One year ago today...

We found out that we were pregnant! I remember how excited we both were that morning staring at the test. Rob was so cute, he said "what do we do now?" Here is our very first ultrasound taken when I was 8 weeks pregnant. This was when we found out that we were expecting TWO bundles of joy (you can kinda see Baby A & B there)! Talk about the shock of our lives! Pretty amazing that those two little blurbs turned into our precious baby girls.

Naptime Routine

So I don't really have the girls on a "schedule" yet. Other than the fact that they eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, they pretty much do what they want when they want it. This has made for some pretty chaotic days/nights for mommy. My biggest priority right now is getting them on a nap schedule during the day IN THEIR CRIBS. I've tried this before but it didn't work out very well. They typically get really cranky at certain points during the day and throw a fit because they're tired and then they either fall asleep on whatever toy they're in, or I rock them both to sleep on the couch and let them sleep in their boppy pillows. But because they're in the living room where its bright and noisy they really are only sleeping for 10 to 15 minutes at a time and then are being woken up. This leaves ZERO time for me to do anything around the house, much less for myself, and it makes the girls super grumpy since they're not getting enough sleep. So after talking to other twin mommies about how to implement a routine, I decided to try putting them in their cribs at the same time every day - mid morning and mid afternoon - and just letting them cry til they fall asleep. I tried this today and low & behold - it worked! The first time they both cried for a good 5 minutes which killed me, but then like magic they were both fast asleep! We did the same thing again this afternoon and both naps lasted an hour! Yipee! I'm hoping this new routine will make for some much happier little girls, and a much happier mommy too.

Here's some examples of the old naptime routine...

Caroline getting sleepy and cranky.

Mommy had to rock her to fall asleep, and she woke up the second I put her down.
Livi fell asleep on her chair after a crying fit.

And what am I gonna do with these girls' crazy hair??

Developmental Therapy Session

We had 4 different therapists out to our house this morning to assess the girls' motor and coordination skills, feeding habits and speech (mentioned in an earlier post). Overall, they both received great reviews and do not need ongoing therapy in any area. The only thing they are a bit delayed on is grasping. Neither are really grabbing and holding onto toys yet. Other than that, they are hitting every milestone for their adjusted age!

Some pictures while we were waiting for our appointment to begin. Caroline in the dark pink, Liv in the light pink.

Rice Cereal - Yum!

We had our first attempt at rice cereal this weekend. Both girls were pretty unsure about using the whole spoon thing. They kind of just sucked on the spoon and then spit it all out. We did get videos of them trying to eat it, very funny but too long to post. I'll get a shorter version next time. We'll keep practicing every evening before the bedtime bottles and then in the next few weeks we'll try fruits and veggies! Fun!

Caroline

Olivia

Mommy & Daddy trying to make the girls

laugh with the bumbo seats

Fun Videos

I finally caught some good stuff on video yesterday afternoon! The first two are of Olivia in her exersaucer - she thought the spinning thing was hilarious, she has a funny laugh. The second two are of Caroline - first attempt at rolling over, and then she did it!

5 months old!

Our girls are 20 weeks, or 5 months, today. We went to the pediatrician yesterday for our last round of synagis shots since RSV season is coming to an end (thank goodness!). Here are their weights as of yesterday:

Caroline - 12lb, 1oz
Olivia - 13lb, 11oz

Liv maintains her almost 2lb gain over her sister. Maybe this is how they always will be?

Pics and a short video of them this morning when they woke up. Livi on the left, Caroline on the right.

STTN!!!

STTN is how my mothers of multiples board abbreviates: Sleeping Through The Night. And I am proud to share that we have finally made it to that blessed day!!!! The girls have been progressively doing a lot better at night, with usually only one overnight feeding around 3am. But last night was the very first time that they both slept straight through for 10 and a half hours!!!!!!! I jumped up at about 6:30am and said to Rob, "the girls didn't wake up last night!" and then ran to their room to check on them, thinking something must be wrong. But when I looked in on them, there they were sleeping like perfect angels. Let's hope this is the beginning of a regular routine!