Lukie the Medicine Man

When you are 5 months old, most people would think that all you have to worry about is eating, drinking and pooping. Not so if you are Lukie. You also have to worry about taking (and running out of) your steroid medication, silent reflux, thrush, and diaper rash. So many things to worry about when you are little!

For 2 months now, Luke has had to take prednisone for the hemangioma on his nose. Every morning, I put 3.4 mL of the nasty tasting stuff into his bottle. The theory is that by putting it in his bottle, he will be so hungry he will ignore how awful the medicine tastes. To date, it has worked. Last week, he ran out of the medicine and went cold turkey. By Wednesday, he was going through serious withdrawals (I didn't know there were withdrawals from such a low dose). He would violently vomit anything he drank, was lethargic and just plain sad. Daddy was so upset that he called me at work to ask if he should rush Lukie to the emergency room. I had him take Luke's temperature and, happily, he was normal. That afternoon, we headed over to the doctor's office who, yup, declared Luke was going through steroid-withdrawal. Talk about Roid Rage! On Zantac for the reflux, he is doing better. He's still spitting up, but not like Wednesday. (Think tiny baby and the Exorcist.)

We traveled to UCLA on Friday to see the pediatric dermatologist. They decided to put Luke back on the steroids in an attempt to step him down slowly.

"Um, he hasn't had the 'roids since Monday. Aren't they out of his system?" I asked, attempting to protect the baby boy from more yuckiness.

"Well, most likely," the cute blonde med student replied. "But going off of steroids that quickly can affect his adrenal system."

Starting to feel like the worst Mommy on the planet, I clutched Lukie to me and tried to quiet Gracie (who decided then to have a serious explosion in her diaper).

But wait! There's more. Not only is he back on steriods, he has to take medicine for thrush in his mouth AND he has a topical cream for his nose when the steroids end. So, Lukie, my almost 6 month old is on 4 medications. Just call him the Medicine Man (aka Super Lukie).

Pictures from December and January

Valentine's Day...with Twins

First, Happy Valentine's Day!

Second, what a difference twins make! No card, no gift (not that I was really expecting one - Ed doesn't get to go anywhere by himself very often). I did get a phone call, which was nice. I purchased Ed a Cubs logo pen with a special case. He loves it!

The Twinsies are wearing their Valentine's outfits. I wonder if they went shopping?

Drowning in a Sea of Unexpressed Gratitude

We have received literally hundreds of gifts for Gracie and Luke. Some were received before the babies were born, others at our Meet the Babies showers. I've done my best to try to send out thank you cards asap, but it seems like there are not enough hours in the day to keep up with all of the thank yous I need to send. Every time I get ready to sit down and write them, a baby will start crying or I will realize that I need to pump or Eddie will need something. Now, I look at my list of thank yous I need to send and am starting to feel like I am drowning under their weight.

I've been wondering what Emily Post would think of e-cards as thank yous. What do you think? Would she support it for moms of multiples?

My New Mantra - Let It Go!

It seems that every day I am reminded I am no longer in control of my life. Whether it is the baby paraphernalia that is all over my house, the students who come and go from my classroom without a care for whether or not I might like some privacy, to people just walking into my house without calling to see if it is okay if they come over, I now have no control over anything. I can't even manage to get myself out of the house on time. Arg.

I've always liked things a certain way. Some would call me a control freak. But now I am starting a new mantra: LET IT GO!

Trust me, this is easier said than done. I often have to take 10 deep breaths while thinking it.

Letting things go is very hard. Auntley (Aunt Loretta to those of you who did not know her) used to tell me to let things go all the time. Her favorite word was "Whatever." She let things go that weren't important in her life. She did not sweat the things she could not change or the opinions of people who were ignorant. She lived her life to make others' lives better.

Right now, my babies are my #1 priority and that is making all of my other priorities suffer. I have so much to grade that I am having anxiety issues. I'm trying to find a way to let it go.....

Let's see how that goes!

New Year, New Stats

We celebrated the new year by taking the Twinsies to their 4 month check-up (well, 3 days early).

Here are their stats:

Gracie - 9 lbs 14 oz - 22.5 inches (not quite on the chart for weight, but 5th percentile for length) Eddie is convinced she would have been 10 lbs if we waited until Saturday (when they are truly 4 months old).

Luke - 12 lbs - 23.5 inches ( 5th percentile weight, 5-10th percentile length)


We are off to UCLA on Friday to see Lukie's dermatologist. Luke has a hemangioma on his nose and he has been taking medication to try to stop it growing. The steroids have been shrinking the hemangioma, but we have to watch that his blood pressure and growth remain on track. The frustrating thing is that the hemangioma seems to change from day to day. Some days, it will swell, then others it stays small. We still have 2 more weeks of the steroids.

