HAPPY SIX MONTH "BIRTHDAY" CHARLOTTE AND JACOB....

Today marks six months since Charlotte and Jacob were born and it is still so hard to believe we are celebrating this milestone. 


Our lives were forever changed at 12:04 a.m. (Charlotte) and 12:08 a.m. (Jacob) on December 30, 2010 when our kids made their unexpected early arrival. We were thrilled to finally meet them but also a tad bit scared given how early they were making their appearance. Luckily they were totally fine and really just needed to grow and gain weight. 


We have seen many changes in the past six months and this by far has been the most exciting month. From May 30, 2011 - June 30, 2011 we have watched the kids:

• Gain more weight - Charlotte now weighs 14 lbs 2 oz and Jacob weighs 13 lbs 12 oz. The doctor say they are both healthy and gaining weight as they should be
• Eat more solid food - We introduced more solid foods this month including sweet potatoe, squash, green beans, peas, creamed corn and rice, pears, peaches, bananas and oat cereal. All seemed to go over well except Jacob was not a big fan of the green beans
• Sleep through the night - Jacob is currently on 16 consecutive sleeps through the night. Charlotte still wakes up from time to time but we have started counting on J-man to sleep through! We do a dream feed at 10pm and usually don't hear from him until 6am sometime we'll be treated to a visit from Charlotte around 3 or 4am. Last night we let her cry from 1:48 to 1:55 am and she feel back to sleep until 5:50 a.m.
• Find their voices - Both Charlotte and Jacob have found their voices this month and they are not afraid to use them. They love chatting away by themselves or together on their play mat. 
• Almost roll over - Charlotte is very close to rolling over. She spends much of her time on her side whether on the play mat or in her crib - but she hasn't quite figured out how to get all the way over. 
• Reach for / hold onto toys - Both kids have discovered toys and love reaching for them or holding on to them when we hand them to them. I remember saying to Doyle a month or so ago "our kids don't play with toys / could care less about toys"...well was I proven wrong this month!
• Eat more formula - Both kids are now eating 6 oz of formula
• Visit Sunnybrook for their second NICU follow-up clinic - The NICU follow up team thought the kids looked very healthy and were both doing very well at their "four month" corrected visit on June 22, 2010. 
• Second plane ride - We enjoyed a trip to Halifax from June 10-12th
• Meet their "Great Grandmother" - The kids flew to Halifax June 10-12th to celebrate their Great Auntie Anne's 60th. While there they got to meet four second cousins, two cousins and their partners, another visit with Great Aunt Sylvia and Great Uncle Bruce and best of all (no offence)...Great Grandma Cec! 
• Doyle's First Father's Day - We spoiled Daddy with a weed wacker, coffee mug with the kids picture on it and two picture frames with their pictures in it for his office. As well as a yummy dinner!
• First swim in the backyard "pool" - We bought a blue plastic pool from Toys R Us for the kids to "cool" off in this summer - they enjoyed their first swim at the beginning of June. 
• Activities out of the house - More walks around the neighbourhood, nicer weather / more time on the porch / play mat outside. Lunches with Mommy's friends, Gymboree and more "Stars and Strollers" movies. 

It has been a fantastic six months with Charlotte and Jacob and we feel blessed every day to have two very healthy kids. We can't wait to share the next six months and of course many many more years with them. 

With the celebration of this milestone...I can't help but feel a bit sad that half of my maternity leave is also over (as much as I miss my colleagues I will be very sad to say good-bye to the kids during the day when I return to work).

A FOND LOOK BACK....

Tomorrow marks Charlotte and Jacob's six month "birthday". It is so hard to believe that this time six months ago I was lying in the high risk obstetrical unit at Sunnybrook Hospital wondering whether my labour was going to continue or whether, by being on "hospital bed rest", it would stop and I'd be able to carry the twins a bit longer. It was around 2:40 p.m. that I started to feel more uncomfortable and that my tightening / contractions were feeling longer and slightly stronger. I'd find out just after 3pm that I was in fact progressing and by 4pm they decided it was time for me to be wheeled from the high risk obstetrical unit to Labour and Delivery - which was really just on the other side of the floor. 


