Ohhh, we're halfway there...

ohhh, livin' on a prayer...

Yep. Mr Smith slept through the night last night. Now, its just one night. And he was HORRIBLY upset all day at the world and all who dwell in it. But he went to sleep quickly after his final feeding and I had to WAKE HIM UP this morning. (Granted, he woke up first around 6:30, which actually prompted me out of bed. But he fell back asleep and I waited until 7 to wake he and sister and begin feeding).

Tonight will tell the tale, to see if it was a fluke or a new behavior. Regardless, I'm thrilled. And as happy as I am, I STILL had to get up at 4:30 to feed Ms. Addison. While I think most experiences wiht twins are pretty much par for the course for those with a single baby, this is an experience that really so few folks have. Normally, you're children either sleep through the night, or they don't!

They'll be two months Wednesday, so expect the requisite pictures. We've also go their two month checkup that day, so we'll have lots of official sounding statistics and percentiles to throw your way.

Dad is VERY happy. Mom had yesterday off to, of all things, go to a football game with the girls. (This is not a lie. Its amazing the stories the ladies will concoct to leave the kids with the fellas.) Smith, Addison, and I went to Scott and Carter's to watch the game on PPV. Smith proceeded to act the fool AGAIN (as he did a few weeks ago when scott and carter came over to watch football at our house).

Lets hope we get a sleep through the night night tonight (wow, that looks like I just wanted to repeat the word night 3 times, but it actually does make sense) without the day-craziness of yesterday.

Welcome Baby Georgia

Congratulations to Julie and Russell on you precious little girl Georgia born this morning at 7:56AM. She weighs 7 pounds 3 ounces and measures 19.5 inches long. Smith and Addison can't wait to meet their new friend.

Just some pictures

We've been really bad bloggers lately, especialyl with the pictures. Honestly, we just haven't taken as many pictures in the past few weeks, partly because I think when we HAVE some time that we actually could do so, we're ready to just sit down and relax.

But, just to keep everyone updated, here are some pictures from the past few weeks.



Mom had a little photo shoot. This is post feeding, so they must be happy.

Mom and the Daybies, and Amber and Carter ventured out one day last week. This required some maneuring by Amber to get Carter's carseat in Krissee's car. They sure do look snug. (I love this picture, taken in the mirror on the headrest.)

Finally, we went to visit Krissee's family to celebrate a number of birthdays. Pictured here is our nephew Rollings, who picked out his own outfit that day, holding Addison. Rollings is 4 is a little man. He's going to make such a good big cousin and I can't wait to see him playing with Smith and Addison. He's got one heck of an imagination too, and I hope that family trait is passed onto our little ones.

Our Nightly Routine

With the twins almost seven weeks old, we're approaching the time when they should be able to sleep for an eight hour chunk each night without waking. According to "On Becoming Babywise," which we've modeled our feeding schedule after, most babies master this by 8 weeks, and those that don't by then do by 12 weeks. (If you hate that philosophy, shut up. We're feeding and loving our babies.)

Any way you look at it, we're on the downhill slope. Pretty much from the night we got home, we've only been getting up once a night with them, so its not been as bad as we've heard from other parents. But still - we'd both love a full night of sleep. We're alternating who gets up each night so that at least one of us gets an uninterrupted night of sleep each night.

So, in our efforts to coax our children into night sleeping, we've instituted the following nighttime routine.

• The "final" feeding is at 7 PM.
• After this feeding, we bathe them.
• They then get "spa time," in which they are massaged with some night time baby lotion (I am not making this up. I made fun of Krissee at first, but it really does help them to calm down.)
• They're swaddled and placed in the crib
• Dad reads them a story.
• The lights are turned off, the mobile is turned on for 5 minutes, and the door is shut.

This has been working great. For the most part, they're asleep (or at least settled down) by the time the mobile finishes its 5 minute cycle.

We awaken them around 10-11 for their final feeding of the day, which is kept quiet and strictly business - feeding and a diaper change. No playing.

After that, we go to bed.

And each night, even if its the other's night, we truly hope that tonight is the night.

When its not your night, you can't wait to wake in the morning and ask the other "How did it go?" and "When did they wake up?"

