at my mom yesterday and Zach is so close. They are cooing and "talking." They smile all the time, super fun!

We are getting our schedule down and they are doing really well. I weighed them today on the bathroom scale and they were both around 15 lbs.! They are in 6/9 month clothes!! How did they get so big so fast?! Tues. Aug. 11th, we take them both to the cardiologist. They are seeing Dr. Bass in Maple Grove. They will have echocardiograms first, then see the doctor. I am pretty sure that their murmurs are innocent considering their weight gain.

I am feeling better, I had an emergency D & C yesterday afternoon. I had been having some problems with TERRIBLE bleeding and just some general malaise. I had an ultrasound and bloodwork on Thurs. which all came back "normal." I went to see the OB on Friday at 12:30 p.m., she sent me straight from the clinic to the hospital. Dustin had took a 1/2 day, so he came into the hospital and the babysitter stayed with the twins until my mom came. We were home about 4:15 p.m. I am feeling a ton better. There was still some tissue in my uterus that didn't pass. I guess it is pretty common with fraternal twin C-Sections. Either way, I am feeling much better.

Well, I better get the work done that I came online to do. Zachary is still kicking me in the thigh, smiling! LOVE IT!

Love to all, Sara

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2009-07-17T09:58:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Nancy!
I love you!
Zachary Clifford Grieser

Happy Birthday! Nancy is Dustin's mom and we are so excited for her first birthday with Grandsons! I will have to ask her, but it might even be better than when she turned 16! :)

We love you!
Dusty, Sara, Max and Zach

Happy Birthday Grandma, Love Max

2009-07-17T09:38:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Grandma Nancy! I love you! Love, Maxwell Theodore Grieser

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-07-09T13:30:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to wish Dustin the best 29th birthday ever! He is such an amazing Daddy to these little boys. Their faces light up the room when he walks in, they love him so much and so do I. It is such an honor to raise these babies with him.
XOXOXO, Sara

Two Month Checkups

2009-07-05T11:29:00.004-05:00

I can not believe we went to our two month check-up all ready! I can not believe that these little guys are 8 weeks. What a blessing. They are so much fun and they are starting to be so much more interactive and playful. We also got our first smiles from both babies this week!

Zachary now weighs 11 lbs. 11 oz. and is 22 1/4 inches long. He is a rock star. He is right about at 50% for his actual age (8 weeks), and he is at 95% for his corrected age (4 weeks). They will get two dots on the growth chart until they are two years because of their prematurity. One is their actual age and the second one is their age if they would have been born on their due date. Because they were one month early, they will always have that 4 week discrepancy.

Maxwell weighs 11 lbs. 8 oz. and is also 22 1/4 inches long. His head is a centimeter smaller than Zachary's, he is also a rock star. He is right behind Zach on the charts. Max has a few more "issues." He spits up after every feeding, we are thinking reflux, but haven't ventured to try medicine yet. So far, we are just trying to feed him smaller amounts more often, sit him up after feedings, burp him all the time, etc. He also has an umbilical hernia that our pediatrician is not concerned about at all yet. It really pops out when he cries. :( They will watch it and if it worsens, possibly consider surgery. Maxy also has a hemangioma (A hemangioma of infancy is a benign self involving tumor of endothelial cells (the cells that line blood vessels). In most cases it appears during the first days or weeks of life and will have resolved at the latest by age 10. In infancy, it is the most common tumor.) It is on the back of his head and you really don't notice it. His hair is starting to grow back nicely, thank you. (For those of you that maybe don't know, Max had cradle cap when he was about 3 weeks old and I didn't want anyone to think that I wasn't doing a good job caring for him, so I kept combing his hair to get it out and one morning he woke up bald.)

Both of the boys have heart murmurs. It was nothing that the doctor was concerned about, but she is going to refer us to a cardiologist just to get a second opinion. Zachary has had one from birth, but then it kind of went away, and now she could hear it again. We are thinking that they are "innocent murmurs" because of the way that they are growing. They don't have any effect on the baby.

The immunizations went really well. I was so busy with one baby, then the other, that I never had a chance to tear up. The boys did really well too. I kept them as relaxed as I could until the shots came. They had periods of fussiness on Friday night into Saturday, but they are doing super today. I rotated Tylenol and Motrin for comfort. It is so nice to be a nurse & a mommy.

I am having some exciting changes in my career. After 5 1/2 years with my client, have decided that I am ready for a new challenge in my professional life (to go along with the changes in my personal life). I am thrilled about it and can not stop smiling! I will start back to work in the next few days. We have nanny's coming into our house to care for the twins, we are so glad about that! Less exposure to germs, weather, etc.

Dustin's dealership (he works at Princeton Auto Center, a GM store), got the "Congratulations, we are going to reaffirm you in bankruptcy and look forward to being part of the new GM." We never really had a doubt, but they were closing some pretty large stores.

We had a great 4th. We took the boys out in the truck and watched fireworks in town and came home and set off some of our own! The neighbors all came outside and cheered. I was nervous at first, but watching how happy Dustin was making everyone else (and himself), I let my guard down and helped him unravel them. :) The neighbors then came over and held the babies. :)

They are sleeping really well. Only up once or twice.

I think this is probably long enough. I will try to update more often and HAPPY JULY! We have a lot of birthdays in the next few days (Great-Grandma Ginny on the 7th, Dustin on the 9th, my Godfather, Joe on the 12th, Grandma Nancy on the 17th and I will be 28 on the 18th!) So, just in case I don't get a chance-- HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY AND DADDY!

Love you all,
Thank you for following our blog!
(I will hopefully get pictures posted soon!)
Sara

Updates!

2009-06-22T22:36:00.005-05:00

As of June 11, Max weighs 9lbs even and Zach weighs 9lbs 7oz. Max 22" and Zach 23" long, both head circumferences off the chart. These kids are getting so big, so fast...

They are unbelievably sweet boys.

And Maxy Baby loooooves to sleep!

Hangin' out in mah basket...

Random Pictures & Update

2009-06-04T13:36:00.002-05:00

27 days old, wearing 3 month jammies!

About two weeks old? Like FATHER like SON! Maxwell with the remote on his Packers pillow!

I'm not sure I posted this, but it was on my camera still... 35 weeks

Fun! Wow, How I LOVE being a Mother!

The picture of Zach is recent, and the one of Max is a few weeks old. I can not believe how much they change. I just uploaded the pictures from my camera. For those of you that don't know, we have a 4-level house, and we keep a camera in the family room so when the boys do something cute, we don't have to run upstairs, the camera is right there to catch the moment. They are constantly doing something cute! :)

They had a few nights of GREAT sleep, only up twice! And then two nights of TERRIBLE sleep, and last night, again only up three times.

They have been a little fussier during the day. On Monday, I could NOT figure out what was wrong with them... until I finally set them together in the boppy pillow, perfect. Stopped crying. No more fuss. They just wanted to be together. :) They are so sweet. I love how close they are.

They have different personalities. Max is more drama. He is very laid back until he is hungry or mad. Then, WATCH OUT. He screams like crazy! He spits up, and is a champion eater. Probably eats too much and DEFINITELY eats too fast! Zachary is very serious. He is laid back also, always watching out for his brother. He will cry if Max cries. They do not wake each other up crying, they are still on the same schedule. Zach is still constipated sometimes, but we did change their formula to Nestle Good Start in the green can. It is a fortune, costing us about $50/week, but well worth it if our babies are feeling better!

