Me and my girls!

The second pic Juliette is looking up at me. The 2nd to last one is Julieete and the last one is Caroline.

Me, the girls and the magic pillow!

This is my magic pillow I bought to nurse both the babies. I was never able to breastfeed them successfully and they are on formula fully now. Regardless, they got 2 months of breast milk via bottle before I ran out so I feel good about that. I still get plenty of use out of my EZ to nurse twin pillow. I use it to feed both the girls at the same time with their bottles when they are both hungry at the same time. I also use it to hold them like this as well as many other positions. I LOVE IT!! Randall won't use it. He says it's too girly and is too afraid to have both of them on it. Notice how they both have their hands in the middle touching. It's so beautiful how they are always connected. They can be out like a light and still touching in some way.
I took the girls for follow up today for their colds. The doctor said if they would have had RSV they could be getting worse now (the 3rd or 4th day), but they are doing better. I am relieved. I also took them to get their 2nd RSV shots. They both weighed 9lbs 12 oz. I can't believe they are almost 10lbs!! I am not surprised Caroline has caught up with Juliette in weight she has been eating like a little pig and she has the cheeks to prove it! We went to visit my grandma afterward and they were pretty wiped out, but we enjoyed our visit and I know she did too. Not much more to say, just wanted to let everyone know they were better and their weights.

Sick babies

Both the girls are sick with nasal congestion. It started early Monday morning, around 0200 with Juliette. Randall took her to the doctor on Monday and they tested her for RSV which was negative so I guess it's just a cold. Caroline started getting it yesterday. They haven't had fever, they are eating well. It's just hard to lie them flat because their little noses are so stuffed up. They have become good friends with the saline drops and the bulb syringe. They hate having their noses suctioned out and it makes them gag. I feel so bad for them, but it could be worse. I am glad it's not RSV. So we have been giving them lots of loving and keeping them hydrated, suctioned, using the humidifier and pretty much holding them upright so they can breathe better. Hopefully, it won't last too long. Tomorrow they will get another round of RSV shots and I will take Juliette back for a recheck. I will have to let them know Caroline has it now too.

Hungry, Crying Babes Video Below

Below is a video clip I have been trying to download and finally got it to work. It will give you a little sneak peak of what it's like having 2 hungry babies. They are not like this all the time. This day they both woke up and were starving. Lucky for me I know how to feed the at the same time. They are both smiling more and more, it's so adorable and they can lift their little heads better and better. Sometimes they actually sleep 5 hours straight at night and then some nights they wake up after 2 or 3 to eat. They are still trying to figure out their nights and days. We have a appointment on Thursday for RSV shots and they will weigh them so I will post later this week with that info. They are out like lights right now on my chest. I wish I could take a picture to show you, but kinda have my handsful. I'll have to have Randall take one sometime.

Hungry, Crying Babes

Survived work and being away from girls

I survived my first night back to work. It was pretty nice. They had cake, ice cream and coffee to welcome me back. That was a really nice surprise. I didn't cry when I left the girls much to my surprise and many others. I was definitely sad to leave them, but I think one of the worst and hardest things I had to do during our journey was leave the girls every night in the NICU. Not that they were not in good hands then, but it was hard not having them at home, not having them with family and worrying constantly if they were going to be okay. When I left for work I knew they would be with family and I knew they would be home when I got done. It was nice to see my co workers and they were excited to hear about he girls and see pictures.

Randall had very little sleep on Sunday night and Monday so he gave them a bath then took them to my parent's house. They stayed the night and he picked them up Tuesday evening. I think they enjoyed their visit with their grandparents. The doctor said we can let the girls sleep longer at night, but Caroline decided she was going to party all night ( she does that several nights a week) so my mom got very little sleep, but she survived. I stopped at my parents on Tuesday on my way back to work and they were both wide awake. My mom said she thinks they knew I was coming. Caroline smiled so much, it's so cute. I can tell they are getting stronger, especially in their necks. It's amazing how much they change.