We'll get it. Its still crazy early. But rest assured, once we're getting full nights of sleep? That is going to be like an extra cherry on top of a bowlful of cherries that tops the most decadent chocolate and ice cream concoction known to man.

Yep - THAT good.

Getting Current

So one of Dad's favorite things to do is to comment on Aunt Heather's blog whenever she's gone a week or more without posting. The comment usually consists of the three simple words "nice current blog." Its usually enough motivation to get her to post within the next few days.

If you can dish it out, you've got to be willing to take it, so thanks Heather, for "Nice current blog"-ing me.:)

Who knew that once we left the children for one night, it'd go so much easier? We haven't spent more than a few waking hours at home as we've decided to resume our rock star lifestyles. Parties every night, dinners out. Babysitters do complicate the equation somewhat, but we're managing.

PSYCHE. Honestly, mom's been sick. Dad is sick. Dad was out of town for a few days. Mom had Cookie come stay and help. Babies are growing and they are six weeks old today.

Had a big visit from Ellie and Turner (and their mom Carissa and friend Ashley) on Saturday. Ellie and Turner are 6 1/2 months older than Smith and Addison, so there wasn't a whole lot of interaction going on. If anything, it reinforced the fact that we need to cuddle and hold our sweet babies as long as possible. Its been a very neat experience to watch them grow up. Carissa gave birth the week we discovered we were having twins. She's been a great resource all along the way and more than anything, she's reminded us that they'll be ok no matter what we do, so its best to be able to laugh along the way.

That is our big updates. NO new milestones, other than the six week mark. I think we'll all be close to 100% this weekend.

Mom and Dad's Crazy Night Out

Last night, Krissee and I talked our friends Heath and Jessa into babysitting the daybies and we headed out for date night, Sept. 2008 edition!

During the pregnancy, we discussed many times how important we thought it would be for us to be able to have some time that didn't involve the kids. We decided that we'd try to plan a once a month date night, so that we'd be able to have conversations that didn't necerssarily revolve around how many ounces they drank or who had what diaper when.We've had many people tell us about how hard it would be to leave them.

Well, I hate to say it like this, but it wasn't that hard. Maybe they knew it was coming, so from 4 until about 6:00, Smith and Addison screamed and cried. It was FIERCE. At six, we fed 'em, and they promptly fell asleep. Heath and Jessa arrived at 6:30 and we were off.

We got home just in time to see kickoff for the Gamecock game at 8:30. All in all, it was a successful evening out. We had a few beverages, ate some food, and chatted. Some chatter was regarding teh children, but we also talked about other stuff. In fact, it was just as we received our appetizer that we remarked "We haven't talked about the kids yet."

When we got home...the babies were cuddled up and it was obvious they had been in good hands. Thanks Heath and Jessa!

Unfortunately, all this occurred without a single photo being snapped. Maybe for the October edition!

Busy Weekend

We had a busy Labor Day weekend, lots of visits and visitors!

Some of our closest friends, Adam and Haley, and our godson Jack stopped by to visit. They were some of our first visitors in the hospital, and we're all super glad that they're headed back to Columbia!

Now, being the overprotective father that I already am, especially in all manners concerning my daughter's dating future, I'm wary of any male child spending too much time around her. But Jack is a special kid, and you can already tell he's going to be super sweet, just like his godfather Daniel. I know some other friends think that Jack is betrothed to their daughter Emmie, but I checked with the family and they indicated that there was no dowery, so all bets were off.

Jack checking out Ms. Addison.

This wasn't perfect camera speed, but their first kiss was right around this time!

On Monday, we headed for our first big day trip with the babies, to Nanny and Papas. It was a combination Labor Day/Nanny Birthday visit, so we knew we'd have fun.

The cooler packing is a little different these days, but the essentials for all are still there!

My sister hosted an exchange student from Germany many years ago, Barbara. She and her boyfriend Johannes are spending the week with my parents this week. Here they are checking out Smith and Addison.

Super Sweet One Month

The twins turned one month old yesterday! Its hard to believe that its already been a month, but in the same way, it seems that they've been with us forever too!

Our friends Ellie and Turner/Carissa and Craig have been doing this tradition of taking pictures each month with a sign in the background. We're shamelessly stealing that idea!