I am feeling all right. I still have a back ache and I think my break-through blood pressure is getting better from the toxemia. I still can tell that it gets out of control sometimes. My "gallbladder" is fine, my LIVER was the problem. I had a huge blood clot surrounding it. They took it out with the C-Section and I feel like a new woman! I gained 38 lbs. I came home 24 lbs. lighter and was at my pre-pregnancy weight one week after the boys were born. (Fluid retention anyone?) I am tenatively going back to work on July 1st, but it will depend on my post partum check-up on June 19th.

I can not believe that on SATURDAY is our DUE DATE! I am so lucky. I have two amazing sons, one amazing husband, a beautiful angel baby. A great family, wonderful friends. It takes my breath away.

The boys were born exactly one month early, May 6th from their due date of 6/6. My sister Betsy is coming over tomorrow to do a photoshoot. I tried it on my own and they just cried the whole time. I will post more pictures then.

My babies are sleeping, so, I must go stare at them. My favorite thing to do.

Love you all, Sara

Announcing!

2009-06-02T12:13:00.002-05:00

Pictures

2009-05-26T07:41:00.001-05:00

Sleeping after bathtime on Sunday morning

Zachary being extra sweet to his little brother

Maxwell, after bottle, before bath.

Zachary, bright eyed

Twenty Days! Where has the time gone?

2009-05-26T07:25:00.002-05:00

Our little babies are getting so big, so fast! We obviously do not have time to post on the blog as much as we would like. We enjoyed the long weekend and having Daddy home an extra day! He had to go back to work this morning. I have the boys fed and now they are resting. They are having some issues with constipation, but we are working on that. We tried pear juice, but it gave them terrible gas! We are going to switch to prune juice and if that doesn't work, try suppositories.

But, enough about poop.

On Friday, the boys and I went to their weight check. They needed to be back at their birth weight. Baby A, Zachary C. weighed in at a WHOOPING 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 21 3/4 inches long!! His birth weight was 5 lbs. 15 oz. ONE POUND AND THREE OUNCES over! The pedi couldn't find his heart murmur at all (oh, how I continue to LOATHE the NICU...) His hearing was referred in his left ear and we have an audiologist appointment on June 3rd.

Baby B, Maxwell T. weighed in at a WHOOPING 6 lbs. 5 oz. and was ALSO 21 3/4 inches long! His birth weight was 5 lbs. 9 oz. ELEVEN OUNCES over. He passed his hearing test. Both of the boys do have closed tear ducts. Max's is the right eye, Zachary's is the left. We are massaging it, which has all ready made a huge difference. If they do not resolve by one year, we will see an ophthalmologist. Little overachievers!

We absolutely ADORE our pediatrician. She is amazing. She also has twins, 5 days apart. A biological son and an adopted daughter. We are so lucky that she can relate to us on so many levels being a parent of multiples. She knows the boys apart and is so sweet. :)

The boys ARE on the same schedule. I would not have it any other way and yes, I did it. (Lots of people said I wouldn't be able to put them on the same schedule, Ha!) They go to bed about 9:30 p.m., wake up at 12:30 a.m., 3 a.m., and 5 a.m. They get bottles, diaper changes and go right back to sleep. I let Dustin sleep during the week unless I really need his help, but last night, at one awakening, I had both babies fed, burped, changed and back in bed in TWENTY minutes. Made me feel a bit like super mom!

Thank God for Boppy pillows, which allow me to feed both boys at once. I am not breastfeeding. I tried until 11 days and my milk never came in. The boys would NOT latch on after having bottles (again, thank you NICU), so, I was pumping. It was literally all I felt I did, pump, pump. I was alone with the boys one day & pumping, they started to cry and I was unable to pick them up & hold them. We were supplementing with formula anyway (and rotating the breast milk every other babe, every other feeding). I couldn't do it, I cried while they were crying and the pump has been in the bag ever since.

We are loving our family of 4! Our hands are not that full. We are not exhausted. We are not overwhelmed. We are full of love and joy. It is not "so hard." Someone told me right before I had the boys that everyone who says how hard it is doesn't have twins and she was right. It is always people of single babies (who I think are rather cute!) that think how "hard" it will be to have to. It isn't. We do everything twice.

The boys are so sweet together. I love watching them interact and grow.

I will attach pictures now.

Love to All,
Mommy

----Dustin is convinced now that I call myself Mommy all the time that I will go out in public for something like a doctor appointment and say, "Mommy has an appointment at 2 p.m." ------ :)

Bathtime Pictures

2009-05-14T11:44:00.004-05:00

Zachary's bath, his cord is almost off!

Zachary's bath

Maxwell

Max all tired out after bathtime

Zachary & Mama's thumb

Max & Mama's thumb

Bath Time for Max

ENJOY! We are loving every single second and can not believe that we love these two little guys so much. They are amazing babies. They are on the same schedule and wake up about 3 times a night (every 2 1/2 hours) for feeding & diaper changes and then go right back to sleep. We couldn't be more blessed and these little guys couldn't be more loved. It is so hard to believe they were born 8 days ago... The time is going way too fast, which is why we are loving every second.

Hugs, Sara & her boys!

6 days Old!

2009-05-12T20:32:00.002-05:00

Hello All,

First off, THANK YOU all for your prayers, love, well wishes and EVERYTHING. We know that it is by those things that have helped us through the last six days of our boy's life. They are absolutely perfect in every single way. I can not even believe to explain the love that Dustin and I feel in our hearts for Zachary & Maxwell.

The boys have such different personalities. It is so much fun to see them together. Max is more sleepy & a little lazy... He was in utero too. I almost never felt him active until the evening. Zach is very strong, sweet and knows what he wants. He cries a little more than Max, which I blame on the NICU, but he is learning that his Mommy & Daddy are here and together now to meet his every need.

They wake up about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours to eat and drink about 2 ounces at a time. My milk still isn't in, so, we are feeding them formula and then every other feeding, one gets milk that I pumped. It is working well.

They had their first doctor appointment today and their first outing. We had to go to the Fairview Clinic in Elk River to see Dr. Amy Geurtin. She will be the twin's pediatrician. All you could hear was, "aahhhhh" and "they are so tiny!" and "oh! BEAUTIFUL!!!" Certainly we are VERY proud parents!!

Their weights are Zachary Clifford at 5 lbs. 13 ounces (2 ounces less than his birth weight) and Maxwell Theodore at 5 lbs. 6 ounces (3 ounces less than his birth weight). They give them 2 weeks to get back to their birth weights and our boys are almost there at one week! Little overachievers. :)

They also passed their bilirubin checks. THANK GOD they didn't have to be poked. The nurse just used the machine on their head. Both were around 7, they peaked at 10 on Saturday, which means that they are in the clear for jaundice.

They both poop & pee well. In fact, Max peed AND pooped on me tonight! We all laughed so hard, I didn't know what to do except giggle!

My mom has been here helping and she will go home tomorrow. We will be alone over the weekend and then she will be back on Sunday.

Dustin and I make an amazing team and like I said before, he is the absolute best father ANYONE could ask for. Our sons are so lucky & he is a natural! Gets up with every feeding and he is the only one who can stop the hiccups or make Zach burp.

I am feeling all right from my C-Section. I still have a TON of fluid and am pretty puffy. Much better than I was. I am doing pretty ok with pain, but it does get me pretty fierce when it hits. I swear, it could knock me over. More than anything, my back hurts, but we certainly can handle it. My incision looks good & no infections so far.

Again, the prayers, love & support are what brought us here today. We love you all.

