what happens when mom lets me fall asleep on the way home from church with a bow on my head......

Lonnie thinks it is torture that I like Maya to have bows on her head. The poor girl has a lot less hair than her brother and besides I usually think the bows look pretty cute. When we took the kids out of the car last Sunday this is how we found Maya. She didn't seem too bothered and slept right through the ordeal.

fussy time

The babies are pretty happy most of the time, but they do have their fussy time. Thankfully for me this is usually in the evening shortly after Lonnie gets home, so we can work together to hold, sooth and feed the babies. We think they are pretty cute when they get mad. Thankfully they don't often get too fussy at the same time when I am home by myself. It hurts my heart to hear them cry and I am still not very good at soothing them both at the same time.

new record....

For two nights in a row now the babies have gone a little over 5 hours between feedings. It has been amazing. I feel like a whole new woman.

After I have feed them I have been so excited that they slept for so long that I even had a hard time going back to sleep.

sleep time

My sweet sleeping babies. During nap time, if the babies aren't too fussy, we put them down in the crib or pack and play right next to each other. They tend to snuggle up close (just like their mom likes to snuggle)

Several times over the last couple of days I have come in to check on the babies when they are about ready to wake up and I have found them with their elbows inter-connetced. Maybe it is a show of solidarity , or they are practicing their square dance moves or most likely they are trying to keep the other one from hitting them in the face with their flailing arms, either way it is really cute. Thankfully the little tykes are pretty good about going to sleep most of the time.

Nighttime sleep time has gotten a little better the last week. The babies are now regularly going at least 4 hours between feedings and they are also eating much faster, they can finish a bottle and get back to bed in about 20-20 mins. I then spend about 20-30 mins pumping breast milk for the next feeding. So I am getting about 3 1/2 hours sleep at a time. This may not seem like a very long time but considering they used to eat every 2 1/2- 3 hours at night, with each feeding taking at least an hour, followed by 30 mins for me to pump breast milk for the next feeding (leaving me with only an hour to an hour and a half to sleep). Suddenly 3 straight hours of sleep feels down right decedent.

Thankfully I have a wonderful and supportive husband who has helped me out when, all too often, I am in over my head and too worn out to take the night shift by myself. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lonnie! You are amazing.

friends

Max, Zane and his mom Amber.  Max looks like he is small enough to be Zane's toy.

Max, Maya and Ian (Emily's son)

Two month appointment with the pediatrician ... and the popularity of the twins

This morning, the twins went to visit the pediatrician. Maya weighed in at 9 lbs 15 oz, and Max is now 9 lbs 4 oz (at birth Maya weighed 4lbs 4oz and Max weighed 4lbs 2 oz). As you can tell from the photos, Maya has grown some chubby little cheeks. Max isn't quite as chubby, but he's trying to keep pace with her on the weight gain. We are very happy that they have done so well after starting so small. It's amazing how the little bodies of babies somehow find their way through growth and development.

On another subject, we are proud to note that our twins should be running for president of the United States, as they are significantly more popular than Barack Obama. Lonnie's post about Obama did not get any comments while any post with photos of the twins (especially the naked ones) gets at least a few comments. It's a very interesting trend that we've noticed. :)

bath time

feeding time

This clip gives a good idea of how Lonnie and I feel when the twins wake up hungry. You would think they hadn't been feed in a month. (They usually eat at least every 3 hours)

You can imagine how I feel when I feed them all on my own.

-Alisa

the craziness of arrival of Maya and Max...

So some of you have asked about the details of the delivery. On the twins' two-month b-day, here's a quick rundown (written in third person because it almost seems like we watched it happen more than we experienced it, especially the last hour or so).

Tuesday, May 13
6:00 PM - Lonnie gets home from work and helps Alisa cut up veggies for friend's baby shower.
6:45 PM - Alisa leaves for baby shower, leaving Lonnie with a list of things to get done before the weekend house guests arrive.
7:00-8:00 PM - Alisa enjoys talking to friends at the baby shower. Lonnie works on a few things around the house, including an attempt to fix a toilet with a shaky base.
8:10-8:30 PM - At the shower, Alisa moves to sit next to a friend on the couch when she beings to feel a peeing-your-pants sensation. She even states out loud, "Oh my goodness, I think I'm peeing my pants." She stands up and a lot more than pee is pouring down her leg. Her friend says, "Did your water break?" Instantly, Alisa realizes that she is not peeing her pants, but yes her water had released. She quickly goes into the bathroom, and the women at the baby shower go into an excited frenzy. Alisa tries repeatedly to call Lonnie, but he doesn't answer the phone because he is in the middle of fixing a toilet. After the phone rings for the fourth or fifth time, Lonnie cleans up his hands and makes his way to the phone. The phone number on caller ID is unfamiliar so Lonnie goes about his business. He then decides he should call Alisa just to make sure she is okay, not even thinking she has gone into labor. Alisa answers his call and informs him that the babies are on their way and that she is getting a ride home so they can go to the hospital.