So on the "eve" of the kids six month "birthday" I thought it would be fitting to look back at the past five months and share with you the milestones we've all accomplished since their arrival:


ONE MONTH OLD

This was a significant month for Charlotte and Jacob. Not only was it their first month alive but because they were premature they spent almost four weeks in two different Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The first 6 days of their life were spent at Sunnybrook and the following three weeks were spent at St. Michael's Hospital. So many changes took place from December 30, 2010 - January 30, 2011 including:

• Gaining weight - they went from 3 lbs 15 oz (C) / 3 lbs 5 oz (J) to 5 lbs (C) and 4 lbs 10 oz (J)
• Moving from an incubator to a bassinet - Both kids started out in incubators because they were unable to regulate their body temperatures. Once they got stronger and had gained some weight they were able to regulate their temperatures on their own in the outside world so they were moved to a bassinet in the NICU
• Learning to eat from a bottle - Before 34 weeks babies do not know how to eat from the breast or bottle so Charlotte and Jacob needed to learn how to suck, breath and swallow while on the bottle
• Getting their feeding tube removed - The kids were fed via a tube through their nose from the day they were born until three days before they came home from the hospital. Even while we were introducing them to the bottle they still received some of their food via this tube. 
• Losing the wires that connected them to their monitoring machines - The wires were removed from the kids 48 hours before they left the hospital. It was amazing to be able to pick them up and not have to worry about the wires. It was also a little scary because we no longer had machines to watch for their heart rate and breathing levels. 
• Coming home from the hospital - On January 28, 2011 Doyle and I brought Charlotte and Jacob home from the hospital. Although it was a very exciting day for us we couldn't help but feel a little scared. 

TWO MONTHS

Month two was exciting because we no longer had to travel to the hospital to visit the kids. They were truly ours and it was now up to us to keep them alive! The milestones from January 30 2011 - February 28, 2011:

• First visit to Dr. Greenberg - The kids have a great paediatrician at Yonge and Eglinton named Saul Greenberg (http://www3.sympatico.ca/saulped/) 
• Road trip to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania - Doyle won a contest at work to go and see a Pittsburgh Penguins Hockey game from Sidney Crosby's box. So on the Sunday of the Family Day long weekend we packed the kids in the car and drove 5 hours south to Pittsburgh. The kids were so well behaved and we enjoyed seeing a new city. 
• Gaining weight - The kids continued to gain weight this month. Charlotte weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and Jacob weighed 5 lbs 5 oz.
• 3 hour feeding schedule - The kids enjoyed eating every three hours and consistently consumed 3 oz worth of formula or breast milk from their bottles
• A new sleeping routine for Mom (Heather) and Dad (Doyle) - One huge milestone that Doyle and I had to get used to was our lack of sleep. We are two people that love our sleep so going from a full 8 / 9 hours a night to sleeping in 1.5 hour increments was an adjustment
• Passport photos - We took the kids to get their passport photos taken. Taking pictures of a 7 week old for their passport is challenging and the government doesn't help with their "rules"...eyes must be open, baby must face forward and there must be no shadows behind their ears. I think it took 50 pictures before we got one that worked for Charlotte and about 20 something for Jacob. 
• Adventures outside the house - The kids enjoyed their first TTC ride, walks around the neighbourhood and lunch with "Mommy's" friends

THREE MONTHS

By month three it was setting in that Charlotte and Jacob were not going anywhere anytime soon! We loved having them home and it really felt like they had been a part of our lives for much longer than three months. This month from February 28, 2011 - March 30, 2011 saw more firsts including:

