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A Canadian cycling in the US

Follow the twists and turns of an ART newbie navigating international IVF in the USA!

Update - Twins at 8 weeks old (long)

Well, the girls are two months old now.  Thought it might be fun to share what life is like these days.  :)

In a nutshell - it's going well!  DH has been back at work a few weeks already, and my sister has settled into her new life with us here.  Babies are healthy and happy, DS has adjusted well, and I am feeling good!  It also helps that summer is just starting - and the weather is gorgeous.  Happy Smile 

I think the biggest factor in helping everyone stay sane is that the girls are now able to sleep through the night - 8 hours!!  Resting well really makes a huge difference for all of us.  We are using a sleep training method that worked great for DS.  It helps!

To give a fair picture - the girls' first 5 weeks or so were hairy - we hadn't really found our routine yet.  They were up several times per night, and DH and I had to figure out how to handle that.  In the end, we used a "shift" model - one of us would stay up with them from ~11pm - 4am, then trade off with the other to go get some sleep.  Those were not fun days!  It was definitely harder to deal with two crying and hungry babies in the middle of the night versus just one.

We are feeding them a mix of formula and pumped breastmilk.  Using bottles this time is working really well.  With DS, I EBF, which meant he was pretty much tied to me all the time.  But now with pumping, I have a lot more freedom and was taking little breaks away from the house even in the earliest weeks.  It made a huge difference in my post-partum sanity and recovery. 

Speaking of which, the c-section healed up very well.  It did take a few weeks for me to get my strength back though.  I started taking (at first, slow) walks for exercise right away.  But didn't start any real cardio until after my 6 week post-partum checkup.  So now it's all about working on the weight loss!  lol

As with DS, I gained 80 (!!) pounds with the pregnancy.  BAD!  Anyways, I lost 30 pounds with the birth, which left me about 50 more of real fat to lose the good old fashioned way.  Currently, I've lost 23 pounds of that, which still leaves me 27 more to go.  Ick!!  My advice here is to NOT be like me and go food-overboard during pregnancy.  Stick out tongue

And now the best part - All about the girls!  Hearts  They have chubbed right up and seem to be on track developmentally.  Baby A was born larger of the two, and is still a little heavier than her sister.  She is our wide-eyed fidgety little baby, just like her brother was.  She has big blue eyes, and her little lashes have finally grown in.  But her eyebrows have not yet!  lol  Baby B is a cutie - she has chubbed right out and has a double (triple??) chin!  She's a good little eater.  She is calmer and more passive than her sister.  She loves to be cuddled and smiles and coos a lot now.  But she is also learning to cry just as loudly as her counter-part!  Since Baby A is quite wiggly, I've just moved them into separate cribs.  

My sister (who is now living with us for awhile as a paid helper) and I have found a good routine.  We have them on a synchronized schedule and prefer to feed them in tandem when we are both available.  The girls are currently fed 7 times per day.  We try to take them outside a few times per week.  Otherwise, it's all about bottles, play time and naps! 

I'm finding motherhood the second time around to be a lot better, even with two babies at once.  This time, we know what to expect.  And there's none of that "oh-my-god-what-have-I-done-now-my-life-is-over-thing" going on.  Cool  Of course, there is no GD either.  Knowing these are our last, I am doing a better job of truly enjoying the babies this time around.  I feel calmer, and regularly take pleasure in holding each one and giving them cuddles and kisses.  And of course we find them just so darn cute.  lol  

I continue to do a little work remotely, but it's very manageable.  It actually helps me feel useful.  My team told me they miss me, which is very sweet.  I do look forward to going back in a few months.  At that point, DH will take over the parental leave.

I'd say twins are very manageable for us for now - with the extra help.  Without, I'd be on my own during the weekdays, which is technically doable, but would be much more stressful and fatiguing.  Having my sister here has been good for our DS too.  

So - in summary, things are going well.  Life is good.  We are enjoying our new girls.  I love the presence of baby girl things around the house finally!  Sometimes it's hard to believe how they got here.  It seems such a distant experience some times.  But in reality we cycled *less than a year ago*.  It was actually a year ago this month that I first started my research into HT in the first place.

BTW, I gave away all my mat clothes, so for sure we are DONE!  lol

Anyways - If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.  Good luck to those of you currently on your own journeys.  Keep going, and keep the faith!  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or think I could be of help to you.  Hugs Rainbow

I'll try to write periodically to give little updates.  I guess life can't help but go on.  Happy

 

 

 

Comments

 

grits said:

...and they lived happily ever after!

May 24, 2010 9:17 PM
 

GreenZelda said:

Ha!  lol, good one.  (But truly - the sleep and extra helper makes all the difference.  Not that I recommend twins of course!!  lol)  

May 24, 2010 10:28 PM
 

cuteangel said:

I love happy endings! and looking forward to mine too!  Enjoy your precious little girls. You are truely blessed xx

May 25, 2010 1:08 AM
 

Ilovemykids said:

Congrats on your precious babies.  Thanks for the update!  You're such an inspiration to all of us!

May 25, 2010 8:28 AM
 

Ashgirl said:

So great to read this update GZ!  Glad the little ones are doing well and you are on the mend and life is settling into a bit of a routine for you!

May 25, 2010 8:36 AM
 

Orchid said:

You seem so composed, I would have lost it by now...LOL. Enjoy...

May 26, 2010 1:20 PM
 

gsbabies said:

Congrats! My little one is now 2 mo. and we are sooo enjoying all things girly!! So happy you are too!

May 30, 2010 8:54 PM
 

MinDoc said:

Wow!  I just finished reading your whole blog!  First off, thank you for doing such a wonderful job documenting your journey!  It was perfect!  

2nd you and I are very similar in many ways... I am a total planner and can't wait to organize my cycle schedule and get my whole process started!!

Congrats on your girls!  You were truely a champ throughout the whole ordeal.  It was hard enough being PG w/ one, I cannot imagine 2!  (Although, after reading your blog and already telling myself we will transfer 2 if there are 2 good ones... I guess it is something I should prepare myself for.)

Enjoy your pink!  ;)  

June 21, 2010 5:17 PM

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