One of our neighbors made the stuffed animals that you see in the pictures. We figured it would be a good way to measure their size alone the way too!

Life with babies

Dad avoided a potential devastating start to his day just a few moments ago.

We've moved on to making bottles on demand (expect some great advice on that later this week). As such, the canister of formula sits on our kitchen counter. Right next to the coffee maker.

I'm making another cup this morning, and without thinking, instead of picking up the cream, I pick up the formula canister.

I quickly realized the error I was getting ready to make and put the formula down and picked up the cream. Luckily this was my 3rd cup instead of my first. I have a feeling that at some point in the future, I'll be having formulafee. (thats my name for the formula/coffee mixture).

Smith and Addison just told me to tell everyone Happy Labor Day.

Its also their one month birthday today! We're heading out to Nanny's and Papa's for a Labor Day cookout/Nanny birthday feast, so its a very big day up in our house. We'll be doing the one month photo shoot tonight when we get home, so expect a great week of entries!

Go gamecocks

Last night was the first Carolina game of the season. As such, Smith and Addison had to help mom and dad cheer on the team from the comfort of our own home!

Addison proved that she is her mother's child by not being interested in football...at all.

Smith, however, really seemed to get into it, although he did tucker out pretty early on.

Smith showing his gamecock pride. Notice the BOOTS.

See...Addison could not care less about the team and its goings on.

I don't know why, but this picture just looks like I caught them at a tailgate bender. They're screaming, dancing, having a large time. Maybe its because there are a few pictures of Mom and Dad flo

Smith sure did get stressed out watching the game. So did Dad. I think Smith handled it better by passing out than his dad did by yelling and screaming at the TV.

Still alive

We're here and we are still alive.

Daniel had his first trip out of town on Monday - Wednesday. Krissee's friend Ashley came down to assist mom in the well-being of the Daybies (and Mom, via some great meals from Trader Joes. We need one of those in Columbia!)

Here's Ms. Ashley conquering the double feed!

Weekend - Do what you want to do!

I think EVERYONE got the choices of who likes the children with socks and hats and who likes them more natural! Yes, Krissee is the proponent of the coverings, and I prefer to let them run around like crazy redneck children with no socks or hats!

This entry has no theme or funny, just wanted to show some pictures of the Daybies!

Here is Dad getting some much needed snuggle time with 'em!

The last photo shoot in this chair was such a success, we of course had to do it again!

And finally, what do you do when its 8 PM, your babies have been fussy for hours, and there is no end in sight? Take 'em for a walk in your nifty Zooper Tango stroller!

Vice presidents ain't got nothin' on us

Everyone check out the below post of the twin's first visit from Carter. While I had the time, energy, and idea, I wanted to go ahead and post this entry as well. See....a dry spell for a few days, and then presto, two entries in one day. You never know what you're going to get here at the Smith and Addison Day show. Consider this entry a very special episode!

First off, an incredibly sweet picture of my baby girl. I include it only because I had one extra picture of Smith in this entry and we want to make things as fair as possible (at least now!)



There is a big debate raging currently in the Day household, and the only way to settle it is to pose it to the masses,

Which is cuter...socks and hats or no socks and hats (we mean in general terms, not these pictures specifically). Bonus points if you can identify the correct parent with their opinion.

(he looks like such a little gangster in this picture.)

A visit from Carter and Mom

Some of our closest friends have a son just two months prior to Smith and Addison's birth. Carter's mom Amber got to come by today finally after battling a cold last week with Carter to hang out with the twins and Mom.

(And yes, Carter is in the upper percentiles for his age, and Smith and Addison are a good two months younger than he is).

Its been a long standing joke that Carter and Addison would be star-crossed soul mates. Addison looks to be getting an early start by rubbing up on Carter's legs. Smith seems unconcerned with his sister's reputation and is catching some must needed rest.

Come back soon Amber and Carter (and Scott if you're letting him out of the house these days).! We can't wait to watch our children grow up together and be perfect little angels for the next eighteen years.

Two Week Checkup and PIcs

The two week checkup was a rousing success. Ms. Addison was up to 6 lbs 5 oz, and Mr. Smith had a whopping 8 oz gain to make it to 6 lbs 4oz. I'm thinking that he is tired of his big sis beating up on him.

