Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twins. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Taking a break

I am sitting in my basement surrounded by ribbon and tulle, so I am giving myself a timeout and writing a long overdue post.
So whats new? HITTING! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!???? Ashlyn is the worst, it is full on hitting me in the face if she doesnt get her way. The girls are giving each other hugs and kisses(((can I get a collective AWWWWWWWW)) but the next minute they are hitting each other. This isnt like before when they would hit each other because of their lack of coordination and somehow end in a toddler pileup. No, this is on purpose and I know it is just frustration. Nothing says good morning like getting bitch slapped by a 16 month old!
I am also thinking that they should start having designated toys, but I dont know how this would work logistically. If Ashlyn has Fiona's toy, do I take it away from her and vice versa? Any tips?
Speaking of toys, we received not one but TWO American Girls catalogs, one for me and one for the husband. I dont know how we got on their mailing list. So I obviously looked through mine, I gave Tony's to the girls so they could look at it/rip it up, and I am obsessed with their bitty twin dolls but I know the girls are too young...right?...plus the dolls are $$$$. It is something to keep in mind for their 2nd birthday.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Poor Fiona

So the girls have been battling colds, but yesterday Fiona's got worse. She woke up wheezing and we were scared. Tony has asthma so I am always worried the girls will develop it. My gut reaction was to take her to the ER but then remembered we had an early morning doctor's appointment anyway. It was for their 15 month check up-yeah a month late.
So off we went. After paying our insane co pay(bye bye $120), the doctor checked out Ashlyn and ordered the required vaccinations. Next came Fiona's turn and he could clearly see she was wheezing and then he went into an explanation of the chest muscles she was using, yada yada yada, all things I do not remember. So once he checked her out, he ordered a breathing treatment for her and said we would be getting our very own neubulizer at home, greattttttttttt. I asked him about asthma and he said that two episodes of wheezing constitute asthma. That seemed really odd to me and this is something I want to research more. If she does have asthma, I would like to be more prepared, ya know proactive vs. reactive.
So now we are on day 2 of treatments and she is such a little trooper! She just sits and babbles away. I think she knows it makes her feel better which is why she tolerates it.
Both girls are doing great health wise and Ashlyn weighed in at 21.12lbs and Fiona is 23lbs. They've each only gained a 1 lb in 6 months but the doctor's isnt worried at all and neither am I.
So Fiona's had a rough few days and I really hope things turn around for the poor kid.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Where am I going and why am I sitting in this handbasket?

Yeah things feel like they have gone straight to H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS. Sleep? yep to HELL. Eating? Yeah express train down south. Discipline? What discipline????

Its kinda like the girls just woke up one day and had a collective thought of "lets totally mess with mommy's mind!". F is refusing to eat dinner. She delights in throwing it on the floor, Thank God for my fat little beagle or else I would be doing a lot more cleaning. Oh yeah Cleaning, that has gone to hell as well.
What is with the flat out refusal to eat dinner? I am doing what you are suppose to. Offer something new along with something they like, well girlfriend decided she doesnt like grilled cheese anymore even though she just ate it two days ago...
The other night it was spaghetti and cheese. Well she didnt like that so here try some cheerios, nope, here have some toast, nope. zip, nada, nothing.
My logic is that if she is hungry, she will eat. It isnt like she goes all day without eating ,she truly delights in breakfast.
We are still having major sleep issues. Last night A was waking up every two hours just screaming. My first thought was that she had the nasty rotovirus that stopped by our house this week, but after the first screaming episode, I started thinking night terrors. Babycenter says that nighterrors are sometimes a sympathy of lack of sleep, which would make sense because her napping has been taken a nose dive as well. I thought we were at the stage of 1 nap a day, but I suspect we will have to go back to 2 if 1 nap means no sleep at night.

As far as discipline. How do you discipline almost 16 month olds? We started timeouts but I know it is just to start a pattern, not something they truly understand. I *try* not to say "No" all the time but when they are climbing on the back of the sofa and attempting to walk acros it, yeah No is what comes out first.
My local library branch is actually having a seminar on toddler behavior, and I will be signing up for it. Hopefully I will pick up some helpful tips.

