Alice and Zed had their two month check up last week and they are doing great!
Zed is 22.5 inches long and weighs 9 pounds, 6 ounces, which puts him in the 23rd percentile for height and the 2nd percentile for weight.
Alice is 22.5 inches long and weighs 9 pounds, 1 ounce, which puts her in 48th percentile for height and the 5th percentile for weight.
It's funny to me that they're still so small as far as weight goes especially, since I've worked so hard to get them as big as they are! They've come a long way though--they were down to 5 pounds, 8 ounces when they left the hospital and at their 2 week check up, they were only 6 pounds, 4 ounces.
Both Zed and Alice are enjoying different textures. Zed really likes having cloth rubbed against his face. Alice likes Daddy's stubble--as long as she only has to touch it with her hands! Adam put her hands on his face and every time he did it, she smiled so big...but when he tried to put his face by hers for her to "kiss" him, she wrinkled her nose every time. It was really cute!
They are also getting really good at focusing on things. Alice's favorite thing to focus on is Daddy's face; she's content to stare at Daddy for a long time whenever she gets the chance. She has definitely been a Daddy's girl lately and likes to have him hold her...so it's a good thing Zed has been a Momma's boy so I don't feel too left out! It's been neat recently to see how Zed responds to my voice--and that he'll even stop crying when I talk to him. The other day, Adam picked him up when he started crying. I was still in bed, just starting to wake up, but called out to Zed, and he stopped crying when he heard me, but started up again when Adam took him to get a diaper change instead of bringing him to me. But when I talked to him again, he stopped crying again. It's a pretty amazing experience to realize that I can affect him like that and know that I can be a comfort to him. :)
Zed and Alice are still really cute to watch together. They like to kick their feet and wave their arms and still try to eat each other given the chance. If one of them flings a limb close enough to the other's mouth, they're likely to get a licking, literally.
And of course, Adam and I are still completely wrapped around their fingers. We love those little sweeties so much!
Monday, July 22, 2013
More Adam Stories
Adam: "I hope a vacuum salesman comes to our house. Maybe I'll take down the 'no soliciting' sign."
Me: "Um, why?"
Adam: "So they can give us their whole spiel and then we can point out to them that we have hardwood floors. It'd be funny."
At the store, I pointed and said, "Man, look at those granny panties!"
Adam, having seen what is out there for pregnant women to try to cover our bellies, quickly said, "Um, those aren't granny panties; those are mommy panties." Sadly enough, pregnancy clothes do sometimes resemble granny clothes.
Adam: "Do you think I should watch some c-section videos online to prepare in case you have to have one?"
Me (alarmed, since this man's one fear in life is needles/doctors/hospitals...and since at our childbirth class, he got lightheaded and had to lie down when they talked about epidurals): "NO!"
Adam: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Uh, yeah. Don't even think about it!"
Adam and I were watching an episode of Duck Dynasty online, and a commercial came on for Always pads.
Adam quickly observed, "This is kind of an odd commercial to show during this show. It's not exactly geared toward their target audience." Good point...redneck hicks and feminine pads...kind of an odd combination.
Me: "Um, why?"
Adam: "So they can give us their whole spiel and then we can point out to them that we have hardwood floors. It'd be funny."
At the store, I pointed and said, "Man, look at those granny panties!"
Adam, having seen what is out there for pregnant women to try to cover our bellies, quickly said, "Um, those aren't granny panties; those are mommy panties." Sadly enough, pregnancy clothes do sometimes resemble granny clothes.
Adam: "Do you think I should watch some c-section videos online to prepare in case you have to have one?"
Me (alarmed, since this man's one fear in life is needles/doctors/hospitals...and since at our childbirth class, he got lightheaded and had to lie down when they talked about epidurals): "NO!"
Adam: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Uh, yeah. Don't even think about it!"
Adam and I were watching an episode of Duck Dynasty online, and a commercial came on for Always pads.
Adam quickly observed, "This is kind of an odd commercial to show during this show. It's not exactly geared toward their target audience." Good point...redneck hicks and feminine pads...kind of an odd combination.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Eight Weeks
Zed and Alice are eight weeks old today! On the one hand, eight weeks seem to have gone by unbelievably fast, and yet, I've felt every single moment--it's exhausting being a mom! There's a lot to do and learn and each day is full of stuff, so in that sense, it has been a very LONG eight weeks. There are definitely ups and downs; luckily, the ups do outnumber the downs. There have been plenty of struggles--learning to nurse two children, wondering if I'll ever make it out of the house again, and especially trying to get any sleep at all--but we just keep pushing forward through the hard moments and try to appreciate the incredible moments, like how it feels when one of them smiles or wraps his or her hand around my finger or gazes up at Daddy like he's the most amazing person in the world (which, of course, he is).