The entire checkup was good, and the docs said that these were beautiful babies ande to keep doing what we were doing. (And I"m sure that pediatricians don't go around telling their patients that their children are beautiful, so I feel incredibly honored that ours would give out such a rare compliment!) He did mention that it'd be best to avoid crowds for 6 more weeks. I wasn't planning a weekend bender at the local pub next weekend or anything, but I kinda thought we'd be able to start venturing out a little bit more. But its a small price to pay for healthy babies!

Finally, I've been slack on the pictures, so I wanted to post some here.

How can this not melt your heart? Seriously.

Some folks have asked how the doggies are adjusting. The answer? OK. They're certainly feeling neglected and curious, but they're taking it in stride. They're not allowed in the nursery, but they like to push the envelope as much as possible!

These moments are actually rare, where we actually get to just sit and hold the babies. Mom had a go of it the other night, and I think all three of them felt very comfortable!

Lastly, I took these two pictures just before we left for our two week appointment. I want to make sure we get plenty of single shots as well as those of them together. Daunting task!

Father of the year

(Before I get into the meat of this, we've got our two week old checkup this afternoon. Expect all the details, and maybe a few new pictures afterward!)

In the "our life is an open book" vein of this blog, here is the twins feeding plan: Krissee fully intended to breast feed, but the smaller size of the babies coupled with the practical realities of feeding two babies at once have forced us to use bottles. Krissee is pumping and we're on a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of breast milk and formula. Its working out great and seems to be a win/win for all parties (meaning mom isn't strapped to a baby all day, we know how much they're feeding, and Dad gets to help!)

So, Krissee pumps, and its my job to make up bottles once a day. At this point, they're eating about 3 oz. at every feeding (which is every 3 hours), so every night I'm making a breast milk/formula cocktail. Just call me a mixologist. For those doing the math at home, thats 24 oz of each, for a total of 48 oz needed to fill all 16 bottles. For those who are in the know, that's twelve scoops of formula.

On Wed. night, when I'm making the formula, I did the unthinkable and got distracted. Was that scoop # 7 or #8? Figuring that it wasn't a big deal, really, I erred on the side of caution and went with the lower number, cause, babies need nutrients, you know? I completed the formula mixing and went on to my next task, never giving it a second thought.

Thursday, we were fighting what we thought were sick babies - lots of mucous that made feeding take an hour. Their poor little mouths were filling up with this thick pasty stuff. They weren't finishing their bottles. All in all, not a Day was happy.

Last night, after struggling with the 7 o'clock feeding, it was time again for me to make the bottles. As I'm getting ready to do the formula, it dawns of me...I may have put too much formula in the day before. Too much powder = thicker liquid = harder to swaller = less intake.

So, I ensured that the correct amount of formula was placed within the mixing cup, poured some bottles, and anxiously awaited the 10:00 feeding to see if it was better.

Y'all...it was flawless. BOth babies ate their entire bottles in approximately 30 minutes. We put them down and they slept soundly. We fed them once during the night (as we have been doing for the past few days), and it was pretty darn flawless as well. As was this morning's feeding.

DSS, I promise not to make this mistake again. I promise.

(Note to self - Determine what twelve scoops equals in a measuring cup so that I don't have to keep track of counting, because in my altered state of mind, counting to twelve is apparently pretty darn taxing. God help us all when they increase the amount of formula!)

At home with Smith and Addison

Well I haven't had much time to post on here since the babies were born but I have read all of the comments during my marathon labor and I just want to say thanks everyone for your support and well wishes. It warms my heart to read all of the kind things everyone wrote.

I just wanted to say hi and let everyone know I'm still alive just crazy busy. Today is one of my first full days alone with Smith and Addison. Daniel and I did the 7:00 AM feeding together and then he went downstairs to work. So its just me and my sweet babies and we are getting along just fine. There isn't much time for anything else other than feeding and changing diapers but I have to say I absolutely LOVE it. Even though I haven't had a shower yet today and I'm still in PJ's at 1:00 in the afternoon I've never been so happy. They are so precious and I still can't believe they are mine.

