Christmas in St. Louis

Sorry it took me a while to update the blog. We spent Christmas at my dad and step mom's house in St. Louis. We drove with the girls from Chicago - what usually is a 5 hour drive became an 8 hour trek on Christmas Eve. Between the snow fall, the traffic, stopping to feed and change them twice... it was a long trip to say the least. But once we got there it was well worth it since there was a house full of people to help us out with the babies and give mommy and daddy some time to just relax and hang out. We went to church Christmas morning and were pleasantly surprised that the girls actually slept the entire service! Rob and I were on the aisle seats ready to scoop them outta there at the first sign of a melt down, but we were proud that they were perfect little angels sleeping in their carriers the whole time. Thanks to Grandpa Richard and Grandma Linda for hosting such a Merry Chrismas for all of us!

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

After Christmas Morning Church

The whole family

Daddy and Livi

Livi staring at Grandpa

Mommy and Caroline

Double Trouble

Grandma Linda and Liney

Aunt Nessa

Uncle Jme holding Caroline

My dad and sister

Yeah! Exercise!!!

I made it to the kickboxing class at my gym this morning for the FIRST time since I was about 4 months pregnant. Of course it kicked my butt and I'll be sore for days, but it felt soooo good to be able to do it! Hopefully I'll be able to work this back into my weekly routine. Daddy stayed home with the girls and when I called from my cell to check on him all I heard was crying babies in the background and a slightly panicked voice from Rob. :) Today our mission is gift wrapping and laundry. Tomorrow we'll be heading over to Aunt Kari and Uncle Jay's house to have Christmas with the Krupa side. We'll be sure to get lots of cute pictures of the girls with their only cousins (so far) - James and Katie. Fun!

Pictures & Videos

Olivia always passes out in this positionMommy & Caroline


Smooches

Charlie watching over Livi

Our other child

Not much new to report here. Rob's parents came over to watch the girls on Sunday so we could get out and do our Christmas shopping. This was the first time that I had left my house in 6 days! We were on a mission since this would be our only chance and managed to get gifts for everyone on our list in about 3 hours. Looking forward to Christmas.

A quick video I took of them the other day.

2 Months Old!

The girls are two months old today, adjusted age - 2 weeks. We had our 2 month check-up at the pediatrician yesterday and both girls checked out just fine. They are gaining weight and growing well and had to get their synagis shots as well as two other vaccination shots. 3 shots each! Poor babies. It broke my heart to watch them scream and little tears roll down their cheeks. Caroline is 8lbs even and finally hit the 5th% on the full term charts (she would be at the 50% on the adjusted charts comparing her to other 2 weekers). Olivia weighed in at 9lb, 2.5oz which puts her in the 10th% (75th% on the adjusted chart). I keep asking about the quite noticeable size difference between them, but the doctor doesn't seem concerned. She says they are individuals and will grow at different paces. We continue to add the high calorie formula supplement to Caroline's breast milk bottles and hope that she catches up to her sister soon. Here's a picture of the girls ready to head out to the doctor yesterday. I put them in these warm body suits that are still huge on them even though they are the newborn size! It was hilarious.


And here is a picture of our neice and Goddaughter, Katie. She is just too precious for words! I had to post the picture.

Can't get enough of these babies

My dad and step mom left yesterday morning to head back to St. Louis. It was just a short visit, but great having them here as Rob and I got a chance to get out to the gym a couple times and were able to run a couple errands too. And Linda's cooking never goes unappreciated! Thanks again to you guys.

Grandpa Richard

Just the girls!

Visitors

My dad and step mom are in town for a couple days and are using this time to spend with the girls and give us a break! They are cooking for us and have offered to watch the babies so Rob and I can go to dinner or a movie, we'll have to take them up on that offer. We'll post a few pics that we take.. and here's one of the girls this morning when they woke up.

Update

Our brother-in-law, Jay, came by last week to take some pictures of the girls for us. He did a great job and was super patient with them as they weren't the most cooperative!

This is what they did in most of the pictures...

Finally Caroline fell asleep

Daddy holding a calmer Olivia

I thought the girls were starting to sleep better at night as they slept a full 4 hours straight on Sunday night, which was heaven for mommy. But last night proved that they still have a while to go before we reach that point. Both girls would not fall asleep at the same time. I was up all night with both in shifts - if I finally got Caroline fed and calmed down and back to sleep, then that would somehow cue Olivia to promptly wake up and start screaming and I would then start the same routine with her. This continued over and over. Ugh. They were finally both peacefully sleeping after the 5am feeding and slept for a good 2 hours. Hopefully I'll catch a nap while they nap sometime today.

Happy Turkey Day

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We are so grateful to Rob's parents for hosting a wonderful meal at their house yesterday!

Our Little Turkeys

Must have been all the tryptophan!

