37 Weeks!

We are 37 weeks today! They measured the babies this week - Kamryn is measuring 6 lbs. 13 oz. and Koutney is measuring about 6 lbs. The doctor was a little concerned about the difference in their weights, so she called our specalist. He said that he was not concerned - they had checked blood flow, breathing and heart rates and the smaller baby seemed to be doing great - so no cause for alarm. It is common for TTTS twins to have a fairly large difference in weights. When they performed the surgery and separated the connecting blood vessels, each baby got their own "half" of the placenta. Except, this division is rarely a true 50-50 split. In our case, the donor (Kamryn) has about 40% of the placenta and the recipient (Kourtney) has about 60%. This means that Kourtney should be the larger baby - we are not really sure why she is not but she is healthy so that is all that really matters. My hemogloabin is continuing to increase, it is 11.2 now so that is great!! Especially since Ken started an antibiotic and they would not allow him to donate blood like he had planned. Also, Kamryn has turned AGAIN and is now transverse (or crosswise) with her head back in my ribs. So it looks like a C-section again - for now anyway. I guess it will be week-to-week or even day-to-day since she seems to be turning and flipping so much.

House News: They got the slab poured for the garage on Tuesday and were supposed to start framing on Wednesday but that was before the monsoon of rain. While the rain was much needed in our area, it caused a HUGE problem at our house. We had major water build up all around the new foundation that had been poured as well as building up under the house. It was crazy for about 5 hours as Ken, his dad, and my dad worked in the rain and mud hooking up pumps and hoses and digging trenches for the water to drain. They finally got it all pumped out and we thought the rain was finished only to wake up and find out that it had rained more in the night and there was water everywhere again!!! Thankfully, the rain stopped for good and Ken was able to get it pumped again and not miss too much work. It has all worked out and the framers are here today and may even get the second story finished by tonight. Yeah!!

Check back often for updates on the babies - ONLY ONE WEEK TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!

36 Weeks!

Only two more weeks!!!!!!! We are 36 weeks today and we got some great news at the doctor's yesterday. Kamryn has turned and is now HEAD DOWN! This means that I can try a regular delivery if I want to. We will stick with the date of the 17th and if she is still head down then it will be an induction instead of a C-section. My hemoglobin has also come up since last week. It is still not as high as they would like it to be for a C-section but it is improving. We are trying to decide what is the best/safest option for me and the babies.

The babies bags are packed and the stroller and car seats are ready. We are going to put the bases in the car next week. We have one cradle and we are getting the other this weekend. The garage slab will be poured either Saturday or Monday and the framers are supposed to start on Wednesday.

I can't believe that the babies are almost here. I am so excited but so nervous. I have no idea what to expect with two. It will be a great new experience. We have waited so long and with so much anticipation as well as uncertainty, that it will be so wonderful to actually have them here.

35 Weeks

We are 35 weeks today. Things are still looking great. The babies are doing great. Fluid levels are good, heart rates and breathing are good. They are moving around a lot and everyday there is less and less room for them to move. Kamryn is still breech so a C-section looks definite. The only problem seems to be that my iron levels are low and even with medicine they are continuing to drop. I am trying to eat lots of red meat and green vegetables. We are just a little concerned because when Karlee was born, I had a some excessive bleeding. I didn't need blood but they had some trouble getting it stopped. There is a little more risk of blood loss with a C-section and twins. Please pray that my hemoglobin levels will increase.

They have started on our house. They have graded and poured the footings and the walls. Ken is going to try to get it filled in this weekend so they can pour the slab for the garage early next week and then they will start framing. I "requested" that the framing be finished before the babies come home so we don't have hammering with newborn babies in the house. This should give them about two weeks to get the framing done which should be no problem. Things seem to be moving right along. We just need the weather to continue to cooperate.

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.