34 Weeks (and we have a date!)

We are 34 weeks today! Things are still looking great. We have graduated from our maternal-fetal specialist. We saw him for the last time this week - we have to see our regular OB weekly from now on and we will have a biophysical profile (similar to a non-stress test) done each time. They will check heart rate, breathing movements, fluid levels and fetal movement for each baby. Measurements this week: Kourtney - weight = 4 lbs 11 oz, HR = 146 & Kamryn - weight 4 lbs 15 oz, HR = 134. This means I have 9 lbs 10 oz of baby in my belly - and you can definitely tell by looking at me. Kamryn is still breech so we have scheduled a C-section for Friday October 17th at 1:00 at ARMC.

In other news, Ken has all of the house stuff lined up and they are scheduled to start grading tomorrow (Friday). Kendall had a check up at the ENT and her ears look great and her hearing is 100%! We also had to get her glasses fixed for the first time this week, but I don't think it was her fault that the nose piece fell off! Karlee is doing great at soccer and even scored a goal in the game on Monday. I will try to get some pictures posted soon.

The Early Bird . . .

gets the attention? I read one time that children will develop certain sleep patterns or habits for some unusual reasons - one of them being so the child can have the parents all to themselves. I think that both of my children do this! Kendall has been waking up at or before 6:00 am EVERY morning lately. Ken gets her from her crib and brings her to our bed where she has her milk. She snuggles with us, plays with my hair, climbs all over Ken, plays with Fred and really seems to enjoy spending time with us by herself. Karlee is a late sleeper, some mornings we even have to wake her up, but she stays up later than Kendall. This is her special time to spend with us by herself. She gets in our bed and we read a couple of books. Then we say our prayers and snuggle. It is really neat to me when I stop and think how my kids create their own ways to spend quality time with us. I am not sure how this will work when there are two more - I hope no one will decide that their "special" time is 2 am!!

33 Weeks

We are 33 weeks today. We saw the doctor yesterday and everything is looking good. Kamryn is still breech. (I really don't think that she is going to turn - she really hasn't changed position since we got back from Philly.) So, it looks like a C-section. We have tentatively set a date of October 17th - this will be 38 weeks and 1 day. We will see if I make it that far or if they will come sooner. They did not do any measurements this week either. We will see Dr. Rosemond next week and I am sure they will check and double check everything, so I should have some good info then.

I am working on getting everything ready - nursery, bags packed (for everyone), clothes washed, cradles set-up. Ken is hoping to start on the addition in about 2 weeks so we can get finished by Christmas - he sort of promised me it would be done by then. We have some things to move in order for them to begin, but they should not have to be in the house for any part of the addition except the final tie-in when it is all finished. I am getting a big mud room downstairs and I am so excited!! I want cubbies for all the girls to put their junk in. You wouldn't think Kendall, at 16 months, would have "junk" but she does - diaper bag, shoes, car toys, jacket, etc. and Karlee has even more than that so they will be a big help in keeping neat and organized.

I have a few twin questions - if anyone can help me out, please let me know.
1. Can they sleep in the same cradle, crib, bed? For how long?
2. How to you manage time to do anything else if you nurse them? And how exactly does that work?
3. How do you get them on the same schedule?

Thanks for your help!

32 Weeks

We are 32 weeks today. I don't have anything new to report because for the first time since June 13, we had a week with out a doctors appointment. I am sure this will be the last, since we are getting close to our due date and my OB appointments will be every week.

Kendall is doing great with her glasses. She doesn't pay any attention to them - unless they get bumped and crooked - then she comes to me right away to get them fixed. Once we caught her with the nose piece in her mouth, but I honestly think they fell down near her mouth instead of her pulling them off. She is doing well with her colon problems and is growing like a weed (she was 16 months on Monday). She loves to eat and fruit is her favorite. Karlee will tell you "the child loves some fruit now!"