Love, Sara

all home

2009-05-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

hi,

i'm writing with baby in arms. we're all home! the boys are so precious together, dustin is an amazing father & it is so nice to be together, done with the hospital and done with the awful nicu.

blessings and love,

happy mothers day!

love, sara

Zachary Is Home

2009-05-08T15:34:00.002-05:00

Well, at the hospital with Sara, Myself and Maxwell anyway.

He's doing great and is one hell of a little fighter. He eats like crazy and is awake a bit more than Max. Both have the prettiest eyes...

Anyway, we're all reunited at last. It's great to have all four of us together again!

Dustin

Quick Update From the NICU

2009-05-07T16:05:00.003-05:00

Zach is doing WONDERFUL.

He is going to get discharged tomorrow morning pending no setbacks which, at this time, doesn't look like there will be any. His oxygen saturations are perfect and so are all the other vital stats. He has already put on 2oz!

Max is eating from a bottle like a champ but, at this point, doesn't want much to do with breast feeding. He is wayyyyy more interested in sleeping. Who can blame the kid, huh?

Sara's recovery is going pretty well. The doctors are concerned about some low platelet counts from her blood work but she is finally pain-free for the first time in months. As soon as they took the boys out, her gall bladder pain and headache went away almost immediately.

No more real updates for now but here are a few pictures of Grandma Nancy holding Zachary in the NICU.

What a day!

2009-05-07T01:03:00.005-05:00

Boys are here!

Zach and Max were born today, May 9, 2009, at 6:31 and 6:32 respectively.

Zach weighed in at a hefty 5lbs 15oz and Max wasn't too far behind at 5lbs 9oz.

Sara did awesome - she really did. She is now resting comfortably in her room at the hospital while I took a trip home to get some rest for my trip down to the cities tomorrow.

Zach wasn't progressing as fast as they would have liked and did a lot of 'singing' where he kept trying to clear stuff out of his lungs and basically get situated to life outside the womb. After four hours in the nursery, they called the NICU at one of the major hospitals down in the cities. After explaining the situation, they decided that a trip to a higher level nursery was in order.

Don't be worried though; shortly after they decided to take him to the NICU at another hospital, we got our first chance to hold Zach and proclaim our love to him. It was amazing - as soon as they took him out of the warmer-dealy-thingy in the nursery and placed him into the cart, he was a completely different kid. He turned around so fast it was almost like there was nothing wrong to begin with. Sara and I held him for about 20 minutes and in that time progressed faster than in the previous 4 hours combined.

They still decided to take him to the NICU due to some faster breathing, but they are thinking that he is going to be discharged before Sara will be.

All will be well.

Both boys cried as soon as Dr. Roberts removed them from their first home and did very well.

Max, although smaller, has absolutely zero problems. None.

Sorry if this seems fragmented, but I am a bit tired at the moment. :-)

Anyway, long story short is that boy boys are healthy, Sara is healthy and doing well, and I am friggin exhausted.

Enjoy some pictures, please.

Today's The Day!

2009-05-06T15:13:00.002-05:00

Hello all,

Sara went in earlier today (Wednesday, May 6) for some feelings of hypertension and otherwise just feeling like crap. She got into L&D and her blood pressure was, indeed, slightly elevated.

They have decided to deliver the boys today!

In other news, Max decided to flip and is now head-down. Both boys are head-down but I think they will still do a c-section.

Will update more when I have something.

If anybody has any questions, feel free to call or text me at 612-281-8549.

Thanks!

Dustin

35 week Belly Pictures

2009-05-03T10:51:00.003-05:00

Thirty Five Weeks, One Day

35 Weeks, One Day

My Beautiful Swollen Feet, 35 weeks

Just some pictures of the belly, continually growing. I can't wear my wedding ring anymore and thankfully it is nice out, because even the flip flops struggle to get on my beautiful feet. :) I never have had very attractive feet. LOL, but this is certainly a stretch.

I feel pretty good, definitely have moments of not feeling well, but so far, they have just been moments. I can't do much anymore (nor should I, as I am constantly reminded). I am thankful for Dustin, who is very instrumental in getting me off the floor, helping me out of bed, etc.

We avoided the NICU. I have been in Pre-Term labor for 4 weeks, but manged to keep it quiet with medicine and rest. Pretty amazing.

Thank you to Dustin's Aunt Candy for the very sweet package we received yesterday in the mail. How fun!

And lastly, Happy 26th Birthday to the twin's Auntie Betsy. Baby G-Funk and his brother love you very much. When I was just pregnant (before I even knew we were having twins), I CRAVED BBQ chips one day. I was at work and Betsy works in the same town I do. I had the baby send her an e-mail to get us some chips and it was signed of course, Baby G-Funk.

Love to All, Sara

May Day!

2009-05-01T09:02:00.002-05:00

Happy May Day!!

We made it! Any time after tomorrow (35 weeks) the boys can be born in Princeton at Fairview Northland Hospital. No NICU, no University, etc. I am so incredibly excited about that. One of my biggest fears was having these little guys too early and to try to manage my time between two Neonatal Intenstive Care Unit Incubators, trying to find a place to eat/sleep and worrying about leaving them, etc. I could never leave, I know that. I am just thankful now that I don't have to worry about it.

I am still having a few breakthrough contractions, despite the increase in Procardia. I still get a headache and a backache, but it is nothing compared to what Zachary & Maxwell would have to go through as preemies. Full term for twins is 36-38 weeks, so almost there.

And our little guys have been SO incredibly active. Despite their increase in size, I can still feel them kick and squirm and move. I actually feel MORE movement now than I did before when they were little and like I said before, I can pretty much tell what is what now. I know where their little body parts are and what is jabbing at me. :) Last night, I held my breath and just watched my tummy, they looked like little kick boxers. I just laugh, it brings me such joy. They hear Dustin's voice & always kick. I know they miss him when he is at work.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, at the ultrasound on Wednesday, the tech commented on how much hair baby A (Zachary) has. She just smiled and said, "Wow, he has a FULL head of hair!" It showed up on the machine as a white shadow. VERY VERY cool. :) Dustin had hair as a baby, but this Mama, BALD until my 2nd birthday maybe? She didn't mention hair on Baby B. LOL. I can not wait to see their little faces, kiss their little cheeks and get to be a Mommy to TWO earth angels.

Love, Sara

Proof that we are STILL in Pre-Term Labor

2009-04-29T15:31:00.002-05:00

I guess I never really had any doubts that it had stopped... But I was feeling pretty good for the last few days. I had a really good weekend, a decent Monday and a normal Tuesday. I laid down to go to bed last night and starting having contractions about 7 minutes apart. I figured it was because I was just at the end of my Procardia dose. I took it, drank some water, did fetal kick counts and fell asleep. I have Narcolepsy, so I think I fell asleep about 10 minutes into kick counts and Zach was ahead, 8-5. They want you to get 10 per baby in one hour.

I woke up this morning and felt ok, but I was so incredibly uncomfortable. I had the back ache, the headache, and my contractions were still strong. I drank some water and laid down to do kick counts and after 45 minutes, only had ONE per baby! Way decreased fetal movement, especially considering I had just ate breakfast and had drank a ton of water.

I had rescheduled my OB appt. from tomorrow to today earlier in the week and it was at 11:30 a.m. I tossed around whether I should wait for my appointment or call Labor & Delivery. I decided to call. They wanted me to come right in, since I had all ready done all the things I could do at home.

I go to check in and had the sweetest registration lady. She told me I looked like I was ready to have the babies, NOW! She said I just have this look in my eye? Whatever that means, I thought it was cute.

I got upstairs, went on the monitor right away. Babies were pretty good, my contractions were strong. I had to stay on the Non-Stress Test monitors for a while until the Labor & Delivery nurse spoke with Dr. Roberts. She wanted me to have an ultrasound.

