Seeing Double

Just some of the pictures we've taken lately: Sleeping on Daddy
Tiny hand

In the swing together

Emma and Maddie

Elizabeth and Annie

In the crib

We Survived Week 1

Anne and Madeline are 1 week old today. We seem to have made it through the first week. The twins had a check up today. They both have regained their birth weight and then some. Annie has gone from 5 lbs 8 oz to 5 lbs 10 oz. Maddie went from 5 lbs 9 oz to 5 lbs 12 oz. They had lost a couple ounces while we were in the hospital. I couldn't keep up with their appetites at first, so we supplemented with some formula. That has changed. They also grew a quarter inch. It's good to see that all the time spent nursing is doing something productive.
I was very excited today to see that the water retention finally went away today. I can see my ankle bones. Yea! My shoes will fit better now. :o) Now, if only we could get those girls to sleep at night, I could lose the dark circles under my eyes...
I've taken some more pictures that I will try to post in the next day or two.

The Twins Arrive!

After a really long and tiring weekend of pre or false labor and no real sleep, I called my doctor's office Monday morning and begged for an appointment. I got one at 10:15. Dr. M told me that conditions were "favorable" for an induction and things would be ready for me at the hospital in 45 minutes. Yes! "The babies are finally coming guys!" I packed my bag, Ryan got his sub plans out and ready in his classroom, made arrangement for the girls and we were off.

We arrived at the hospital at about noon, and they started the Pitocin about 1 pm. I was 8 centimeters dilated just after 8 pm, at which point I was wheeled (or Bumper Car-ed into) the OR. Dr. M's condition for letting the twins arrive naturally was that it had to be in an operating room, in case of emergency. I had all the staff available for a C-section just in case. The room was very, very full. My birthing bed, the baby/contraction monitor, two warming tables, an operating table and all the other stuff crammed into one room, plus my doctor, nurses, baby doctor and us. Whew! I pushed 3 or 4 times before baby A arrived at 8:45 pm. Baby B arrived 9 minutes later, at 8:54 pm, with only 2 or 3 pushes. Nice! Baby A was 5 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches long. Baby B was 5 lbs 9 oz and 19 inches long. And yes, this birthing experience included an epidural. There's a reason I was born during the age of technology.

Here they are! Anne Kathryn and Madeline Rae Kannely. This was the first time I got to hold them, which was after I was returned to my room.

Elizabeth is a big sister now! She's pretty excited about that.

Big Sister Emma

The second bath.

Leaving the hospital yesterday as a family of.... what the.....6 people??!?!

We made it home! (Aaaahhh! They seriously just let us take TWO babies home? Shouldn't there be some sort of intensive training first? Or maybe they should send us home with a nurse to make sure we are doing everything right???)

The twins are so tiny compared to most other babies. These are what their legs look like. Ryan left his hand in the picture so you could really appreciate how tiny Maddie's and Annie's legs are.

Trunk or Treat

Last night was the Trunk or Treat at the church. We started getting ready early, as both girls wanted their hair curled. They even got a little makeup! (Elizabeth has her eyes closed to show the sparklies on her eyes!)

Costumes on and ready to go! Emma was Sleeping Beauty and Elizabeth was Belle.

Dinner was provided. You had your choice of hot dogs or chili dogs. The girls and I opted for regular hot dogs.

There was a carnival before the actual trunk or treat too. It was fun for the kids. Each auxiliary (RS, Primary, Bishopric, Sunday School, etc.) was in charge of a different activity. This was the cake walk.

Just before they set the kids loose to go trick or treating, they had all the kids get up on stage to show off their costumes. This was part of the 0-5 years category.

The weather was very cooperative this year. We were ok to walk around the parking lot in sweaters. Some years we really have to bundle up under thick winter coats, so this was really nice. Ryan handed out candy from the back of our van, and I took the girls around the circuit. We started at our van, and by the time we made it back, Ryan had finished handing out all our candy. Perfect timing!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight for FHE we carved our pumpkins. I took a bunch of pictures.

Feelin' the goo!

Daddy took care of all the scraping, so all the girls had to do was pull out the stringy stuff.

"I love goo!" And the girls also tried eating the pieces of the pumpkin we cut out. They kind of liked it.

Emma's pumpkin. Check out her eyelashes. (She may have had some help with the cutting)

This is a combination effort from myself and Ryan. We played rock, paper, scissors for doing the mouth vs eyes and nose. Guess who did the JAWS mouth?

Elizabeth drew the face on her pumpkin, and I cut it out for her.

..plus one more pumpkin....

Whatever you do, don't swallow TWO pumpkin seeds.... The seeds really will grow.

I made Ryan laugh with my crazy idea. It's just construction paper and a shirt that really doesn't fit over my belly anymore.