• Charlotte's first smile - And no it wasn't gas ;) by mid month Charlotte cracked her first smile and it made Mommy so proud! It was the cutest thing to see her smile. 
• More weight gain - At each doctor's appointment the kids continue to gain weight from the previous month. Charlotte weighed 9 lbs 5 oz and Jacob weighed 8 lbs 6 oz
• Meeting their cousins Kieran and Quinn and Norah and Luke for the first time - It took three months but Charlotte and Jacob finally met Kieran and Quinn and Norah and Luke for the first time. It's not that we didn't want to see the cousins before this time we just had to make sure everyone was healthy before meeting Charlotte and Jacob and it took until March before this happend!
• Longer periods of awake time - Charlotte and Jacob started staying awake longer between feeds. We still fed every three hours but we found they liked to stay awake for a bit after their feed instead of just going back to sleep
• Stronger necks - Charlotte and Jacob's neck strength started to improve this month - Charlotte even tested out the Bumbo chair. We tried Jacob in it but quickly realized he wasn't ready yet.
• First NICU follow up visit - Because the kids were born prematurely and based on their smaller birth weights the kids qualify for the NICU follow up clinic at Sunnybrook hospital. It is a great clinic and the kids will continue to be followed by a group of physicians, nurse practitioners and occupational therapist until they are 6 years old. The team thought the kids looked great and were progressing well. We were told to work on their tummy time as an at home exercise! 
• Structured bedtime routine - We started a structured bedtime routine with the kids. This routine includes a bath every night and a bottle before bed. Bedtime ranges from between 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. This was one of the smartest things we could have done because it means that Doyle and I have a few hours to ourselves before their "dream feed" - so we are able to enjoy a quiet dinner, a nice bottle of wine and most importantly for me "adult" conversation. Thanks to our many friends for suggesting the early bedtime routine!  
• A new car - With the addition of twins to our family we quickly realized the Jetta was just not going to cut it as the "family" car anymore. So we said good-bye to the Jetta and hello to our new Honda Pilot - a much more practical family car - too bad it wasn't more practical on gas. 
• Activities outside of the house - We saw a few "Stars and Strollers" movies this month including The Kings Speech and The Lincoln Lawyer. We love going to the movies on Wednesday's it's a great outing for the kids and even more fun for Mommy! We also went on a few lunch dates and I even took the kids to Queen's Park to see some of my Press Gallery friends! We love our time outside the house. 

FOUR MONTHS

We started to notice even more changes in the kids over the course of this month. Milestones  from March 30, 2011 - April 30, 2011 included:

• More alert time - Both kids remained awake after their feeds and started to interact with us a little bit more. They would listen to what we were saying and follow us with their eyes / heads if we walked away from them. 
• Stronger necks - Although this was a milestone noted during month three we continued to notice that both kids necks were getting stronger and we needed to support their heads less when we held them. Jacob even spent some more time in the Bumbo chair this month
• More formula - The kids went from eating 3 oz of formula to eating 4 oz. 
• Solid food - We got the green light from Dr. Greenberg to start the kids on solid food. Their first meal...rice cereal! 
• Weight gain - Need to get their weights from the Dr - will insert them shortly
• Jacob's first smile - Although Jacob had made some smiley faces prior to this month we noticed that he really started to smile more when we interacted with him.
• First plane ride - We took the kids to Boston to cheer Doyle on in the Boston Marathon. They were great little flyers and cheerers!
• First Easter - We celebrated our first Easter with the kids. Grammy Pam came over for dinner. 
• Activities outside the house - We continued to go for walks in the neighbourhood, see "Stars and Strollers" movies and meet friends for lunch. We had our first reunion with our "twin friends" from the St. Mike's NICU - was quite the sight to see three sets of twins out for lunch with their mom's!