Zach is still head down, Max is still breech. The weights today, which are probably off and have a one pound margin of error were Zachary at 4 lbs. 11 oz. and Max at 4 lbs. 5 oz. I am certain that Max has gained weight in the past two weeks! The ultrasound machine is only a 2D here and certainly a low model compared to the 4D ultrasound at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center.

I had to take 20 mg of Procardia at the hospital, which just about knocked me on my ass and now, I need to increase my meds to four times a day, instead of three. Holy Hannah, I don't know how I am going to deal with the migraines that come along with it though.

So, still cooking Twins...

Hugs, Sara

34 Week Belly Picture

2009-04-26T21:35:00.004-05:00

23 weeks

11 weeks later, 34 weeks.

I tried to find some pictures that looked similar to compare the belly. It is continue to get bigger and bigger. I am not entirely uncomfortable all the time, but I certainly can not be without my Procardia either.

The boys have been very active lately, which I love. I can tell what all of their little body parts are. Today, Zach was twisting his feet around and I could feel all of his little foot going back and forth. Dustin usually gets to catch most of it and feel it too. I think that is the one thing I will miss when I am not pregnant.

At 34 weeks, we would still have to deliver at the University and spend some time at the NICU. We need to get to next Saturday to be able to deliver in Princeton. We are almost, almost there!! :)

I go to the doctor again on Thursday. I will update more after then.

Hugs & Love to All,
The Grieser's

Feel Bad Tuesdays

2009-04-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

I think I am going to start naming Tuesday's, "Feel Bad Tuesday's" because again yesterday, I felt bad. I woke up several times on Monday night with contractions, a few of them were VERY painful and woke me out of a deep sleep. I could not get comfortable and I had a nasty, middle back ache. I was a little reassured since my backache was in the middle of my back & not my lower... But, I still felt terrible nonetheless. I took some Tylenol that did not even TOUCH the pain.

I woke up when Dustin went to work because I just couldn't stand to toss and turn in bed anymore. I ate some breakfast, drank some water, took my procardia and laid back down. At one point, before the procardia, my contractions were pretty regular & intense. I drank more water and laid on my left side and it eventually subsided.

I tossed around the idea of going into Labor & Delivery all morning, but as soon as the medicine kicked in, the contractions stopped. I have no idea what brought them on, I imagine the interrupted sleep. That is not going to get any better unfortunately.

I am so big and so awkward. I can not turn in bed on my own. I can barely get up to go to the bathroom. I am ready to have these babies, but I just want to avoid the NICU. At 35 weeks, they can be delivered in Princeton with no Neonatal ICU. Just a few more days I NEED them to hang around.

I have another doctor appointment next Thursday, April 30th. It feels like forever away, but of course, if I need to go in sooner, L & D is only a few minutes away.

Love, Sara

Thirty Three Weeks, Belly Pictures!

2009-04-19T17:20:00.003-05:00

If I hear, "Oh, you aren't that big for twins" one more time, I am going to get a backpack that weighs approximately 30 pounds (or more) and make the commenter wear it for one day. And then, make them have to pee every hour or less!! (Just so they get the whole experience). Our neighbor said that to Dustin yesterday and he kindly reminded her that I still have seven weeks until full term. :)

I feel really good today, it is so nice to have the extra fluid gone and my little fingers no longer look like sausages. My feet fit into shoes again as well, which I am pleased with.

I have been so tired the last two days. I don't know what it is, but every time I sit down, I fall asleep. I don't know if it is from the narcolepsy or the pregnancy. With all of this sleeping, there is absolutely NO nesting going on! I was fortunate enough to have my sister Betsy, her husband and their boys come over yesterday to help me get a few extra things accomplished while Dustin was at work. We still need to pick up the second rocking chair and we are ready.

I do enjoy being pregnant. I am doing exactly what the doctor said and enjoying what we wanted so much and waited for. :)

Love To All,
Sara, Dustin, Zachary & Maxwell

*Auntie Corrie, I sent a message to the boys about May 17th. It sounds like a beautiful day to me! I will remind them when it gets closer as well! :) *

32 week Appointment Update

2009-04-17T09:35:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, we will be 33 weeks! I can not believe it!!! (My back on the other hand, can totally believe it!!!)

I went to the doctor in Zimmerman yesterday, to see my regular OB, Dr. Roberts. She couldn't believe how much better I had looked from the previous week and was very glad that we have been able to calm the pre-term labor. Her words were, "by trying to do it all, you really upset your babies, so now, by being on bed rest, you've made everyone happy again."

My vitals were great- BP was 110/74, I lost 4 lbs. of fluid from the previous week (yeah, I would say that everyone is happier now!)

The babies were excellent. She is funny, she has always termed Baby A (Zachary), the naughty one, because every time she would try to find his heartbeat, he would squirm and wiggle away. Well, now, because they have no room to hide, she was able to find his heartbeat within seconds. She made some comment about how now he couldn't even be naughty if he tried. :) I really do appreciate her sense of humor. When she needs to be serious though, she is VERY serious.

We talked about the birth plan too! (Still in awe that it is time to plan for the BIRTH!) I go to the University of Minnesota again on Wednesday, May 13th for a final growth scan, the next day I see Dr. Roberts in Zimmerman and based on their positions, we will decide to have a vaginal delivery or a C-Section. However, currently, they have no room to change positions, so, I am 99% sure that I will have a C-Section. Maxwell is laying over Zach, and he (Max) is also breech. He will be the difficult one to deliver. I could deliver Zach vaginally and then deliver Max via C-Section, but I don't really see the point in that... Plus, I am worried that Max will go into distress when his brother is gone.

I think we will look at delivery at 37 weeks, sometime between May 18-22nd, but that is just my guess.

I do see Dr. Roberts again on April 30th for a quick check-up. I am going to continue to take Procardia, three times a day, every 8 hours, round the clock, like I have been. This is truly giving our boys so much extra & vital time in the womb.

Well, I am getting dizzy, so I better go lay down. Thank you all for the love & prayers. And thank you to my amazing husband who has done so much for me and helped in so many ways. He is a saint and I know we ALL love is hilarious blog posts!

Love, Sara

Appointment Update

2009-04-15T21:25:00.002-05:00

Again, for the most part, all went pretty well.

We got there a half hour early, as usual, due to the unknown Minneapolis (read:hell) traffic situation and were actually late getting into the room. Apparently they had another expecting Mom who was having some complications. Sara overheard "amniocentesis" and we figured that couldn't be good. So, here are all my well-wishes to the unknown Momma and whatever they have going on.

Once we got into the room we had the same nurse that we had when we went in for our first appointment. They have all been wonderful, but this lady seems to take some extra time out to explain exactly what she's doing every step of the way. It's really nice to know exactly what she is looking at whether it is a tummy measurement, head circumference, arm/leg bones or the amount of fluid in their individual sacs.

At this point in their gestation they start to do some tests on the boys as far as their progress and growth. It is an eight point test and two points are awarded for faux-breathing (where you can see their tummy go in and out), extending a limb, general movement of the child and the water surrounding them in their little area.

Both boys scored 8/8. Pretty cool.

The only thing they were concerned about was the fact that Max (baby b) has basically stretched himself length-wise across Zach. While I thought this was pretty humorous in that poor Max has been stuck in the corner with his feet into his chin for god knows how long and apparently just had enough of the whole situation, Doctor Williams showed some concern about it in regards to birth-time. Well, Sara is already going to ask for a c-section so it's pretty much a moot point. It's nice that they show concern about that stuff, though...again; the University of Minnesota Fetal Medical Center has been nothing short of wonderful through every appointment we have had. Can't say enough good things about them.