8:35 PM - Alisa arrives home and finishes packing her labor bag while Lonnie takes a quick shower. Alisa is very happy and excited and can't wipe the smile off her face. Alisa calls her doctor's office and her doula. The nurse from her OB's office tells her to go to the hospital.
9:15-9:30 PM - Alisa and Lonnie drive to Memorial Herman Hospital in Katy, Texas. They talk happily and at ease about the babies and the beginning of labor. They go to the hospital with the expectation that labor will progress throughout the night and the babies will arrive sometime the next day.

9:30 PM - Alisa and Lonnie arrive at the hospital and check in at the ER. Although Alisa's water has released, she is only feeling light contractions and appears happy and calm. The nurse at the ER seems skeptical that Alisa's water has released but checks her in.

9:45 PM - Alisa and Lonnie are taken to the labor and delivery section of the hospital. Initially, the L&D nurses seem skeptical that Alisa is in labor based on her happy appearance. After running through the list of water broken, twins, cervical cerclage to be removed, etc., the L&D nurses get more serious about checking Alisa into a room.

10:00 PM - While getting checked into L&D, the nurses are in contact with Alisa's OB office. Another OB besides Alisa's is on call for the office this night. Alisa and Lonnie are informed that the other OB will come into the hospital. One complication...the OB on call is not willing to do a vaginal delivery with twins where one is breach (as Max had been positioned for several months based on the ultrasounds). Therefore, the OB will come into the hospital to remove the cerclage, and then Alisa will remain on meds to keep the contractions down until the morning when Alisa's OB will be present for the delivery. Immediately after being informed of this situation, Alisa's OB calls into the hospital and says that she is coming in to remove the cerclage.

11:00 PM - Alisa's OB has arrived and performed an ultrasound to have a look at the babies' positions. Where Maya and Max had been positioned vertex and breach, respectively, just a week before, Maya is now positioned transverse with her spine against the cervix, and Max is still positioned breach. The OB says C-section is the only option, nurses start running around in preparation for the surgery, and Alisa and Lonnie understand the need for the unexpected change but still feel the disappointment in preparing for a delivery that is very different than what they anticipated.

Wednesday, May 14

12:20 AM - The past hour and a half have been a blur of preparations for C-section delivery. During the preparations, Alisa was initially given a spinal block, but she still had some feeling sensation. So the doctors topped off the spinal block with an epidural. (We later found out that this hospital's normal procedure is to go with general anesthesia if the spinal block doesn't take, but the anesthesiologist gave an epidural so Alisa could be awake and Lonnie could stay in the room during the delivery.) The epidural took so now it's down to serious business, and Lonnie is let back in the room for the delivery.
12:25 AM - Maya is born!!! Immediately out of the womb, she starts crying as loud as she can muster. Hearing Maya's cry, Alisa feels the joy that the first baby is okay.
12:26 AM - Max is born!!! Max begins to cry as loud as he can. Tears are flowing down Alisa's face with happiness that they babies are breathing and crying. Somewhat in shock at the tiny babies before his eyes, Lonnie struggles to find the words to tell Alisa what is happening. With two newborns, the room is a flurry of nurses and doctors checking babies and getting Alisa put back together.
12:30-3:30 AM - Lonnie goes with the babies to the newborn intensive care unit while Alisa is getting sewn up. Maya measures in at 4 lbs 4 oz and 16 1/4 inches, while Max is 4 lbs 2 oz and 16 inches. After Alisa gets out of the OR, she spends a couple of hours in recovery before being taken to post partum. On the way to post partum, Alisa is wheeled through the NICU to see the babies.

All in all, the delivery was a crazy experience. Of course, we feel so blessed that Maya and Max arrived healthy and strong enough to breathe on their own, but at the same time, we (particularly Alisa) feel some sadness that the delivery turned out differently than we hoped it would be. We knew that the delivery of twins presented greater risk, but Alisa had spent many hours in preparation for a vaginal delivery. It may sound kind of crazy, but she really wanted to experience labor...and it was not to be during this delivery.

For my part, I would have liked to help Alisa have a delivery that fulfilled her hopes and desires, but I am as proud of her for the way the delivery worked out as I would have been if it had happened another way. As all women do, she sacrificed her body to bring these little ones into the world, and I'm grateful for her courage and strength to bring these lives to our family.

-Lonnie

family photos

We finally were able to take a photo of all of us together.  The babies were awake and I had clothes on.  :)