FIVE MONTHS

This was another exciting month in our household. The changes we see in the kids continues to amaze us. From April 30, 2011 - May 30, 2011 we saw:

• Weight gain - The kids continued to gain weight like champs. Charlotte weighed 12 lbs 14 oz and Jacob weighed 12 lbs 5 oz
• First time the kids slept through the night - Although this wasn't a regular thing, the kids slept through the night for the first time on May 6th. Their last feed was at 10:30 p.m. on May 5th and they woke up at 6:30 am May 6th! Of course the "sleeping through the night" didn't last every night but it was a start at least!
• Longer more alert awake times - The kids continue to stay awake longer between feeds. They are also much more alert than they were a month ago. Both are also very smiley too. 
• Larger amount of formula - The kids went from eating 4 oz of formula to 5 oz
• My first Mother's Day - The kids and Doyle spoiled me on Mother's Day! We went for lunch at Duff's, Doyle BBQ'd a lovely steak dinner for me and my mom and he gave me the neatest present - someone came in and did plaster 3D hand and foot prints of the kids. I know I'll look back fondly on these when the kids are all grown up
• Baptism - The kids were Baptised on May 29, 2011. We had a great weekend of visiting with many friends and family - including ones that flew up from the States! 
• Activities outside the house - Took the kids to Gymboree at Bayview and Eglinton. They weren't sure at first but each week we went they seemed to enjoy it more and more. Continued to go for walks around the neighbourhood 

It has certainly been an action packed and very exciting five months with our kids. We love them more each day - they both have very distinct personalities and constantly make us laugh / smile. Charlotte is much more impatient and demanding than Jacob. When she wants something she wants it now. Jacob on the other hand will wait patiently for his turn and is much more laid back...hmmm traits of their parents shining through??!! 

Thanks to everyone that has visited, sent gifts, called, dropped us an e-mail and shown an interest in the kids. Your support means the world to us and we can't wait to share the next six months with you. Now that I have the blog up and running I will do more frequent monthly re-caps - trying to remember what's happend over a five month period is hard work (I started writing this post at 2pm this afternoon - mind you I had a few interruptions along the way)

FOUND....OUR VOICES

In my mind there is nothing more exciting than hearing a baby find their voice. The kids recently found their voices and are not shy about using them - alone or together. It is very cute to watch them communicate with each other now but equally as neat to listen to them "talk" to themselves. Quite often we'll hear them chatting away in their cribs when they wake up in the morning, on their activity mat, in the swing or while we're changing them. 


Doyle captured these moments of Charlotte and Jacob the other day: 

                            

SUNNYBROOK NICU FOLLOW UP VISIT - 4 MONTHS 3 DAYS CORRECTED

This morning we took the kids to their second NICU follow up visit at Sunnybrook. Because they arrived 7 weeks early and due to their reasonably small birth weights they qualify for NICU follow up visits until they are 5 years old. We will also visit the St. Mike's NICU follow up clinic since they spent three weeks of their NICU journey there. Our appointment there is in the middle of July. 


When the kids visit a doctor they are observed at their corrected age vs their birth age for developmental milestones. So today they were being watched as if they are 4 months 3 days old. Their corrected age is based on my 40 week due date which was February 19, 2011. 


We were told that both kids are doing very well. They are very social, have great eye contact, good movements and are gaining weight and growing as they should for babies their age. Although they need to spend a bit more time on their tummies to strengthen their arms, head and necks overall the doctors, nurse practitioner, and occupational therapist were very pleased with their progress. 


Charlotte weighs 13 pounds 12 oz and Jacob weighs 13 pounds 1 oz. Which is a vast improvement from the 3 pounds 15 oz and 3 pounds 5 oz that they were born at. They smiled for much of the appointment and enjoyed being passed around and visiting with the staff that was observing them. 


Our next appointment is at the end of August when they will be six months corrected / 8 months birth age. 


Here is a comparison of the kids in December 2010 and now in June 2011:

Charlotte December 2010 - 3 lbs 15 oz

Charlotte June 2011 - 13 lbs 13 oz

Jacob December 2010 - 3 lbs 5 oz

Jacob June 2011 - 13 lbs 1 oz

Amazing to see the difference 5.5 months makes! 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Doyle, Charlotte and Jacob - Father's Day 2011

Today we celebrated Doyle's first Father's Day. It was a special moment in our house and the kids made sure their dad felt spoiled all day. 