Max is now topping the charts at a whopping 4lbs 5oz, and Zach is 4lbs even. Both right where they should be. Growing like big boys.

No pictures this time, unfortunately...seems both boys have officially gotten pissed off at the mention of the ultrasound machine and now refuse to cooperate when it comes time to take their picture. Max literally shook his head in a "no-no-no-no" way when the U/S tech was trying to measure his head. Must be union.

Anyway, that's about it. We got home later than we both thought and Sara took a nap right away while I watered some trees outside and did some basic spring clean-up. Now it's just time to keep the boys growing and get the grass started on the same path.

Night all,

Dustin

That Bookcase

2009-04-13T12:16:00.001-05:00

I would just like to state, for the record, that bookcase was one of the biggest pains in the neck that I have ever had to endure.

I go to pick it up to move it, BAM! It tears and breaks the screws that are holding it together.

I go to place the top part of it on the lower case, BAM! The plastic dowels break. TWICE.

Screw that thing.

I will take great pleasure in watching that %!@king thing burn in the fire pit in the very near future.

Have a great %!@king day, all.

Dustin

The nursery is done!

2009-04-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

Looking in from the hallway, notice the new valance that matches the other dinosaur pictures! :)

The rocking chair and bookshelf. Lots of time will be spent in this corner! I still need to personalize the pictures in the frames.

This is the wall directly to the left of the door, with the changing table and hamper.

The nursery is complete!! I am so excited that it is done! Dustin outdid himself today, finishing the final work of putting together the bookshelf while all I could do was sit in the chair... I was very proud of him for getting it done and I know how much the boys are going to LOVE their room.

I also finished packing the hospital bag and packed "going home" bag for baby. I still need a
going home outfit" for Mommy, but that's all.

The Procardia is REALLY working! My uterus is so much more relaxed and my contractions are finally calmed down... I hardly have any at all. I am taking the medicine religiously every 8 hours, even setting my alarm in the middle of the night. It makes me tired and very dizzy, since it is supposed to drop my blood pressure, but I am just so pleased it is working.

We wish you all a very happy & blessed Easter. It's amazing to think that next year, we will have TWO 11 month old little boys toddling around, enjoying spring and the Easter Bunny! :)

Update: Bed Rest & Procardia

2009-04-09T09:06:00.000-05:00

First of all, Thank you to everyone who sent us messages, e-mails, thoughts and prayers after our very scary day earlier in the week.

Being a pregnant momma certainly does not come without fear, worry, or stress, but we feel all of your love and positive thoughts and it DOES make a difference.

I went back into the clinic yesterday for my 2nd dose of the steroid, Betamethasone. I was also hooked up to the Non-Stress Test monitor. The babies were doing better than on Tuesday, but my uterus was still as irritable as ever, and my contractions were fairly regular.

My fetal fibronectin test came back negative, which the doctor said is a 90% chance that I will NOT deliver in the next two weeks, but she was very concerned about the irritability and the irritation that they were experiencing. She said it was pretty obvious that they were trying to come out, NOW.

She put me on Procardia, a heart medicine, to calm my uterus and stop the contractions. I need to take it three times a day for 10 days, and then maybe I can switch to the once daily extended release pill.

Procardia has some side effects for me, like lowering my blood pressure, heart flutters, flushing, headaches, dizziness, etc. I need to lay down on my left side for at least an hour after I take the medicine and I can not drive.

I am also on Level II bed rest. Level II is similar to Level III with resting in bed, on my left side, but at least I can get out of bed to eat with Level II. Dr. Roberts said if I am feeling ok, I can even get up to go outside. But, then I should go right back to bed.

The Procardia takes a few days to kick in, so, I am still waiting for that. I am also trying to find the best times to take it around resting schedules.

We are taking everything day by day, minute by minute actually. I am not making plans until right before... I am sure we won't be going to Easter. I just need to make my main job to grow, grow, grow these babies.

They are big now, almost 4 lbs. I would guess. SO, they would do ok outside of the womb, but at 31 1/2 weeks, they would require almost a month in the NICU.

I will go to the U of M next Wednesday for another growth scan & see the doctor again on Thursday.

(((((((HUGS))))))))) and Love to all of you, Sara

Trip to L & D, Steroids, Level III Bedrest

2009-04-07T19:51:00.000-05:00

What a day! I haven't been feeling that great since Sunday night. I got really sick after I ate Subway for dinner, I vomited all over myself/etc. and had some nasty gallbladder pain. My gallbladder was really acting up and my entire side tingled from the pain. I went to bed and felt ok.

I woke up on Monday morning and noticed I was dizzy. Really, really dizzy. I almost fell a few times because of it. I didn't really know what was going on. I studied, did some homework, wrote out Thank-You's from the baby showers and went to class. I had a headache and a backache, as well as the dizziness, but I did ok. I came home and we had dinner, which I kept down fine. I was pretty tired in the evening, still having the dizzy spells all the time. Dustin made me blueberry muffins that I was craving before bed and they didn't stay down much. I slept ok.

I got up this morning and my fingers & feet were so swollen that I literally could barely stand on my feet. I had gained 4 lbs. overnight and still didn't feel great. I still had a headache and a backache. I could now feel the contractions and they were getting strong and more regular. I talked to my Mom and looked up some information on pre-ecclampsia and ended up calling the nurse.

The nurse hears multiple births and immediately wants me to go to the hospital in Princeton and check into Labor & Delivery. They do not screw around with twins. I took a shower and before I got into the shower, I vomited again. I got kind of scared.

I called Dustin and he agreed to do whatever I needed. I figured I would get settled and then let him know what to do. I got into the hospital and my blood pressure was great, 110/68, and the rest of my vitals were great, but I was dehydrated.

Not really surprising considering everything I tried to keep down today, I vomited. I was still having the headache and also the uterine irritability. The contractions were really strong on the monitors and I could feel them and see a rise in Zach's heartbeat with the bad ones.

My sister Betsy came up to see me and Dustin came over during lunch. There really wasn't much for anyone to do. I had some blood drawn, I gave a urine sample, I got an IV with 2 liters of fluid, and also some IV Zofran for the nausea/vomiting. My headache still hadn't gone away and I am sure I have a migraine. They really just diagnosed me with pre-term labor & dehydration which I know are related to the migraine. I have a low level of Albumin in my blood, which explains the low blood pressure.

The nurse checked me and I am dilating. Dilating and contracting not good... I got a shot of steroids in my butt to mature the lungs since I am in pre-term labor. (See what Mommy does for you babies?!)

I was able to go home, but only on Level III bedrest. I can go to the bathroom and that is it. Otherwise, I have to lay on my left side. I am not even supposed to eat sitting up. I can't climb stairs, drive, etc.

They did a Fetal Fibrometcin test to see if the boys will be delivered in two weeks, but the results aren't back yet. That will determine the next plan of action.

I have to go into the clinic tomorrow for my 2nd dose of steroids and will see Dr. Roberts then. I will have a plan of action then.

Until then, I need to lay on my left side. Drink water. And go to the bathroom. The boys weigh about 4 lbs. a piece, but I need them to hang out just a little longer.

I will update tomorrow after my clinic visit at 1 p.m.

Love, Sara

31 weeks

2009-04-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

I know, it may not look like I am that "big", but I am measuring 56" around and it is getting difficult for me to move. My back hurts like h*ll... I am trying to take Tylenol and rest, but resting isn't something I do too well...