The hardest things:
Zed
Although this is already a pretty long post, I figured I'd quickly answer a couple of FAQs:
Q1. How are you?
A1: Tired! But good. The gestational diabetes are gone, so that's good. I've lost most of my baby weight--yay! The biggest issue really is just being tired. Adam is amazing at supporting me and helping me, even though he's exhausted, too.
Q2: How are the babies?
A2: Good. They're growing a lot, which is great because they lost too much weight after they were born and were very close to being hospitalized and on IVs; however, Adam, my mom and I all worked really hard to feed them pretty much around the clock (I nursed and they spoon fed to supplement) to keep that from happening. It used to be quite a struggle to get them to stay awake long enough to eat, but that's not a problem any more. They were in the 1st percentile for weight at their 2 week check up, but they've been gaining steadily, so maybe they'll catch up eventually.
Q3: Who do you think they look like?
A3: Um...I don't know. Neither Adam nor I necessarily sees either one of us in them yet! I just see Alice when I look at Alice and Zed when I look at Zed! Even though they look different from each other, I also see some sort of a connection between them; they just GO together somehow.
Q4: How are they and Ruby together?
A4: They don't know Ruby exists yet. Ruby has done well with them; she actually seems concerned when they cry and comes over to the edge of her enclosure and sits there, like she's standing watch or something to make sure I'm taking care of them! She definitely doesn't get played with and petted as much anymore, though, and I feel horribly guilty about that. :(
Q5: Where'd you get the names?
A5: My head. :) I've liked Alice pretty much the entire pregnancy, but I didn't know what to use for a middle name. I wanted something in her name that meant joy, light or hope, to go with Psalm 30:5 "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" to symbolize that feeling of hope that comes in the morning when the sun is shining after a difficult night. However, I couldn't find a name that I liked that would work with Alice. At the last minute, I made up Raiella; "Rai" being like a ray of light and "ella" to make it flow right.
For Zedekiah, I wanted a name that talked about promises, to remind him (and me) that the Lord's promises are sure and that He keeps them all. According to the Bible Dictionary, "Zedekiah" means "The Lord is righteousness" and then if you go to a thesaurus, some of the synonyms for righteousness are "fairness, goodness, honor" and for righteous are "fair, honorable, trustworthy." James is Adam's middle name and it just seemed to fit well with Zedekiah.
On a funny side note...yes, they intentionally have A and Z names, so they go together but don't match. I knew from the beginning I wasn't going to name them rhyming names or the same first initial, but I did think it would be fun to have them connected somehow. Our doctor said he always tries to convince moms of twins to do A and B names (since during the pregnancy, the babies are referred to as A and B), but no one ever has. Well, Zed was Baby A and Alice was Baby B. I didn't think our little girl would appreciate it if Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother all had A names and she was left out, but I figured a boy wouldn't care if his sister had an A name. So Alice got to have the A name and we did consider a B name for Zed but couldn't find one that had that meaning we wanted and liked the A to Z connection.
Well...hopefully it won't be another eight weeks before I can blog again, but you can't blame me if it is! If you have questions I haven't answered, feel free to add a comment or shoot me an email. And if you just want to tell me that my kids are the cutest, feel free to do that, too ;)
The hardest things:
- When they BOTH cry at the same time, particularly when I'm home alone. It's hard to comfort and soothe two babies, particularly when they feed off each other--if Zed's howling then Alice will start and then the fact that she started upsets Zed even more and so on...
- Being tired! It's so hard to get a nap (even harder for Adam)
- Trying to figure out a schedule and if we'll ever be on one again
- Being hormonal!
- Snuggling with Alice and Zed
- Seeing their smiles
- Seeing Adam with them--he is the CUTEST dad ever!
- Learning--for example, coming to recognize that even if "all" I did day was feed, burp and diaper the babies, I accomplished a LOT and actually did the most important things I could be doing
- When Alice and Zed play with each other--which usually involves them trying to eat each other
Zed
- is definitely a boy! He has a voracious appetite, is loud, and messy. He hates baths and has only recently begun to tolerate diaper changes sometimes.
- has dark blue eyes
- has big hands and feet with long fingers and toes (which he got from Adam). In fact, while his body would fit in the newborn size sleepers, his feet would not!