The day started with a semi sleep in since we didn't get the kids out of their cribs until 7:20 a.m. Jacob slept through the night for the third consecutive night while Charlotte decided she wanted to be the first to wish her dad a Happy Father's Day at 4:30 a.m. After their feed Doyle slipped into his running gear and busted out a 16k run with his friends from the Running Room. When he got home he was treated to a homemade waffle breakfast and some gifts that the kids picked out / made especially for him. He received a whipper snipper (because every dad needs some power tools on Father's Day), a large coffee mug with the kids picture on it and two framed pictures of the kids for his desk at work. Following the breakfast feast and gifts we all went for a walk and then to Duff's on Bayview for lunch. The day will end (since I'm writing this before the end of the day) with steaks on the BBQ and some quiet time at home before we start another week. 


This Father's Day is not only special because it is Doyle's first but it reminds me of all the great things my dad has done for me over the years and now that I'm a parent I realize just how much "all" my parents have done for me and still do for me. So thanks Mom, Dad and Sandy for being there through all the good and the bad times - it means more than you'll ever know! 

Doyle's Father's Day loot

Charlotte and Jacob out for a Father's Day stroll

Charlotte

Jacob 

A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR...

This may sound cheesy but in my case it's true. One year ago today I found out I was pregnant! It would be another seven weeks before we'd find out we were having twins - but the excitement we felt when it was officially confirmed was pretty incredible. We told our families after we got the news and I think they'd agree that it was the world's longest pregnancy since they knew right from the beginning. 


I was lucky enough not to experience actual morning sickness but I was extremely tired for much of my pregnancy. I also had a few scares between week 8 and week 16 thanks to a small bleed next to "Baby A" (Charlotte). I coasted through until about week 28 when we started watching "Baby B's" (Jacob) growth / weight progression because he was lagging behind Charlotte by about two weeks. It was at that point that our doctor started preparing us to expect an early delivery. He wasn't sure what "early" would look like but decided from that point on it was time to see me every week so he could monitor Jacob's progression. So we took it week by week until 32 weeks and 5 days when Charlotte broke my water (December 29, 2010) and the real fun began with the birth of Charlotte (12:04 a.m.) and Jacob (12:08 a.m) on December 30, 2010. 


It's amazing to think that one blood test result a year ago today would change my life in so many ways....

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER....

Over the past few months I have been thinking about starting a blog as a place to document the significant (and non-significant) milestones for our family. Looking back now I wish I had started this when the kids arrived so it could have acted as a virtual "baby book" for them over the past five months. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and I can't go back - so I am committing to posting here frequently as a way to tell you what's happening at our end - but also as a reminder to me about the changes our kids have gone through over the weeks, months and years ahead. It has been a wild 5.5 months already and I know it's only going to get more exciting. So I hope you will join us on this journey. 

The kids have changed so much since they arrived 5 short months ago - Charlotte now weighs 12 pounds 14 oz and Jacob weighs 12 pounds 4 oz. Quite the progression from the 3 pounds 15 oz and 3 pounds 5 oz they weighed at birth. Both are very alert and very smiley. They have both found their "voices" and aren't afraid to use them. They are always chatting away - which is very cute to listen to. They have just returned from their third trip away from home. We spent the weekend in Halifax visiting with our east coast family and celebrating Auntie Anne's 60th birthday. The twins also got to meet their "GG" (Great Grandma) for the first time which was very exciting. I loved introducing them to my Grandma it was a special feeling for sure. What was even more special was that Grandma got to spend time with all six of her Great Grandchildren this weekend. I have included some pics below of our weekend adventure:

Our first decent family shot - minus the "drool" coming out of Jacob's mouth

Charlotte sharing a smile with Grandma (GG)

Grandma and Jacob sharing a quiet moment

Four generations - Grandma, Dad, Me, Charlotte and Jacob

GG and her Great Grandchildren (Myer, Sara, Sam, Charlotte, Jacob and Addison)