I am really feeling the effects of being pregnant tonight and there is no way I overdid it today, I hardly did anything.

We did buy tickets for Metallica today and were lucky enough to get them before they sold out! The concert is in October. It should be a fun night out!

Ok, well, back to resting.

Love, Sara

Another Appointment

2009-04-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

I went to the doctor again this morning for my two week check up. I go every two weeks now, until 34 or 35 weeks, then, I go every week. I saw Dr. Roberts, my OB/GYN and to be honest, it could not have went better. Today I am 30 weeks, 5 days.

My urine was clear for the first time in 1 1/2 months. I had some protein in it before and glucose at my last visit, but this time, nothing, nada.

My blood pressure was 126/72. Up a little from normal, but still perfect.

The doctor praised me on my weight gain. I have gained 30 lbs. since the beginning of the pregnancy, which is pretty amazing. She said every pound is babies, fluid or placentas. She is very proud of my weight gain. And so am I!

I talked to her about the gall bladder & my appointment with the surgeon. She was happy with that, I will follow the diet. I caved and had pizza Tuesday night & thought I was going to die... I guess I really need to be strict about the diet!

She listened to their heartbeats and was able to find them both right away. They were nice & strong.

She addressed some discomfort that I am having, which has been more and more as I am growing. Now, I never have been graceful, but I am certainly getting more awkward as the days go on. If I stand up straight, I usually start to sway and fall!!! My center of gravity is most certainly different!

My paperwork for bed rest is all filled out and dated March 19th! I need to continue to listen to my body and to our boys and know when to say enough is enough. I am not very good at that, but I know that the best place for them to be is in utero still, so when I think it is too much, I just need to let the doctor & work know. I am going to continue doing it all until I say, whoa.

Dr. Roberts also said that with my progress and the growth of these children, we will most likely see them around 36 to 37 weeks!! Which is right around Mother's Day! I am so excited! I can not believe that two babies will be born.

I am still shocked that everything is going so well. My body failed me so bad with my pregnancy for Sammie... Her little heart had stopped beating almost THREE weeks before I spotted. My cervix never opened to have a "natural" miscarriage and they needed to use extra Cytotec during my D & C. I guess my body just didn't want to let her go. And then, it wouldn't get pregnant again right away. I honestly hated what my body was doing all of last year, that now, I am pretty awed at the fact that it is "cooperating" if you will.

Dr. Roberts was so excited that I am still pregnant. I am too. Just a few weeks left to go. We are almost done with the nursery. I bought everything to pack my hospital bag. We picked out the outfits the boys will wear home from the hospital. It is all falling into place & I can't wait.

We also talked about birthing options this morning. It will depend on their positioning in two weeks. I swear Zachary flipped last night, but I can never be positive. If he is head down, we can attempt a vaginal delivery and then try to flip Max during Zach's birth. Otherwise, if he is head down, we can deliver Zach vaginally and Max C-Section. If Zach is breech, they will both be C-Section. We have another ultrasound 4-15 at the University & I see Dr. Roberts again Thursday, April 16th at 10:20 a.m.

Hugs & Love to all of you,

Sara

30 week Update and Goodbye Gallbladder!

2009-03-31T09:12:00.000-05:00

What a week we've had. First, to talk about the weather. It is snowing like crazy outside. I guess March really is going "out like a lion." I am getting very sick of the cold and snow. Mostly driving in it. I just want it to be nice & to see some sunshine. I think that is a pretty small request, if only Mother Nature would cooperate.

We had a wonderful baby shower on Saturday. I continue to be amazed at the love and generosity people have showed to us. This shower was at my Mother-In-Laws, thrown by Grandma Nancy & Auntie Maggie. It was so fun! The prizes were all in twos! So cute! I also was lucky enough to have my sisters, nephews & mom come to the shower. It was a lot of fun to have everyone there. The boys are so blessed in so many ways to have such a great extended family. The following pictures are of Uncle Dustin and Owen and the centerpieces from the shower.

He's such a great uncle and an amazing Daddy!

I have still been having a little issue with the gallbladder, I have changed my diet, which has helped some, but I continue to have "attacks." I went to see the surgeon this morning in Princeton, Dr. Pietrifizza, and he recommended gallbladder removal. It will come out 3 months after the babies are born, I will just have to wait that long. We don't want to do it now, because I am so big, they couldn't even get to the gallbladder & would need to open me up. I would have a very high chance of a spontaneous abortion with that scenario. (Which was never really an option for us anyway). I asked about taking it out right after delivery/C-Section and he suggested against that. Basically because then you have two different things that could cause complications. He actually said that if I had a C-Section, they would have to take the babies first, then fill me with air to do the laproscopic surgery and it gets pretty messy. The other option would be to cut me basically from my chest to my pelvis and do one big open abdominal surgery. Not really what I am looking for...

So, we will wait three months after delivery for the laproscopic gallbladder surgery. It can be scheduled in July for the end of August.

My weight was good today, up a little bit, I think 3 lbs. from 2 weeks ago. My blood pressure was a little higher at 130/80. Still not bad, but certainly up from where it has been. I kind of figured that, since my shoes no longer fit and even my Crocs are tight. And my fingers have turned into little sausages.

The boys are good, they continue to kick and squirm as soon as their daddy comes home. They are getting bigger and their movements are more abrupt, I don't really feel a lot of the little bumps and moves like I did.

I have my next OB appointment on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. with Dr. Roberts. We will update then.

I will leave you with the 30 week belly picture. Grow belly, grow!

Love, Sara

29 weeks, 2 days and counting

2009-03-23T19:19:00.000-05:00

And, Here we are again. At 29 weeks, 2 days. I am kind of slacking at the every Saturday belly shot when my week flips over into the next one.

I am still amazed that Saturday is 30 weeks... Wow. I am having a shower for the Anderson/Grieser thrown by Dustin's mom and step-sister Maggie this Saturday. I am really looking forward to it!

We went online last night & used our gift cards and purchased two glider rockers with ottomans and a snap and go double stroller. We got a really nice double stroller from my Mom and sisters for our baby shower here, but, it just seemed like too much of a hassle to STRAP the carseats in every time!

Dustin thinks the boys will be here sooner than later, hence, the reason for the shopping. I tend to agree with him. They are getting bigger and I am getting more and more uncomfortable.

I made an appointment today to see the surgeon about my gallbladder for next Tuesday, March 30th at 8:30 a.m. here in Princeton. I will not have surgery while I am pregnant, but I want to know if the stones will pass on their own, or if they are too big. If they are too big, I want them to remove my gallbladder during my C-Section. Since I have one breech baby, I am planning on a C-Section for both of them. I could deliver them vaginally if by some miracle Max turns, but he does not have any room now to move, so I am going to guess that isn't really an option. Dustin and I just felt his elbow or knee poking out my side.

I see the OB again on April 2nd. She will draw some blood and check me over too. I have a low platelet count and they are going to watch me for precclampsia. As I get closer to delivery, these things all seem so real. And I am SO ready to meet our sons.

And Dustin is right. Nothing really is as bad as it seems.

Love, Sara

Overdue Belly Pics

2009-03-23T19:16:00.001-05:00

Good Evening,

These pictures should've been posted last week. They are me and my belly at 28 weeks, 1 day.

Spring Is Here

2009-03-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

Sara says that I should blog more and I figured that a post letting all of you know that Spring is officially here is as good of an opportunity as any.

I would also like to take this time to hopefully bring a little of the bright, warm, shining sun of positivity from the new Spring Season into your lives. It seems as though all your hear or read from the various news sources is how bad things are - everywhere.