- has detached earlobes (from me)
- has long eyelashes (from both me and Adam)
- has tan skin
- has an inability to nap (definitely from Adam)
- was born with lots of light brown hair that is getting dark and even has a reddish tint to it
- likes to curl up in a ball
- had a couple of VERY fussy weeks where any time he wasn't eating, he was screaming. In the past few days, he has settled down and actually spends time being happy, which is awesome because now we've discovered that he has an adorable grin!
- weighs the same as Alice but has a bigger head
- is definitely a girl! She is dainty and sweet and is a slow and steady eater. We've had a couple of doctors even comment about the fact that she (even at 1 week old) very much looks like a girl.
- has dark gray eyes
- has big hands and feet with long fingers and toes (which she got from Adam). Her feet fit in the sleepers a little better than Zed's, but not by much
- has attached earlobes (from Adam)
- has long eyelashes (from both me and Adam)
- is a great little nap-taker (from me)
- has dark, dark brown hair (from Adam--although at the hospital, one nurse commented that she had my coloring...I didn't bother telling her that my color is fake!)
- has paler skin with pink tones
- likes to stretch out and relax. I like to say that she is made for a hammock--she's total a peaceful lounger.
- has a sweet smile and smiles often while she's awake or asleep
Although this is already a pretty long post, I figured I'd quickly answer a couple of FAQs:
Q1. How are you?
A1: Tired! But good. The gestational diabetes are gone, so that's good. I've lost most of my baby weight--yay! The biggest issue really is just being tired. Adam is amazing at supporting me and helping me, even though he's exhausted, too.
Q2: How are the babies?
A2: Good. They're growing a lot, which is great because they lost too much weight after they were born and were very close to being hospitalized and on IVs; however, Adam, my mom and I all worked really hard to feed them pretty much around the clock (I nursed and they spoon fed to supplement) to keep that from happening. It used to be quite a struggle to get them to stay awake long enough to eat, but that's not a problem any more. They were in the 1st percentile for weight at their 2 week check up, but they've been gaining steadily, so maybe they'll catch up eventually.
Q3: Who do you think they look like?
A3: Um...I don't know. Neither Adam nor I necessarily sees either one of us in them yet! I just see Alice when I look at Alice and Zed when I look at Zed! Even though they look different from each other, I also see some sort of a connection between them; they just GO together somehow.
Q4: How are they and Ruby together?
A4: They don't know Ruby exists yet. Ruby has done well with them; she actually seems concerned when they cry and comes over to the edge of her enclosure and sits there, like she's standing watch or something to make sure I'm taking care of them! She definitely doesn't get played with and petted as much anymore, though, and I feel horribly guilty about that. :(
Q5: Where'd you get the names?
A5: My head. :) I've liked Alice pretty much the entire pregnancy, but I didn't know what to use for a middle name. I wanted something in her name that meant joy, light or hope, to go with Psalm 30:5 "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" to symbolize that feeling of hope that comes in the morning when the sun is shining after a difficult night. However, I couldn't find a name that I liked that would work with Alice. At the last minute, I made up Raiella; "Rai" being like a ray of light and "ella" to make it flow right.
For Zedekiah, I wanted a name that talked about promises, to remind him (and me) that the Lord's promises are sure and that He keeps them all. According to the Bible Dictionary, "Zedekiah" means "The Lord is righteousness" and then if you go to a thesaurus, some of the synonyms for righteousness are "fairness, goodness, honor" and for righteous are "fair, honorable, trustworthy." James is Adam's middle name and it just seemed to fit well with Zedekiah.
On a funny side note...yes, they intentionally have A and Z names, so they go together but don't match. I knew from the beginning I wasn't going to name them rhyming names or the same first initial, but I did think it would be fun to have them connected somehow. Our doctor said he always tries to convince moms of twins to do A and B names (since during the pregnancy, the babies are referred to as A and B), but no one ever has. Well, Zed was Baby A and Alice was Baby B. I didn't think our little girl would appreciate it if Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother all had A names and she was left out, but I figured a boy wouldn't care if his sister had an A name. So Alice got to have the A name and we did consider a B name for Zed but couldn't find one that had that meaning we wanted and liked the A to Z connection.
Well...hopefully it won't be another eight weeks before I can blog again, but you can't blame me if it is! If you have questions I haven't answered, feel free to add a comment or shoot me an email. And if you just want to tell me that my kids are the cutest, feel free to do that, too ;)