Karlee is three weeks into pre-school and is loving it. She could already write her name but now she is learning lowercase letters as well. I love that her teacher is doing a lot of science with them as well. They are doing "speriments" - each week they will learn a new science concept based on the letter they are studying. This week was "absorption" for short "a". (By the way there is a great new show on PBS called Sid the Science Kid - that teaches basic scientific concepts. It comes on at 7:30 am and then again mid-morning.) She is also taking art class on Thursdays with her teacher from last year- Ms. Leslie. She is also playing soccer this fall on her Uncle Tommy's team with her cousin Tanner.

I worked in Kendall's room/the nursery a few days ago and got some stuff done. (Ken was worried the babies were coming because he thought I was nesting!!) I packed up most of Kendall's summer clothes, got out newborn sizes to be washed and tried to figure out how to fit all of Kendall's things and all of the twins' things in the same room until we get the addition finished. Ken has been working hard all week talking to subcontractors and getting bids for framing, electrical, etc. Hopefully we will be able to start on it soon so it can be finished before Christmas. Karlee really wants to share a room with her sister - she thinks they will sleep together everynight.

That about covers what we have been up to lately. I should have more to post about the twins after our doctors appointment next week.

31 Weeks!

We are 31 weeks today. This is a big milestone for TTTS babies. I don't think that any of the doctors ever expected us to make it this far. We saw the doctor this week and he was just amazed at how well the babies are doing. They are in the 45th and 55th percentiles for weight which is wonderful. He said fluid levels look wonderful and they are moving great. He watched them "breathe" for a while and seemed very excited by that. Kourtney has turned again and is now head down but Kamryn is still breech. She just flat out refuses to flip around. I am starting to wonder if their personalities in the womb will be the same out of the womb. Kourtney was the recipient "the taker" and she is crazy - moving, flipping, kicking - pretty much wild. Kamryn was the donor "the giver" and she is much more calm - she does move but nothing like Kourtney. It will be really interesting to see how their personalities develop.

Kendall got her glasses today and she is the cutest thing. She has been so good with them. She has not tried to pull them off once!! One time she brought them to me to put back on - but we realized that they came off when she tried to pull a bead necklace over her head. I really think that she can see better so she wants to wear them. Her ears seem to be doing great as well - not signs of any problems. Praise the Lord!

Kendall's Surgery

**UPDATE** Kendall's surgery went great and we are already home. She had quite a bit of fluid in one ear, which they drained, but the doc said that she definitely needed the tubes because it would have never drained on its own. This should improve her hearing. She is doing great - just a little tired. Thanks so much for all the prayers!

Kendall will have her tubes put in first thing Wednesday morning. We will be the first surgery - around 7:30. The surgery should only take about 10 minutes, so with recovery time the whole thing should take less than an hour. Please pray for the doctor as he performs the procedure and for Kendall to be calm, peaceful and unafraid. She also got fitted for her glasses today - she looks adorable. Hopefully, they will be in Friday for final adjustments and she will have them for the weekend.

30 Weeks

We are 30 weeks today. Everybody is doing great. Fluid levels are normal as are heart rates, cord blood flow and cranial blood flow. Kamryn weighs 3 lb 4 oz and Kourtney weighs 2 lb 15 oz. which is essentially about the same. They are within 9% of each other so this is perfectly fine. We had our second "graduation" so now we only have to see the maternal-fetal specialist every four weeks. So we will see him at 34 weeks. We are still seeing our OB every two weeks. We have truly been part of a miracle - it is amazing to see how well the twins are doing compared to where they started. We are so grateful to our doctor for recognizing our problem so quickly and sending us to the best place possible for treatment. Isn't God amazing?!!!

A quick update on Kendall: We saw the ENT doc today and he said tubes are a "no-brainer" for her. She is scheduled to have them put in on Wednesday morning. Please keep her in your prayers - even though she is an old pro at being put to sleep it is never something you want have done to your baby.