Musings

I came to a conclusion today. Having Dora the Explorer as the "babysitter" video while I try to catch a few zzz's isn't the greatest idea. After a particularly rough night, I get Emma off to school, make sure Elizabeth is set with a sippy cup and a movie, and then I stretch out on the couch to hopefully take a bit of a nap. I am aware of bits of the movie generally. Today, however, my little naps were frequently interrupted by screams of, "MAP!" and "SWIPER NO SWIPING" and the like. Between that, and the general achy-ness of my body, it's a wonder I slept at all. But I did, and I felt much better afterwards.
During these morning naps, I will often turn the ringer off on our phone. I can tune out the tv noise, but the phone? Not so much. When I came to and remembered to look at the phone, I had 4 new messages. Ryan called not once to check up on me, but 3 times. The last message said he was going to come home to check on me at lunch if I didn't return his call by then. So I called him back and reminded him of my intention to nap over the course of the morning.
Others have been checking up on me. One time it was just after I got out of the shower, and I still had a towel on my head. My visitor seemed aghast that I was on my feet. Should I be up for something like a shower? Oddly enough, my discharge paper from the hospital didn't mention anything about no showering for the duration, so it must be ok. Bed rest seems to include small trips to the kitchen and bathroom, so far as I know....?

Ryan's War Machine

Last weekend Ryan built his war machine. He's been needing a project, one preferably masculine. This is called a trebuchet. Not to be confused with a catapult. A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of a counterweight. It originally made its debut in the 12th century.

What you cannot see in these pictures are all our dead and rotting tomatoes that he shot down our street. One time a nasty tomato hit the power lines and rained down on our heads. EEEWWW. I was thoroughly disgusted.

Halloween Party

"Apple Bites" -- Does anyone know of a good orthodontist? What a lot of snaggle-toothed mouths!Let me preface this with, yes, I am on bedrest. Yes, I am being careful. Ok, now that's out of the way.
Natalie hosted a Halloween party today for all the kids preschool age and younger, and their moms. We were requested to bring a Halloween-themed potluck item. Mine was carefully researched to be as easy as possible: Apples and slivered almonds. Definitely something I could make sitting down. Then I got Elizabeth into some of our dress up clothes, since costumes were encouraged. As for me, my festive attire included Halloween socks and an orange t-shirt. (I looked sort of like a pumpkin)
I made it to Natalie's and sat down. I was going to behave myself. I let others get Elizabeth her food, etc. Well, at the end of lunch, Elizabeth starts gagging on something. (Oh no! Not here!) And lunch makes a reappearance. I don't know why she has such a strong reflex. If something gets stuck in her throat, we will never have to worry about her choking to death... But I do catch most of it in my cup. Then I catch the second wave on my plate. Any other time I would have run her to the bathroom, but I'm not supposed to get up.
So our outing was cut short. We came home. I told Ryan on the phone later that it was a sign: I shouldn't leave the house, even for something we think is unstrenuous. I just am so tired of being stuck in the house. Everyone has been so nice though. Christine has been kind to come and clean my house, and we've had people bringing us dinner every night this week. And I get phone calls to check up on me. It really is making this process easier and it's so kind that everyone wants to help. Thanks to everyone.

More Baby News

Me at 34 weeks gestation. So, now for the news. At 3:30 am Sunday morning, I woke up to contractions. Oh dear, they can't come yet! So I chugged my water and kept quiet in hopes they would go away on their own. They got pretty regular and close together, but then seemed to subside. And then they came back. And then seemed to subside for a time. This went on all the rest of the night. And all morning, until noon when Ryan took me to the hospital. I really didn't want to go, for I know what happens. I was monitored for about a half hour and then given a shot of terbutaline. For those of you who don't know what that is, it feels like ANXIETY. Your pulse races, your hands shake, etc. Fight or Flight, they told me. However, as a response to that, my body relaxes the "smooth muscles," and the uterus happens to be one of those. The contractions stopped being regular, so I got to go home after about 3 and 1/2 hours. However, I did start to dilate, so I got a prescription for the same medicine in pill form and the ULTIMATUM: No sweeping, laundry, physical playing with kids, etc. etc. No nothing. I can sit and feel jittery with my wonderful medication. Ugh. Dr. M quipped that this medicine seems to have a low incidence of abuse. Duh. Why anyone would chose to feel like this, I haven't the foggiest idea.

New Rope Swing

Ryan brought home this rope a couple of days ago. Today he decided to make it into a rope swing in our backyard. He used his boy scout knot knowledge for it. There was a long tail left, after it was tied around a piece of wood for the seat. Ryan used the long end to pull the swing along, to make sure the swing didn't crash into the tree. Also, he could get the girls up very high. They loved it. It was Emma's turn when I came outside with the camera.

Elizabeth's turn. They loved being up high.

Mommy trying to get on the swing.

Daddy the Mastermind of the Rope Swing playing Tarzan. Or maybe George of the Jungle?