Honesty

Before any of our faithful readers get the impression that we're without any hiccups in our attempts to raise these two babies who have recently invaded our home, I wanted to point out some of our massive panic attacks of the past week. These are by no means the ONLY such attacks we've experienced, but I want this to be an accurate portrayal of our family life.

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die

Some dear friends sent us a beautiful flower arrangement in the hospital. These flowers arrived in a blue flower vase. Fast Forward a week or so, and the flowers are wilted, so the flowers get tossed, and the vase gets put in the dishwasher.

This vase, unbeknown to us, was a painted vase, and proceeded to chip and color everything in our dishwasher blue. Under normal circumstances, this would be pretty annoying. However, add in the fact that our entire bottle supply was ALSO in the dishwasher at the same time, well, there you have a near disaster. We spent a few hours trying to clean 'em up, but finally decided that no amount of scrubbing or boiling would ever make us comfortable with feeding our babies out of blue speckled bottles. So Dad got the very special privelage of going to Wal-Mart on a Friday night at 10:00 PM to purchase new bottles.

Got home, Grandma (Ann) helped us sterilize everything, and we were back in business. Crisis averted (kinda).

Moral of story? : Don't put colored vases in dishwasher without first checking to see if it is a painted vase.

My little scavenger(s)

So remember when I wrote about our dog Allie, and how she likes trash?

Well, she hit the motherload yesterday morning.

There was a bag of dirty diapers sitting in the laundry room, ready to be taken out to the trash can. Dad had gone downstairs to work, and the dogs were in for breakfast and general inside time.

A little while later, I returned back upstairs to refill the coffee cup, and was greated wtih the smell of baby poo. I thought this to be odd, since the nursery with the diaper champ is a good little ways from the kitchen/office area. Upon further exploration, I discovered that my nasty little girl (allie) had found her own little corner of heaven right in our laundry room.

I'll spare you the picture, but I DID get one, just for posterity sake.

Cleaning that up was super-duper fun.

Moral of story: Don't 1) Leave bags of dirty diapers accessible to your nasty little dogs and 2) Don't let your dogs be nasty little dogs.

Day Birth Day

Its been a busy few days here in the Day household. Everyone continues to do well, and we're just settling into a routine. Dad went back to work today (boo), but paying the mortgage is an important job too!

Our friend Jenn wrote a commemorative poem summarizing the birth experience that we live blogged just days ago. Her blog requires authorization to read, but she welcomes new visitors! For those who don't have access, I've asked her if I could reprint the poem here, and she gave me permission to re-post (Thanks Jenn for the awesome recap of the experience!) :

Day Birth Day

(a very special poem commemorating the birth of Smith and Addison Day, twins, born August 1, 2008 @ 2:07 and 2:36 AM)

(Congrats to Daniel and Krissee on the birth of their first children)

They went to the doctor; she said, “let’s go;

It’s time to start the Smith and Addison Day Show!”

The doc hooked Krissee up to an IV

To start the contractions they’d yet to see.

An hour later contractions were regular;

Aunts, uncles, and grandparents began to gather.

Smith said “Come on, sis!” But Addy said, “No way!

I’m not quite ready to meet the world today!”

So they settled back in to that comfortable womb

And their faithful doctor left the room.

Daniel sighed; he was ready to rock!

But it turns out his daughter has her mother’s clock.

***

The Days rested all night so they wouldn’t be worn

When it was time to start again the very next morn.

They wakened early; Krissee fixed her hair and face

Before everyone got ready and got back into place.

The contractions got going; the water was broken.

Then, finally, the word “epidural” was spoken!

After all, in Daniel’s words, “Contractions don’t look fun!”

Krissee agreed, and then she happily went numb.

After several more hours, day turned to night

But the twins still weren’t ready to come into the light.

The epidural wore off, and pain crossed Krissee’s face

As the docs prepped the O.R.—just in case.

Then finally the babies decided, “It’s time!”

And Addison headed on down the line.

Not wanting to wear his poor mommy out,

Smith waited 29 minutes to follow A’s route.

“5 lbs. 11 oz.” read Addison’s scale;

A nurse declared, “2 ounces less weighs the male!”

They bundled them up—one in pink, one in blue

Then showed ‘em to family and now to you, too!