We are still working on the developmental stuff and I've become worried about verbal development of late. We are doing what the therapist said to do, such as telling them to get the ball, then telling them to get the green ball. I've also been working on them with the names of body parts and animal sounds, along with the signs we've been using since 9 months old. F just seems to grasp thing quicker, which then makes me worry about A. A who was started on the nasal cannula in the NICU, the moved on to the oxygen hood and then eventually ended up on a vent. 34 weekers have a great track record developmentally but as a parent, you cant help but go to the dark, scary parts sometimes. Your fears that are just hiding in the shadows, all the what ifs and what wills. I cant help but think that maybe her breathing issues have now resulted in her delayed development.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Busy but good

Wow, nothing like starting a business and getting things off with a bang. I had a few etsy sales (yay!) but I also had a handful of custom orders, including 26 ponytail bows for a girls' softball team. cant wait to see the team picture for them!
On the twinsie front, I am really struggling with my two toddlers. They never sit down, except to eat. It is go go go all day which is great and toddlers are active but man oh man, I had no idea! We are also dealing with the dreaded temper tantrums. F had a meltdown after storytime yesterday because I wouldnt let her carry the books around the library. She was clued to my cell phone yesterday and husband didnt want to deal with the screaming if we took it away, so my blackberry ended up covered in toddler goo, yay thanks so much!

We officially had to cancel this month's trip to my hometown, which also means I will be missing the U2 concert. The tickets were a birthday gift to my younger sister, so now she will be going with her husband. My friend is also going and has promised to call me during the concert, great, thanks so much, here is some salt to rub in my wounds ;P
We cancelled the trip because we really need to refocus on building our savings, something that obviously took a hit when we moved to the new house. My friend Sara reminded me that being responsible and delaying fun is hard to the shortrun but in the long term, it means living like no one else, a bit of wisdom I believe she got from Dave Ramsey but it is really true.

Speaking of living like no one else, the grocery challenge is going well. I must admit that I've made two runs to the store. The first was to target. Now I gotta defend myself. The local targets were running a special, for every two boxes of poptarts or nutrigrain bars, you got a free galloon of milk. So yeah I bough some poptarts and nutrigrain bars. The 2nd run was to the local Giant Eagle and it was just to get some bread dough to make an appetizer for a last minute get to gether with the Inlaws. I am really proud of myself though because I stuck to my mission with both trips and surpassed the temptations. I just reminded myself that we didnt need anything else.
Perhaps this grocery challenge has some lessons I didnt foresee.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Who needs sleep? Ya never gonna get it....

Who needs sleep? Whats that for.
Yeah I am stealing some lines from Barenaked Ladies. Their lyrics seemed appropriate given the state of sleep in this house.
The twinsies are 15 months actual, so 13.5 months corrected. A quick look at moxie shows that there is a common sleep regression period around 13 months, so it seems to jive with what is going on with the girls. They wake up in the middle of the night and SCREAM. It isnt whimpering, it is blood curdling outright screaming. We go in and thus begins the dance. Fine when someone is in there, screaming begins again when we leave. We try to co-sleep, something we've done in the past, but the offender wants nothing to do with that. To them co-sleeping is an invitation to a late night party.
It seems like Ashlyn is having the rougher time, well aside from mommy & daddy, and I know her starting to walk is probably playing a role as well.
Another surprising development is Fiona is clinging to daddy, so much that if he leaves her sight, it is a full out temper tantrum. I have to be honest and say I feel a bit slighted. While they are still beating down the bathroom dorr while I am in there, I dont get the clinging to daddy thing. Is it because he works so much and they are already sensing this? I just feel like a total bad guy when I have to take her out of the office so he can work.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Sleep training for twins

First, I want to say that I am trying not to judge. I am just speaking for what works for us. I've read a ton of books about this and I tried to make an informed decision for our girls. I think what is most important is that parents are informed in whatever sleep training method they choose. That means reading the books as opposed to googling for a brief synopsis.
After reading ferber, I could see when & why it would work but I knew it wasnt for us. My girls were flipping out from just being put in their cribs. I needed a method that would help them realize that their cribs were a safe place and that they would be okay.
I decided that The Good Night, Sleep Tight method was the best choice for us. Now, I am on the crunchy side of parenting and I am a very small minority in the multiples community. I just felt that the Sleeplady's methods were what jived with our parenting point of view and it seemed like common sense to me. I could comfort both girls by just being close to their cribs. With ferber, I would've been going in there every five minutes. I just dont see how it would work with twins when both babies are crying. I could see it working if you had a singleton or if just one of your multiples was having problems.
We started sleep training at 10 months. We also had to take time off because of obvious developmental milestones which impact their sleeping, such as teething or walking. I think it is really important for parents to realize that sleep is not a clear cut issue and that is the major problem I have with crying it out. Classic crying it out doesnt make exception for those developmental milestones and there are no guidelines of when to CIO depending on age, health, etc,etc. There are so many varibles that can impact sleep.
On the preemie front, my girls were not dismissed from the state early intervention. I am okay with this because it means they are getting the help they may need. I will say that I was surprised they still qualified. They are tested at their actual age vs. adjusted age and they should be doing things like going to get a toy if you tell them to, or helping with getting dressed by lifting up their arms. Those developmental acheivements never ever crossed my mind. Now that I know what they shoud be doing, I know what I should be working on. I can already see changes in the girls in the last two weeks.

