Happy Birthday to Grandma P

Today is Grandma P's birthday and its also our second week birthday. We hope you are having a great day! We can't wait to meet you in a couple of weeks.
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Yesterday we visited the lactation consultant for a follow up visit. The hospital was concerned about the girl's weight because they lost more than the standard 10% during their hospital stay. Happily the girls have both recovered their birth weights. Elsa gained 11 oz in eight days. Lily gained 9oz. This is a big deal because it means that breast feeding is working. They still have not had any formula.

The lactation consultant was the same nurse who performed our non-stress tests during the last month of pregnancy. So, she already had a relationship with the girls. She helped us work on our latch and positioning. She also encouraged mom to express some milk to increase supply and get a bit of a break. Hopefully, this will make her a little less sore. The girls have about 8 feedings a day each. So, that's about 16, 20 minute feedings per day. We need all the help we can get!

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Finally, here are some pictures of our first bath this week.



Elsa got the first bath because she happened to be the most awake. She wasn't sure what to make of the experience. She was a bit tense and cried a lot. But, that might have been the fault of her nervous parents as it was our first time giving a bath. We weren't sure what we were doing yet.



By the time it was Lily's turn (10 minutes later), we were much more experienced bath givers. Lily seemed to be much more relaxed about taking her first bath. She really liked the warm water and barely cried.


Here's a picture of the girls lounging in their bathrobes. Although, I'm not sure if Elsa is exactly lounging!

Uh-oh

No more nametags. The hospital bands are off. Time for Mark and I to go solo on Lily and Elsa identification!

Happy Birthday

Today is Grandma A's 49th birthday. We celebrated by wearing matching pink outfits and going out for lunch on Solano Ave. We took a ride in our red stroller and we met many people on the street who were excited to see us. We're becoming neighborhood celebrities. We were VERY good at lunch and didn't cry. Mommy was very proud. And she did her first public breastfeeding!


Elsa=left, Lily=right

Later we took advantage of our cute outfits and took some more pictures. (which will be posted soon, for now here's a preview . . .)


Lily=left, Elsa=right

Homecoming

I am very tired, but happy to report that everyone is home and doing well. We finally got released yesterday. Two happy babies and two happy parents...lots of drama at the hospital. It is very good for all of us to be in our own home and relax.

Elsa and Lily are amazing and wonderful. They are very beautiful with distinct personalities. Although, they are identical it is very easy to tell them apart. I'll catch up more later, but for now its nap time for everyone!

They're here

Lily and Elsa are in the world of air-breathers. Elsa was born at 11:28 pm and Lily was born at 11:29 pm via c-section on September 14, 2004.

You can take a look at some of the pictures in a horribly unsorted and porrly thought out gallery. I haven't slept more than an hour and a half in the last three day, and Emily is running on even less, so sue me if it looks a little sloppy, and loads slow.

So much for efficiency...

I always said to Emily that twins were great because we get two babies for the price of one long trip to the hospital for labor.

Well, I was wrong.

Turns out that 24 hours of induced labor weren't enough, and so we are back at home, waiting for things to happen more naturally.

Think good thoughts for Emily.

mpp

Feet

Technical Advisor

Emily has decided our homepage should be a blog-based thing where we can discuss what's going on with the girls as we enter a 'new phase of life.' However, she's better at writing interesting things, so my primary position is technical advisor to try to get things looking right.

In case you're curious, and want to make your webpage in a similar fashion, we're building on a Blogger.com template, but I'm trying to customize it and add our own material. This requires me to learn style sheets, which I've never tried before, and leads to geeky fun. Emily, however, is the creative driving force, so if you think anything looks good, congratulate her, and if anything looks weird, blame it on me.

mpp

The countdown begins...

We are less than a week away from meeting our daughters Lily and Elsa. Defying all odds they have stayed put beyond the normal twin gestation.

Dr. Walton thinks they will arrive at any time. At our appointment this week, I was already dilated 1.5cm! Although, we have spent the past 9 months worried about preterm delivery, there are now some health concerns about the twins staying in too long. We are already a week past term for twins. Its getting crowded in there! An induction is scheduled for next Weds. But, Dr. Walton is pretty confident they will arrive on their own before then.

We've been encouraging labor to begin with lots of long walks, spicy foods and other tricks. We thought for sure yesterday was the day as I was having lots of contractions. But, this morning there were still no babies!

-EAP