Sara and I live in Princeton, Minnesota, where the unemployment rate is north of 30%. The town's major employer is Crystal Cabinets. They have been forced to lay off more than 60% of their work force (They had more than 1k employees in the Princeton factory before the layoffs began) due to the downtrodden housing market. I tell you this for one reason - the people that have been laid off from Crystal still have outstanding attitudes and when they come into my work (I work at a GM dealer in town) they have a smile on their face.

I hope to bring that small bit of positivity to the boys when they decide it's time to come out and play. It's tough to look at the bright side of things sometimes, but let's not forget that 92% of folks are still working around the country. Economic downturns breed originality which in turn spurns economic activity.

The thing that bothers me the most, I think, is so many people run around all day with these "world-ending-moods" and take absolutely zero time to look at the positive side of things. If there is anything that I have learned in my 28 years it is this; things are never as good as they seem and certainly never as bad. From a human perspective, I try to stay in the middle of that and maintain some sort of equilibrium as tough as it is sometimes.

Life is too short to stay pissed off and negative about things all the time.

Cheer up and look at the happy side of things. :)

Dustin

Pictures

2009-03-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

Maxwell Theodore
3 lbs. 2 oz.
Breech
Measuring 29 weeks, 2 days
(4 days ahead!)

Zachary Clifford
3 lbs. 0 oz.
Head down
Measuring 29 weeks, 2 days
(4 days ahead!)

In the grand scheme of things and & all of the fright and worry, this is what matters in the end.

And, All is well.

2009-03-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

Holy, What a day! I went on bed rest, off of bed rest; was planning surgery, no surgery; preparing for labor, no labor; had a shortening cervix, no shortening of the cervix. My brain is seriously spinning still at all the this or that talk and change of plans today.
I DO NOT LIKE MY PLANS CHANGED!!!!!!!!

We went to the University, had the ultrasound. We will post pictures later. The boys are great. Zach is head down, 3 lbs. 2 oz. and looking great. Max is breech, 3 lbs. and also very healthy. Squooshed as squooshed can be. Poor little ducky has a knee in his nose. They are very close, the septum that divides them looks like it takes up 1/2 of Zach's face because Maxwell's butt is RIGHT there. Crazy kiddos.

My cervix is NOT thinning. The length looked good. I do NOT look like I will go into labor ANY time soon. I do NOT need to be on bed rest. Everything is fine & healthy. I should keep doing what I am doing.

I do have gallstones. It took the tech a little manuevering to find my gallbladder. She saw one big stone instead of lots of little ones, like last night. It still hurts so bad, but I am not in any immediate danger. My blood work was all normal, nothing to worry about with that. If I get a fever or go into a severe attack, then, they will consider surgery. Otherwise, I just need to deal with the pain, nausea and vomitting until they are delivered.

Honestly, I think those last three things will hinder what I do more than anything and make me a wreck. I don't have as high of a pain tolerance as I like to think I do. So, lots and lots of rest. I have some Zofran, an antinausea medicine for the vomiting.

So, I am just hanging out. Going to continue the crazy schedule that I have been doing until I imagine I just fall over. I am so thankful everything is well and healthy. Now, I just need to pray that the gallbladder doesn't attack or whatever it does.

I went from threatened hospital bed rest to absolutely nothing in 8 hours. Dustin is exhausted. I have been asleep on the couch for the last three hours... What a day!

Sweet Dreams, Sara

Be sure to...

2009-03-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

Read from the bottom up.

Part II follows Where to start.

Part II

2009-03-19T11:07:00.000-05:00

I went to the doctor this morning to see Dr. Roberts. I don't know what my lab results are yet, but, she was in a fury after I left.

My weight was good, finally up a little. 24 lbs. total pregnancy. My blood pressure was amazing at 108/72. No fever, rest of the vitals were really good.

She listened to heart beats, checked my uterus height, etc. Everything looked good. Made me explain to her how I fell, etc.

I had a list of things to talk to her about and I mentioned my right side pain. I have been having this pain for almost two weeks, it is TERRIBLE when it happens, usually 30 minutes after I eat. It takes my breath away. She said that is where my gall bladder is, and she would be really concerned if I was nauseous or having vomiting. I told her that I have had both of those... And she just about had a cow. I got the stern, "SARA!" I proceeded to tell her that the tech had found gallstones last night. She didn't know about them...

I need to meet with a surgeon to discuss removal of the gall bladder before it explodes. They do not like to do surgery in the 3rd trimester and I do not like the idea of surgery in pregnancy, PERIOD. She took some blood, a CBC and a liver function test. The results of those will see how bad the gall bladder is. I do not have a fever, which is a good thing. I do have terrible, honestly terrible pain. I have it right now. It feels like my side is on fire, I feel like someone is ripping my guts apart. I have looked at my side a lot because it feels bruised. It hurts SO bad. It often becomes reddened and swollen. She will let the surgeon decide what to do & if I do have surgery, she said I can expect to be in the hospital for several days.

Then, I asked her about cervical length. She was concerned about this and wants me to check on it today at my appt. at the University. I will do that and I need to email her as soon as I come home with the measurement and she will decide what to do from there.

I will need to go into Labor & Delivery on Sunday morning for a test to see if I am in Pre-Term Labor. If it is positive, I will deliver in two weeks. If it is negative, no babies for two weeks. They will check this and give me steroids, etc. Depending on the results.

She also put me on bedrest because of the gall stones. She didn't even want me to drive home. I don't know how serious she was or if it was just because she was so fired up. I will again ask more about that at the appt. this afternoon.

Dustin should've got off work at 11 a.m. I am waiting for him to come home. My ultrasound is at 1:30 p.m., I will discuss all of these things with the high risk, perinatologist at the U.

What a work of God though that I would fall the day before all of these appointments and the gall bladder and cervical length thing would come into light. I just hope and pray these boys stay in. I am itchig to meet them, but REALLY would prefer to avoid the NICU.

Will update after we get home and talk to Dr. Roberts tonight.

Hugs and Love, Sara with a side ache.

Where to Start!!

2009-03-19T10:35:00.000-05:00

Last night (3/18), I went outside into the garage at 5:05 p.m. to pull out the grill so we could BBQ some porkchops. I was wearing backless shoes, and my foot slipped somehow, and I fell, face first into the cement. I landed on my hand first and then, that slid and I smashed my tummy into the garage floor.

I was covered in grease, terrified and in pain, I got up, went into the bathroom and immediately checked for bleeding (there was none), cleaned off my hand and texted Dustin what happened. I went upstairs for a bandaid for my hand and kept thinking that I needed to call Labor & Delivery. In our birthing class, the teacher kept reittering to call, call... So, I found the number in the folder and called. The nurse, Katrina was amazingly sweet and said I needed to come in right away. I called Dustin (he was still at work) and told him to meet me at the hospital, and then I drove uptown.

I was doing really good until I realized I hadn't felt them kick since the fall. I called my sister, Betsy, who has two boys and asked her if she ever fell when she was pregnant. I just started to cry. All I could think about was that I did something stupid to hurt our sons. Betsy really calmed me down and assured me that they were safe and protected in there. I was reminded of people who get in car accidents while pregnant and babies are fine.

I got into the ER and was sent right upstairs. Dustin wasn't there yet, so, I told everyone he was coming up to see me and I tromped up to the 3rd floor. I didn't even need a wheelchair. I was still pretty freaked out, and still no baby movement.

I got into a hospital room, left a urine sample, changed into a gown and got ready to get hooked up to the monitors, Dustin got there. Babies looked really good and I was not having contractions. They called Dr. Roberts to see what she wanted to do and she ordered that I stay on the monitor for 4 hours, have a ultrasound and some blood work.

