2 Months Old

The girls are 2 months old today.  They have survived.  We have survived.  Things are much more routine now and work much better.  Seren started smiling at us yesterday.  She smiled before but never really in our direction.  Now she likes to play copy me and I'll copy you.  Kendall is smiling but I'm not sure she smiles at us yet.  They seem to be more aware of each other too.  It's fun to imagine how the interactions might go.  We went to see my friends baby at the hospital last night and when we came home the girls were getting cranky for dinner.  They were side by side in the bouncers and Kendall began fussing and crying so I went to pick her up.  As I did I noticed Seren follow me with her eyes and the moment I picked up Kendall and not her she was upset.  Her lip pouted and then she began to full on cry.  This is the first real time I've noticed them noticing each other.

Weight:  No official measurements still until March 2nd.   We are guessing around 9.5  lbs  for Seren and 9 lbs for Kendall.  They have grown out of their newborn clothes (last week sometime).

Eating:   They eat almost equally in speed now and both usually clean up 4 oz each time.  

Favorite Things:  Mom and Dad of course.  Sleeping.  They like their bouncers.  Swings...although it just puts them to sleep.  Thor (or min pin chihuahua mix)...when he is close enough to see they both love to just stare at him.  I've also had them pet him and they seem to like it...as does Thor since he tries to kiss/lick their hand afterwards. 

Dislikes:  Being hungry and pooping

Their Accomplishments:   They both follow us with their eyes very well.  They follow even when we are further across the room and not in front of them.  Sometimes they get upset when we leave the room (I know they don't miss us...just think we've dropped off the face of the earth according to my child development classes in college hehe).  They have been smiling in general.  Seren started noticeably smiling at us yesterday and does it more often now.  Kendall hasn't noticeably smiled at us but is the most content and patient baby (unless she's starving hehe).  

Our Accomplishments:  We take them out more frequently.  We took them to the hospital with us...although we had to take turns sitting in the hall with them.  I actually made it out on my own with them yesterday too.  I loaded them up and took them to my old retail work for coworkers to see, quite efficiently too I must say (1/2 hour to change diapers, car seat them and arrive with 5+ minute drive time).  Next stop my prior/current health info job for a visit.  I definitely have confidence to do this more often now.  I also flew solo doing bath time today. 

Sleep:  We have a sleep pattern down.  Not necessarily routine...I still want to work in story time and maybe bath time when they are older.  But we feed them around 10:00-10:30pm and then they go down without much fuss.  We've tried not to rock them to sleep or anything fancy so they would learn to put themselves to sleep.  It's finally paying off.  Yeah!  Seren has been a great sleeper now.  She hasn't seen the swing for bedtime in well over a week, maybe two, it seems...which makes my mommy heart happy.  It used to be the only way to calm her down and get her to sleep.  They sleep good and wake every 3 to 3 1/2 hours to eat and then go right back to sleep generally.  They take a two hour nap after breakfast generally and then we try to play for an hour before lunch and then after lunch they usually sleep for 3 hours until their next meal time.  Then nap again between dinner and bedtime for an hour or two and then off to bed after changing and late meal.  It seems to be good for them and definitely for us.

 Kendall - 2 months old

Seren - 2 months old

Not the Architect...

I had a thought today as I was hanging out with the girls and just loving on them and admiring them.  I was thinking about the article I posted last time and how it says that the egg and sperm are what make the "blueprint" but the mother's body is what creates the child.  Well anyway I may not be the architect but I think I make one hell of a contractor and builder. 

 Aren't they the cutest?

 I've been trying to get a picture of them holding hands and this is the closest we came :) haha

Article about Donor IVF

I found this article through following a blog which linked to another which had this posted on their site.  I found it interesting and explanatory of egg donation and other methods or ART where a donor is needed. 

Myths and Reality of the “Donation”
from the online booklet – OOCYTE DONATION, By Cara Birrittieri, Mary M. Fusillo, RN, BSN, MS, and Georgia Witkin, PhD

You probably learned the following in your high school biology class, but most of us need a review to dispel many of the myths around baby making and making a baby with a donated egg. 

To create an embryo that will grow into a healthy child, you need genetic material from two different gene pools. The combined genetic material instructs the developing fetus to become a boy or a girl, tall or short, have curly hair or straight, blue eyes or brown.