Sleeping in mommy & daddy's bed

Original Due Date

Today was my original due date with the girls. Crazy to think that we've had them with us for 6 weeks now but they weren't supposed to born until now. Really puts a lot into perspective. We had a pediatrician appointment yesterday and both girls checked out great. Weights were as follows: Caroline - 7lb,1/2 oz and Olivia - 7lb,14oz. Olivia barely makes the 5th percentile for weight and Caroline is still under the charts but she assured us this is to be expected when the babies are six weeks behind. The doctor suggested I increase Caroline's calories by adding high calorie preemie formula to breastmilk in her bottle. Hopefully this will help her catch up to her sister soon. The girls are still eating every 2 to 3 hours around the clock which makes for some pretty restless nights for mom and dad. We asked the doctor when we could expect for the girls to start sleeping longer stints during the night and were told that because they are preemies it will still be a while before that blessed day. On a good note, I am now cleared to exercise and cannot wait to get back to the gym! Being on bed rest for 6 weeks and not leaving my house very often since the girls have been home has made me super anxious to get out and be active... all I have to do now is find the time to do this! :)

We'll be heading out to Rob's parents for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We wish everyone safe travels for the holiday!

Just the four of us again

Our guests left today to go back to Texas. We were especially sad to see my mom go since she has been our saving grace when it came to helping us with the girls. Guess it's time that Rob and I do this parenting thing completely on our own! Wish us luck. I have my 6 week postpartum check tomorrow morning and the girls have another pediatrician appointment on Tuesday morning, so updates to come.

Proud Grandma Karen

Our little ladybug and chick

More Grandparents!

Auntie Nessa!

Three Generations all in one Picture

Family in Town

So we haven't posted in a while...

As mentioned, my mom has been in town helping us out tremendously, and Auntie Vanessa flew in on Thursday with Jeremy to meet her nieces for the first time! They're having fun with them. My mom is a saint and stayed home with the girls yesterday so that I could go get my hair cut. I haven't cut it in SOOO long - probably about 8 weeks before I went into the hospital at 29 weeks pregnant. So it was much needed and so nice to be out by myself.

First Outing with the Babies

Today my mom and I were feeling adventurous and decided to take the babies to Target to get out of the house for a bit and to use up all my gift cards we received. It's pretty cold here so we bundled up the girls and got them in their carseats to run our errands. It actually wasn't too terrible! But there is absolutely no way in the world I would be able to do that with both girls by myself so might as well get it done while I have the help here. Olivia pooped her pants right when we got there, and both were a little fussy wanting to eat but we actually were able to get all of the stuff I needed.

Here are a couple short videos and pictures from the past couple days.

Liney happy in her boppy pillow

Livi in her bouncy seat

Daddy, Livi and Charlie lounging

Caroline taking a short nap

Sleepy Tummy Time

We tried for some tummy time today, but the girls just took that opportunity for a nap.

The past few nights have been pretty restless. Both girls just do not seem happy sleeping flat on their backs in the pack n' play in our room. I'm hoping this doesn't mean that they have reflux issues. Anyways, the only way I can get them to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a time is by putting them in the bouncy chairs... so the living room is where I've been sleeping. The girls in the bouncy chairs and me on the couch, taking turns having each of them laying with me when they wake up and cry between feedings. It's amazing how little sleep I'm able to function with (well kinda!). Thank God my mom is here helping me with the "night shifts". Maybe she'll just move in with us! :)

Hospital Photos

The hospital photographer came around to the girls' NICU room to take their pictures the day Caroline was discharged. To see them, go to www.bellababyphotography.com - click on "Website" and then on the "Client" link - type in "krupatwins" for the password. Olivia wanted to steal the whole show and was wide awake the entire time with her eyes open but Caroline slept through the whole thing.

One Month Old!

The girls are one month old today (still negative 2 weeks adjusted age). We had a pediatrician appointment for both girls this morning. Caroline is starting to catch up as she weighed in at 5lb,15oz - just one ounce away from 6lbs! And Olivia is 6lb,9oz. Everything checked out fine and we go back in 2 weeks for weight checks again.

Here is a couple of funny videos of the girls from yesterday.

Womb-Mates Together Again!

We are finally a family under one roof! We brought our precious Caroline home yesterday evening and had so much fun with both girls together. It feels SO good to be DONE with that hospital, with God's blessing that is. Rob and I had spent every single day at that hospital for the last 10 weeks straight. Needless to say, it will be nice to enjoy our babies in our own home, especially now that the weather is getting colder. They are doing great and keeping mom & dad on their toes for sure. Last night they both slept together in the pack n' play in our room. I don't know how long this will last because they both are such squirmers and squeakers! When I got up for the 2AM feeding, they both had squirmed their way towards each other and Olivia was practically on top of Caroline! And their non stop little grunts and squeaks they make keep me up pretty much all night (not Rob - he sleeps like a rock!). I'm afraid we're already off our synchronized schedule of them eating and sleeping at the same time because Caroline was screaming an hour and a half before her scheduled eating time and the only thing that consoled her was giving her a bottle early... so now she's been consistently waking up way before Olivia. Oh well, I knew there would be challenges and this is just one. It's definitely a little overwhelming tending to two babies at one time. Thank the good Lord my Mom is here staying with us for a few weeks. She has been super helpful by getting up with me for all the overnight feedings and making us home cooked meals so we have one less thing to worry about.
Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Grandma Karen

Ready to come home!

Livi passed out
Liney passed out

Sisters!