Thanks Aunt Heather

Aunt heather came and stayed with us for a few days. She did lots of things to help us out around the house, so that Mom and Dad could focus all their energy on the Daybies.

Here Aunt Heather is giving Smith a feeding. Our babies sure do like to eat, a lot and often.

Filling up the bottles for one day sure does take a long time. Not only does it take time to FILL the darn things, but washing, drying, making formula isn't super quick either.

Best of all, Aunt Heather scrubbed our floors. We certainly don't make our guests do this, but she insisted! I don't think anyone has done this in our home, but the floors certainly look phenomenal. This is actually a double edged sword, wherein I'm happy she did this, but also kinda mad. Happy, because our floors look great; Sad, because now I'm going to have to do this on a regular basis to keep the floors looking good.


Thanks again, Heather. To our future helpers, the bar has been set pretty darn high.

Q&A

Welcome to the first installment of what could turn out to be a regular feature: The Smith and Addison Q&A. You send us your burning questions, and we answer them.

Q: Colly from Charlotte, NC writes" Don't jaundice beds look like little mini tanning beds....?? Can we see??"

A: Yes, Colly, jaundice beds look like mini tanning beds. We're starting early! Here is a picture of the twins in their beds, which were placed in their pack and plays.




Q: Jenn from Anderson, SC asks "What could be worse: her dating or her hating you?? "

A: At this point, it may be a toss up.

Q: Schmitty from Carlsbad, NM asks " what do the doggies think of the daybies?"

A: The dogs are adjusting. They're doing a lot of sniffing, but other than that, they really aren't all that aware of the daybies. At this point, I think they're just glad to be home and have us home!

Q: Carissa from Charlotte, NC chimed in and queried "I don't think I know what Smith and Addison's middle names are?"

A: Their full names are Mary Addison Day and Smith Chapman Day.

Jaundice levels were better today, so they're off the beds. Hopefully we'll get the complete for real all clear tomorrow!

If I just lay here

This would be the picture I was talking about yesterday. My heart melts.

Went back to Dr...Addison is a whopping 6 lbs and Brother is still at 5 lbs 8 oz. Jaundice levels had decreased substantially, but they were ordered another day on the beds just to be sure.


Aunt Heather came in this afternoon to help take care of Mom and Dad so they can focus all their energy onto the Daybies. She has, however, managed to sneak in a little baby loving in between tasks from slave master Krissee.

My babies continue to be happy and healthy, and that's the best news I can share.

1 Down, 6569 to go...

(quick math lesson, since folks rarely seem to get my subject lines - 18*365 = 6570)

We got home yesterday (Sunday) around noon. Babies and mom are doing great. We quickly settled into a a routine and so far the babies sugar level is staying pretty high, despite repeated attempts to steal it all from multiple people.

Aside from a little jaundice, everything is going great. They're laid out in their jaundice beds now, and hopefully our pediatrician will give us the all clear tomorrow.

A few quick observations from Dad:

• My little girl is not allowed to date until she turns 45.
• A successful diaper change requires the proper preparation of all needed materials.
• Full nights of sleep are the stuff that unicorns and fairies are made of.
• I'm not entirely sure that the previous sentence made sense.

Auntie Ame came to visit today, and she got some great pictures. Unfortunately the computer is acting up and I'm ready for bed, so you'll have t check it out tomorrow.

You. Better. Work.

So, we played model todays. Our kids sure can work it.

http://www.palmettohealth.org/bodyIframe.cfm?id=252

(Here's the link to the official, professionally taken photograph. But we can't have them all dressed up and not use daddy's photo taking skills, which are far superior to his bow-hunting skills).






Yep, thats our Boy and our Girl! The quilts behind them were made by Krissee's Granny Coy (GreatGranny Coy to Smith and Addison). Each one is handmade and its super special. Every great grandchild has received one, but and I think Granny Coy worked her poor fingers to the bone once she found out it was twins!

So, one major topic of the past few days has been who they each look like. I've posted the earliest pictures I have of each of us as babies. You be the judge!




Mom and Babies are doing great. Babies have a little jaundice which may limit our ability to go home tomorrow (Sunday). We'll know more after our pediatrician's visit at Dark 'Thirty tomorrow morning.

This entry has taken all day to write. I just think that's good information to pass along!