and now for something completely different-
The fabulous Tobi is having a giveaway on here blog. She is giving away a beautiful blooming baby bouquet. I can attest to these bouquets. I got a kitchen one for my mom for Mother's day and she LOVED it. Actually it has been her dining room table centerpiece this whole summer.
Here is the link to the contest and good luck!
http://drbabymamadrama.blogspot.com/2009/08/giveaway.html

The Multiples...and more blog is having a giveaway of orglamix mineral makeup, eco friendly!
http://multiplesandmore.blogspot.com/2009/08/product-review-and-giveaway-orglamix.html

Monday, August 10, 2009

Double stroller giveaway!

I know some friends who are in the market for a double stroller so I thought I would post this giveaway.
The bumbleride double strollers are awesome. If I didnt have my beloved valco, I would be all over it.
Good luck!
http://twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.blogspot.com/2009/07/bumbleride-indie-twin-stroller-giveaway.html
Check out the stroller specs here-
http://www.bumbleride.com/

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What do you need for twins

I see this question a lot and I get asked it a lot. I thought it would make a great blog entry.

-Baby trend double snap n go.
This stroller only takes infant carseats. It is very lightweight and easy to fold. My girls were in their infant carseats for 10 months so I got a ton of miles out of my double snap n go.

-2 boppy pillows
These are awesome. If you bottle feed, you can put a baby in each pillow and feed them at the same time. If you are nursing, you can use the boppy to nurse. Yeah you can tandem feed the babies but that has a learning curve to it and not everyone can do it. I wasnt able to tandem feed because Ashlyn had a bad latch.

-A really great OB/ Perinologist
I am not a doctor, but I feel like I was an educated patient. We found out about our twins late in the game, 19 weeks, and you best believe that I drilled my OB after that u/s. I asked how many multiples he had delivered, were there practice standards for dealing with multiples, did he view multiples as high risk, how many MoMs to be got to full term?, etc I knew I would be delivering at Magee and I knew that Magee has an outstanding NICU so that did make me feel comfortable. When they discovered the vasa previa, my OB sent me to a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor. I was placed under the care of the Magee MFM and still saw my OB. It is all about good care. I cant tell you how many posts I've seen on multiples message boards that say things like "well my doctor doesnt think I am high risk just because I am having twins", or "My OB doesnt think I need cervical checks". Having multiples is high risk and a patient should be treated as such. 50% of all multiples are delivered early(before 37 weeks) and the risk for preterm labor, pre-e, and other complications are higher when having multiples. Being high risk doesnt mean bedrest, it just means taking extra precautions.

-2 swings
This differs from mom to mom. We actually had 3 swings. Those swings were awesome when we were in total survival mode. Fiona wanted to be held and rocked all the time. I couldnt do it, it was physically draining and I needed to take care of Ashlyn as well. Swings were a lifeline.

-Miracle Blankets
Yes, they are more money than the average swaddling blanket but so worth the $. My girls loved to be swaddled and these blankets made them feel nice and secure and helped them sleep!

-Breast Pump
Even if you exclusively breastfeed and stay at home, chances are you will need to pump. I've only known 2 MoMs who didnt have supply issues. A pump can help boast your supply and create a freezer stash so someone else can handle a feeding

-Baby bjorn/sling/wrap/etc
I wore my girls for months, sometimes two at a time. I could wear them and walk around the house. It helps with bonding and soothing.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Birthday round up

Twins are hard. Twins who are cruising machines with Evil Knievel tendencies is even harder. That is my excuse as to why I am crappy blogger : )
My girls officially turned 1 on May 30th. We had a nice relaxed BBQ party to celebrate. I will never ever ever again have 30+ people over and try to grill for everyone. Next birthday party will be chicken fingers from chik fila!


I am finally focusing on decorating the house. We need to go decide on paint colors and I am trying to do things little by little. I really want to do something about our master bedroom. We cant afford new bedroom furniture right now, so our plan is to buy a new mattress and to make our own headboard!
This blog has great instructions and photos on how to make your own headboard. I also like the color she went with.
Ideally I would like to make a headboard that looks like this one-





I love the detail of the metal beads around the outside.
Here are some inspiration pictures-


Our bedroom has a cathedral ceiling and it is rather large. You would think having room would make it easy, but I am having a really hard time setting up everything to get a cozy feel. We are definitional going with brown, blue and silvers.