We are looking forward to an upcoming trip to Waco to see Randall's family. It will be the girls first trip out of SA. We took some pictures on my mom's camera the other night at my Aunt Shirley's house. I don't have them yet, but hope to post them sometime this week. Just thought I would let those who were wondering about work know how it went. One more shift tonight then I have 4 nights off. Have a good week.

Wide Awake

The girls don't dotoo many wild and crazy things yet, but here is a video clip of them looking around. About as exciting as it gets right now.

Latest Dr's Appointment

Sorry it took me so long to get this on here. I just can't believe how fast time goes by sometimes. On Thursday we went to the girls 2 month appointment. Dr Miller said the girls are doing great on their growth. Juliette is still in the lead at 9lbs 1 oz and Caroline is 8lbs 14oz. I had to take back a box of newborn diapers yesterday and get the next size up. It makes me sad when I have to do that, but I am glad they are growing. We talked about the adjusted age thing. She asked me some questions about what milestones they are doing. She said all babies are different, so for my girls although they are officially 2 months old they are not doing all the 2 month old milestones. Right now they are more like a 1 month old. They smile and coo (so cute!) and follow our voices. Eventually they will catch up with other children their age, usually by the 1st or 2ND year. They are doing good on their height and weight percentile (they use a preemie one). Now we can let them sleep longer at night and let them let us know when they are ready to eat. We were so excited that we might actually get some sleep that night, but that didn't happen on Thursday. The girls each got 3 shots and their blood drawn so they were fussy. Juliette especially. She would not let me put her in the crib that night. I even gave them some Tylenol before we went to bed, but I think she just needed to be comforted. Randall and I were so exhausted yesterday. He took care of them last night so I could get some rest. It felt so good to get some sleep. He is catching up now. They say you can't catch up on missed sleep, but I would have to disagree.
Yesterday I went to work to get clearance to go back to work. I had to go to employee health clinic and give them the form from my Dr and get them to sign off that I could go back to work. Then I took it to human resources and turned it in. So I am officially cleared to go back to work. I signed up 24 hours next week. My first day back will be Monday. Of course it is bittersweet because I am ready to go back, but not ready to leave the girls for such long periods of time. But unless I win the lottery this weekend (which I don't even play) I must go back. Randall is going to stay home with the girls for now until I get adjusted back to work then he will start looking for a job (with all the other millions of people who don't have one) after that. My mom is also going to watch the girls when we need her to, she wouldn't have it any other way. I am still trying to figure out what happened to the last 2 months. It's so surreal when I say the girls are 2 months old, just seems like yesterday they were born. I know now that I am going back to work it's going to go by even faster!

So Sweet

Trying out our toys

The girls love to look at themselves in the mirror on their playmat and look at the lion and the elephant on the arch. Caroline is checking out the swing.

Our orignal due date

The girls are doing great. They seem to be more like newborns now. They both are more alert, especially in the evenings and really think sometimes Juliette purposefully smiles at us. When they are both alert at the same time I like to lay them on the floor together or in their crib and watch them communicate. It's so cute. They cry more often, esp. when hungry. Before we had to wake them to feed them, but now they are letting us know when they are hungry. They have baby acne and they are loosing some of their hair (boo). When I look at the back of Juliette's head it reminds me of a balding man. I guess we'll see how much they will loose. I am looking forward to our next doctor's appointment to ask the doctor how the calculated age works. Oh wow, I just realized today is the Feb 4th(it's easy to loose track of time when your in a house 24/7). Today is our original due date. I can't imagine having to be pregnant until now, I would have been miserable. But most twin pregnancies even uncomplicated ones don't make it until 40 weeks. So they most likely have would been born already.

On Sunday I went with my parents to my Uncle Jeff's to his Superbowl party. It was nice to get out of the house. There wasn't too many people there so I felt pretty comfortable about taking them. We had a good time. On our way to their house we stopped by my Aunt Lisa's and she gave the girls their first massage to help balance them out after the birth. They really enjoyed that.

Well that's it for now. Have a great week.