Myth number 1
Fifty percent of the genetic material is delivered by a sperm cell. Most men think their sperm is carrying their own characteristics. This is the first myth. Actually their sperm is carrying genetic material from their entire gene pool (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.). If the particular sperm that delivered the genetic material for your baby is carrying DNA for characteristics expressed in the father or sperm donor, the baby may resemble him. If, however, that particular sperm is carrying certain characteristics from great uncle Harry for a little girl with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, his daughter may look nothing like him with his straight dark hair and brown eyes. It’s the luck of the draw. Each sperm cell carries an entirely different combination of genes from the man’s ancestors.

The same of course is true for eggs or ova. Any given egg can contain genes from any group of ancestors — those that resemble the woman donating the eggs or those ancestors who look nothing like her. That means the genetic material in a donor’s egg may give instructions for a child to develop with very different features than the egg donor herself. (This has important implications when choosing an egg donor, which is discussed later). Once the two sets of genes combine, another step determines which traits will actually arise in the developing fetus and child. When the genes come together they all interact, some turn on and some turn off, so in reality, there is no telling which gene will do the instructing, and who your child will act like, look like, or sound like.

Think of a family that you know. If each genetic contribution in a child were an exact duplicate of their parent’s genes, all the girls and all the boys in the family would be clones of one another. The fact is that each egg and sperm contains a different combination of genes, and each time they unite a unique individual is created. That is why within the same family there might be some tall children, or short, some brown hair, or blond, some looking like one parent, or some who look like neither. Indeed, the only exception to this rule is identical twins. Their genes are identical because a single embryo splits in two, duplicates and develops as two people with the same genetic makeup. Everyone else has his or her own genetic combination or code. This is also why genetic testing is so accurate.

Myth number 2
Now here’s the part that may surprise you. Although this medical procedure is called “ovum donation,” the recipient does not receive someone’s egg in her uterus. This belief is another myth. Once the genetic material from the sperm and the egg has melded, the work of the sperm and the egg is done. The combined material duplicates itself and two new cells are created. The material duplicates again, and now you have four new cells. They double and there are eight. Soon there will be a ball of new cells — the beginning of a new human being (an embryo). When a woman gets pregnant on her own, this duplication process begins in the fallopian tube. When a donor egg is used, it happens in the IVF laboratory and the embryo(s) are transferred to the recipient’s uterus when it is about the same size it would be coming from the fallopian tube. It is that ball of cells (embryo), not someone else’s egg, which hopefully implants into the recipient’s uterine wall and begins to grow into a fetus.

Myth number 3
Perhaps the greatest myth surrounds pregnancy. Many believe the uterus is simply an incubator. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most important aspect of all pregnancies — including egg donation pregnancies — is that as the fetus grows, every cell in the developing body is built out of the pregnant mother’s body. Tissue from her uterine lining will contribute to the formation of the placenta, which will link her and her new child. The fetus will use her body’s protein, and then she will replace it. The fetus uses her sugars, calcium, nitrates, and fluids, and she will replace them. So, if you think of your dream child as your dream house, the genes provide merely a basic blueprint, the biological mother takes care of all the materials and construction, from the foundation right on up to the light fixtures. So, although her husband’s aunt Sara or the donor’s grandfather may have genetically programmed the shape of a new baby’s earlobe, the earlobe itself is the pregnant woman’s “flesh and blood.” That means the earlobe, along with the baby herself, grew from the recipient’s body. That is why she is the child’s biological mother. That is why this child is her biological child.

Many recipients ask, “Is the baby actually my flesh and blood?” Not literally. No baby is really its mother’s flesh and blood because the truth is that every fetus builds its own flesh and its own blood. Still you might wonder, “If it was my own egg, wouldn’t the baby then have my blood?” No. The baby might inherit your blood type, but would still be making its own blood, just as it makes its own skin and hair texture, and nails and teeth. Besides, with or without egg donation, the baby might have inherited his or her blood type from the father’s gene pool. Think of it this way: every baby is a complete, self-contained, unique human being. You will meet this person when he or she is born. To try to sort out the genetic contributions at that point is like trying to break a cake down into flour, sugar, water, and yeast after it has been baked. It is now a cake, no longer separate ingredients.

Family of Four...