Everyone wants a picture..here it is!!

Thanks

For all the support and excitement over the past few days.

Mom, dad and babies are finally settled, and its time to sleep for the first time in what seems like nine weeks.

We are asking that if u plan on calling or visiting, please do so later this afternoon (after one or two+.

They're here

Both came vaginally, and they're awesome.

She came at 2:07, 5 lbs 11 oz, 19 and a half inches.

He came at 2:36, 5 lbs 9 oz, 19 and a half inches.

Mom did awesome, and babies are great. I'm standing in nursery while the nurses check em out.

We're

Pushing

Not just yet

Still not pushing...not quite dialated enough.

Will try again at twelve. If its still not where it needs to be, they'll do a c section. Its been long enough since the water broke that there is risk of infection.

We'll...that was fun...

No, no babies yet...

Krissee's epidural stopped working, so there were a few hours there where the pain was pretty pad. Finally, the doctor came in and agreed that the pain was probably too bad....so after some coaxing to ther anesthiologist, the epidural was taken out (with no side effects) and re-applied.

After a few minutes, relief.

So, here's the latest. She's nine centimeters dialated. They've told her to try and get a few minutes of rest, and that hopefully she'll be pushing shortly (around eleven).

We'll see... Important thing is that mom has found relief now, and she's calm enough that she can start pushing with gusto and get these babies here.

I'll try and do a quick post as we head to the or.

Gettin there

Between eight and nine cm.

Nurse said at this rate, she should start pushing around nine pm.

Still....

Still contracting....siz to seven dialated. Doctor will be bak around nine..

Waiting

Still waiting on dr to come check. Will know more later.

Progress

Just got checked, six and half cm. We're moving along.

Keep the good thoughts coming!

No news

Still five cm.

We're just waiting. Dr said if no progress is made by six, we'll think about other options (c-section).

We both napped, and now we're visiting with family.

This day is becoming a blur...fast.

Krissee's resting comfortably now. Dialated to 5cm. Should be another few hours (average is 1 cm an hour, and for all you guys who don't know any of this, which I didn't until a few weeks ago, fully dialated is 10cm).

Everybody's doing great. I'm gonna try and catch a few z's along with my wife, as the pull out sofa in the room is not the most comfortable thing ever.

More later.

Epidural

Krissee got an epidural about twenty minutes ago. Its kicked in and mom seems pretty happy.

Contractions continue. The doctor is supposed to come by around lunch time, so we'll find our how far she's progressed then.

More....

At 9:30 AM

Contractions are continuing every couple of minutes.

4 CM

Epidural is on its way.

Everyone's happy and healthy. Everyone will be happier and healthier shortly, when the epidural comes!

Moving along nicely. Contraction don't look fun...at all.

Continuing....

8AM - contractions are coming...water is broken. Contractions seems to be more uncomfortable than yesterday, which is a GOOD sign. Our nurse was even laughing about how sadistic labor and delivery nursers are, because if you're not in pain, they up your medicine!

So basically? No update, but updating to document the process and keep you all off my back! :)

The update is no update

Waiting on doctor to come in. Our doctor's watch is apparently set to Krissee time, wherein 5:45 is a proper substitute for 5:00! (Which is completely fine this morning. Krissee's gotten her makeup on, her hair straightened, you know, all that important stuff!). Honestly, our Dr. is doing us a favor by coming in today, since she's not on call, so I can't complain that she's running a little late

When she gets here, they'll start the pitocin again and break her water.

Dr. just arrived..so we're getting started!!! And so it begins...again.

See you soon Smith and Addison.

Proper Update

So now that I'm in possession of my laptop (thanks Cookie and Poppy for making a run to the house!), I can do a proper update without typing on the Blackberry (which is great for quick updates, but not so much for long winded text like I like to write!)

Mom and Babies are doing great. Quite frankly, I think the dr. needed a reason to push up our induction from Monday to today. She was ready and thought the babies were, but protocol says you can't take 'em prior to 37 weeks. (Now, this is entirely my opinion and could be completely incorrect. Our doctor has not told us nor implied this in any way, shape, or form).