The boys kicked like crazy on the monitors, something about the soundwaves made them go crazy. They were so cute. In 4 hours, I had one contraction that I didn't feel. The lab tech came in to draw my blood and asked why my monitor was "nosier than most?" We told her we were having twins, she just about flipped over. It was so sweet. :) Everyone was really excited for us, so nice, so caring. I really am fortunate we go there.

The tech came in with the ultrasound and babies looked good. The placentas didn't tear away during the fall, and I wasn't leaking aminotic fluid. She was able to measure and weigh them. They are measuring almost a week ahead, Zach weighs about 3 lbs. 1 oz. and Max weighs about 2 lbs. 15 oz. VERY CLOSE.

She was concerned about my cervical length. It is shortening. It was 2 cm when it should be between 3-4. She did lots of pictures of that. It is a test of pre-term labor, which is what we DO NOT want.

I told the tech about ALL the pain I have been having under my right rib, she mentioned that was where my gall bladder was at and put the wand there. She said I had a "rock pile" in my gall bladder. The screen lit up white with stones. Because she didn't have an order to do the test, she didn't mention it to the doctor. I did today. More on that to come.

We sat there and waited until 10 p.m. when I could get unhooked and go home. Dustin was starving and exhausted. We ate a little dinner, I vomited some of mine and we fell asleep.

Content that our sons are healthy. I had all ready scheduled appointments for today, Thursday, March 19th with Dr. Roberts for a follow-up and at the U of M for our big ultrasound scan. So, a lot of what happened last night would be followed up with today.

How I didn't fall on ICE all winter and then my foot twists in the garage... It's beyond me. Possibly a blessing in disguise in regards to the gall bladder.

Little THIRD trimester update!

2009-03-16T13:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Spring! It is so beautiful outside today. I think the temperature is in the 60s, I have the windows open for the first time in months, there is absolutely no way you could possibly be in a bad mood with weather like this!

I have been trying to get Dustin to blog. He has been busy at work and with little projects that I can not do--vacuuming, carrying things, etc. And I know how much everyone LOVES his blog posts, especially me.

I am doing really well, first, I am on Spring Break this week, which makes me BEYOND thrilled! I have to write some papers, but I don't even mind. It is so much better than sitting in a stuffy classroom, I can't even describe it. I don't know how many more weeks are left of class, but not too many I wouldn't think.

I am feeling fairly good. My morning sickness is back at night with vengeance. Oh, how I hate vomiting all over & when I say "back" it only went away for about one week. The last few nights, I have been unable to keep my supper down. I don't know if it is because we have been eating later or I eat too fast, jump up too fast after eating or all of the above. Luckily, I have been at home every time I have gotten sick. No more episodes in the car. I don't mind the vomiting, I just wish I wouldn't have believed that it would be gone by now.

I have been having a really weird/bad pain for about a week now after I eat, under my right rib. I googled it and only found things about gallbladder, but I have no idea if that is what it actually is or not... It doesn't really get better with changing positions and it is the absolute worst when I am in the car. I did mention it to the nurse and she didn't really seem too concerned about it.

I am continuing to grow (the camera is downstairs, so, I will post the belly pictures later). I am 52" around the widest part of my belly and my uterus is measuring at 41 weeks. I am not swelling too terrible, but there are times when my fingers feel just like little sausages. Dustin and I watched a show on Discovery Health the other day and two women were pregnant with twins (Quads with 2 Moms, the women were lesbians and had both been implanted with embryos using one woman's eggs & the same donor sperm). They showed a picture of their swollen ankles at 35 weeks. They seriously looked like elephants!! When my ankles resemble elephants, I will certainly add the pictures to the blog.

The boys move around all the time now. It is the most amazing feeling in the world. For this feeling, I think I could be pregnant forever. It is so cool to feel them kick and squirm. I am getting to know Max's personality a little more, and Zach always seems to get him riled up. They punch each other a lot, I think they are running out of room. :)

We had a wonderful weekend at our nephew Ethan's birthday party. He is the cutest thing. He got some stamps for his birthday and was sure to stamp everyone at the party, including his cousins. My belly had some nice green alligators on it. I am excited for him (& his brother Owen) to meet the boys. I am especially excited to see what Ethan thinks when the babies aren't in my belly anymore. I always show him my belly, then he shows me his! It is so priceless. In May, when the twins are born, my parents will have FOUR grandsons 2 & under. Not too bad after having three girls. Dad jokes that he is going to have to sell his boat and buy a pontoon.

As for Dustin, he is an only child, so, Max & Zach will be grand babies number 1 & 2 for his Mom. She is married to Wayne, who has 4 grown children & they have one step-grandchild. On Wayne's side of the family, there has not been a girl born for 26 years!!! Not since Auntie Maggie! I am sorry we couldn't bring any pink into the Anderson's. :)

I am totally procrastinating on cleaning the kitchen floor. I think I FINALLY convinced Dustin I need a steam mop. I wonder when I can convince him I need to go get it? wink, wink. I suppose I should take my babies and go finish cleaning the house. I am just enjoy the smells of springtime and the birds singing, reminding me of all I have to be thankful for.

Love to All, Sara

We have a WINNER!

2009-03-10T09:50:00.000-05:00

Yes Natalie, The movie IS the Fox & The Hound! I am so proud of you... You are really good at these games, you should make it a career! :)

I technically haven't thought of the prize yet, (I know-Bad Sara!) but I will!

Thank you for your sweet post!

Hugs, Sara

Twenty Seven Weeks

2009-03-09T20:33:00.000-05:00

I have ONE week left until the third trimester. I can not wait!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures, Dustin is currently fuming at me right now, because I uploaded these pictures online and deleted two pictures in the mean time... one I was making a stupid duck face while I was writing out Thank-You notes from the shower & the other was of the corner of the family room. I guess he is afraid I will never make the stupid duck face ever again. And that moment will be lost forever in time.

I am feeling allright, the babies are moving around a lot. I can really tell the difference between them. I am currently questioning some gall bladder issues. I have a terrible pain in my upper right quadrant, after I eat, that travels up my shoulder and takes my breath away. I googled it today, and that was what I came up with. I guess it would make sense, but it hasn't knocked me out yet. I might e-mail Dr. Roberts tomorrow and keep her notified. It very well might be the boys growing. Max is on the right and I often need to push his foot down so I can get my breath.

The twins have very different schedules. Zach is busier in the morning and evenings. He kicks a lot and does some kind of fluttering occasionally. Max is now a little pushier in his movements and he is busy in the evening and at night. He often wakes me up kicking. They don't know this yet, but after they are born, they WILL be on the same schedule!! :)

I am feeling pretty ginormous. I know many of you said at my baby shower that you didn't think I looked "that big." Well, I tried on some clothes this morning that I wore last week and they didn't fit. Not even a little bit.

Dustin informed me tonight that I need to reschedule my ultrasound for next Wednesday because he has to work! :O! I hope I can get in sooner, rather than later. I will call asap in the morning. I wouldn't go without him. It is too cool watching his face light up when he sees the boys on the monitor.

I better get into bed. I have a very long day tomorrow. I have school from 1-6 p.m. and then work from 9 p.m. - 9 a.m. It is supposed to snow, a lot. I have never exactly enjoyed driving, especially in the winter, in snow. And I need to go from Princeton to Cambridge to Princeton to Milaca. Busy!

Love to All of you,

The Big Mama

(A special prize will be awarded to who can tell me what antimated movie has a character called Big Mama!)