We are enjoying our little family of four.  It is interesting and definitely a world of difference when we are home at night.  We don't get out much I'm afraid.  Hopefully when the weather warms up more that will change.  I am so looking forward to spring and summer.  It's a nice day today and I'm pondering taking the girls out with me but they are sleeping and I don't want to throw them in their car seats just to go for a walk right now.  I do love the new stroller we got though (baby trend double snap and go) is going to be a huge investment I think.  And $75 is actually not bad for the purpose it'll serve...plus I plan to turn around and sell it second-hand when we're done with it.  I've gotten a number of things online for the girls lately (books, booster/high chairs and a play mat/gym).  I'm excited to try out the chairs and the mat.

The girls are getting bigger.  They both have double chins now and chubby cheeks.  So cute.  I'm guessing they are around 7 lbs or so each.  They are following us more with their eyes now and like to grab fingers (and hair...ouch) with their hands when we hold them.  We are just waiting for a real purposeful social smile still...they smile sometimes where it doesn't seem to be related to gas but they haven't started smiling back at us just yet.

One Month Old

(a few days late)

Weight:  Seren is actually passing Kendall in weight (we think).  No official measurement but we think they are close to 6 1/2 or 7 lbs each.  Seren eats more however and seems to be putting on weight more quickly then Kendall. 

Eating:  We tried breastfeeding (with lots of formula supplement) for the first couple of weeks.  Now we are fully on formula (a little sad about that).  We had two different formulas for a while too due to Kendall's sensitive system.  Now we have switched Seren to this formula as well to keep things simple.  They do well on it.  Seren usually eats close to 4 oz each feeding and Kendall is doing about 3 oz usually. 

New Tricks:   They are both starting to focus more with their eyes.  They will make and hold eye contact (or at least face contact) for a longer time now.  They hold fingers.

Sleep:  It has been very touch and go for the first few weeks.  We had them together in one crib and then we had Kendall in the crib and Seren in the bassinette/pack 'n play by our bed.  Currently we have them both in the nursery upstairs (Kendall in the crib and Seren in the bassinette/pack 'n play) and ourselves in the guest room.  This arrangement has worked the best so far.  They go down around 10 or 10:30 pm and then wake every three hours or so to eat.  Not always that easy but it's starting a pattern I think.

 Seren at one month old with her bear

 Kendall at one month old with her bear

Kendall and Seren - January 2010

Waving The White Flag...

The girls were waving the white flag last night.  Well at least Seren was waving it in surrender.  She slept like a champ.  Holy cow was I a proud and happy momma to the little sleeper.  Jeff said he didn't have as much luck with Kendall upstairs...apparently she was fussy after the 3 am feeding but did well up until that point.  So we actually got some decent sleep last night (I think...we'll see how Jeff is after work today).  Seren slept for 2 1/2 hours or so at a time before she would stir and get fussy to eat again.  Then I would feed her a bottle and she would be sleepy again and fall right back to sleep on her own.  No crying or screaming when I put her down.  It was heaven.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Preparing for Battle

This is what it feels like every night as we prepare for bed.  There is a specific routine we follow (there pretty much is for everything with twins I've decided).  Anyway we gather 3 sets of bottles (12 am feeding, 3 am feeding and 6 am feeding) in two colors (one color is assigned to each girl) and our formula and put them up in the bathroom on the top shelf.  We generally finish our nights with a 9 pm feeding and then try to get the girls in bed or down around 10 pm.  If we are at all lucky (which we generally aren't) we get an hour and a half of sack time before the girls fuss and wake up to eat again.  Most likely Seren is crying and won't go down so we don't sleep until after the 12 am feeding and then it's 2 hours max sleep before they are up again to eat.  The girls used to sleep together (based on recommendations and such that twins do well in the same crib).  They don't...do well sleeping that is...not our girls anyway.  So now Kendall is in the crib and Seren is in the pack 'n play bassinette by our bed.  We fight with Seren most every night (thus it feels like preparing for battle).  Love that little girl but man oh man can't wait til she sleeps better.

And thus it is 10 pm again now...we have a new battle plan in place tonight.  Divide and conquer.  We are attempting to split the girls up between our crib upstairs and one downstairs and also split ourselves up between our bedroom (downstairs) and spare bedroom (upstairs) and see how this works.  Wish us luck!