Since Krissee didn't really get started on the pitocin until about 1 PM, it was considered a late start. The doctor warned us that if she wasn't progressing very fast that she may pull her today and start again first thing in the AM (like 5 AM first thing). So that's where we are now, and why its a tad unusual. While all signs are still pointing to a vaginal delivery, there is always the risk of a C-Section, especially with twins. As such, we'll deliver in the OR rather than the standard birthing room. If a C-Section is required, our doctor wanted to do it during the daytime when the hospital is fully staffed, rather than 3 AM. It also gives us ALL a chance for a good night of rest.

We'll be back at it tomororw, early. Thanks for the poems and rhymes, and I think I love the term Daybies.

Smith and Addison - we'll meet you tomororw!

On hold

Krissee still isn't dialated. Dr decided to pull the pitocin for the evening and we'll start again first thing in the am. Tomorrow looks to be smith and addison's birthday.

Thanks for all the well wishes, excitement, and prayers.

Update update baby

Contractions coming every two or three minutes now. No idea on dialation. Waiting for dr to come and check.

The great waiting game continues.

Update - 4 pm

Contractions are coming every few minutes. She's not in much discomfort. Both sets of grandparents are here, along with aunt ame. The other aunts and uncles are headed down after work.

More later!

Update - 3pm

Krissee's been receiving pitocin for almost two hours. A few little blips on the contraction scale, but nothing major.

Doctor says that we'll evaluate this later this afternoon. Worst case, we'll stop the pitocin this evening and restart it first thing tomorrow.

More later!

It begins....

Went to the dr the morning. Krissee was having some pressure.

After an ultrasound, they said that the level of amniotic fluid wasn't measureable, so they needed to induce.

Mom and babies are doing well. She's just starting pitocin now. We'll see where we go from here.

Funny Pregnancy Quote

Krissee: "I'm looking forward to being in labor so that I'll have a catheter and not have to get up and go pee every 10 minutes."

That picture behind the bed sure is nice...

The weekend trip to the Columbia Hilton was a rousing success. Due to work travel, I'm a gold member of Hilton's travel club (its no diamond member level, but I mean, we don't all LIVE in hotels!). They certainly took care of us and even managed to get us reservations to the Ruth's Chris on the premises (which was good good).

The highlight of the stay occurred on Sunday morning while we're in the elevator on the way to breakfast. When the elevator stopped on our floor for us to get on, there was a little boy on there with an adult (the boy was 3-4 years old).

We get on, and the little boy points his finger at Krissee's belly and exclaims "What you got in there?" The words themselves just don't convey the funniness of the situation. The attitude was a cross between "You look like you're going to pop and I want to know what is getting ready to ooze all over me." and "You've stuck something in your belly that belongs to the hotel and I'm telling because my Daddy told me that you shouldn't steal!"

Krissee explains to him that there are two babies in there, and he seemed to understand.

Since then, I've been fond of pointing at her and exclaiminig "What you got in there?"

Friday's Doctor Visit

Not much to tell about yesterday's appointment. Everything is still looking good and tests results are showing the babies are doing great. I lost a couple of pounds so now my total weight gain is 26 pounds. I'm hoping that will be about the maximum amount of weight I gain but we'll see. The doctor said I was almost 3cm dilated and I left the office with some pretty bad cramping. We briefly thought yesterday might be the day but the cramping has stopped and we still haven't seen any baby action.

So since it appears that I will not be going into labor anytime soon Daniel and I are going to the Hilton for a Mom and Dad's last night out. We plan to soak up some rays by the pool and then go to a fancy dinner. I'm really looking forward to it and I think it will be good to get me out of the house and away from my list of things to do.

We will be back at the doctor on Monday for NST testing but to be honest I think we have given up hope that Smith and Addison will be here before the 4th and that's ok as long as they are healthy I can't ask for more.

36 Weeks!

I'm 36 weeks today!! No major action going on right now other than a bad night and very little sleep for me so I'm doubting Smith and Addison will join us today. We will go to the doctor again in the morning. Daniel and I are planning on going on a walk later today to see if we can't get things going but don't get excited just yet. We are starting to think its probably going to be August 4th but I'm still going to hold out hope they will come before then. I told Daniel this morning that if they did come today I'm not sure I have the energy to push them out. Any moms out there know where I can find some energy?