The pediatrician told us to hold off on introducing foods (rice cereal) to the babies until they are 5 - 5.5 months old. While most babies get to start on food when they are 4 - 6 months old, the doctor would like us to keep feeding them breast milk as long as possible. When they are 6 months old, then we can introduce baby food. We also get to start giving them water. Not much, just a few ounces every day. So many changes!

Happy New Year!

We are just a few minutes before midnight and Eddie and I have been talking about all the things we have to be grateful for and our plans for 2008. This time last year, we had no idea what the year had in store and look where we are now!

Gracie and Luke will be 4 months old on Saturday. In the last week or so, they have gone through a major transformation. Gracie's hair has begun to thicken (well, except for that awful bald spot on the back of her head) and she doesn't look as small as she did before. If you put the babies next to one another, Luke looks a little stockier, but that's it. Luke has stopped losing his hair and is having lots of fun making his "talking" noises. He giggles like crazy and has learned how to push himself up (not so helpful when trying to put him in his car seat).

I have tons of pictures to share and lots more to write about. Look for more updates soon!

Merry Christmas!

The Top Ten Things Jen & Ed are Thankful for this Christmas

10) The 2006-2007 Chicago Bears made it to the Super Bowl (even though they lost)!

9) Jenny Craig really works!

8) For pregnancy tests that leave no doubt that you are positively preggers

7) For the amazing technology of ultrasounds that let you see you are expecting twins at four weeks pregnant and that let you see your babies are genetically healthy and are a boy and a girl

6) Dr. Steven Hartford is such a fantastic OB and was at Huntington Memorial Hospital the day the babies tried to come early (he is awesome!)

5) For the wonderful, kind, reassuring, funny, caring nurses in the High Risk Unit who took care of Jen and helped her gain twelve more weeks for the Twinsies!

4) For Dr. Tun who fixed Ed’s leg when he broke it after flirting with the nurses in the High Risk Ward (on 7-7-07!)

3) For our family and friends whose love made Jen’s time in the hospital and Ed’s recovery time so much easier

2) AFLAC! That duck really does pay!

And the Number One thing we are thankful for this Christmas…

Graciela Eva-Loretta and Lucas James,

the best gifts we’ve ever received!

Guess Who's 3 Months Old?!!

You guessed it! Gracie and Luke are 3 months old today!
They celebrated their 3 month birthday by sleeping through the night for the first time. Daddy got a full 7 hours of sleep with the babies. He was very happy this morning.

If the bathroom scale is correct, Luke is now a healthy 12 pounds and Gracie is a petite (but healthy too!) 9 pounds. Their favorite pastimes are smiling and cooing at Mommy and Daddy. Their favorite place is the changing table where they can see Mommy, watch their Chicago Bears mobile go around, and look out at the sunshine.

Gracie is a total morning person. She can be in a dead sleep, but as soon as I pick her up to go change her diaper, she is smiling and trying to laugh. We are having lots of fun putting different bows and headbands on her and collecting lots of great blackmail photos for when she is a teenager.
Luke takes about a half an hour to wake up. He will lie in bed next to Mommy and be moving his legs and arms, stretching, but not really be awake. His newest fun thing to do is hang in the jumpy seat and move around when he kicks his feet (this is good since he hates the bouncy seat and the swing).

Today we are taking our Christmas photo and attempting to put up the Christmas tree. Daddy is determined that the tree will be up for the Twinsies first Christmas. I'm wondering how we are going to do it!

Eddie and I can't believe that 3 months have already passed. Everyone told us that the time would pass quickly, but I never thought it would pass this quickly!

Can I possibly be more tired?

Lots of people have said things to us about twins being very hard.

"Oh, that's going to be double trouble!"

"Yikes, you're going to be busy!"

There are a multitude of things they have said to us and it leads us to the conclusion that some people are lame. Now, if you are one of the people who have looked at Eddie and me with sympathy, don't worry! We don't think you are lame! It is the people who are randomly passing us in the store or happen to see us packing the babies into the minivan. If I had a dime for every comment about how hard twins are, I could stay at home until the babies are ready to go to college!

Twins aren't hard, they just require some serious organization and the understanding that if you don't follow your schedule or keep a list of things to accomplish, you will never get anything done. I can get us out of the house on time if I know my "drop-dead" time (aka the absolute last moment I can leave and get to my destination on time).

Now ask me if I can manage to keep to a daily schedule.

NO!

When I first sat down to write this post, I was doing pretty okay. The babies were sleeping most of the day and I did not mind that I was only getting a shower every second or third day. Today, however, I'm starting to get really frustrated. I don't understand why I could teach 80 seventh graders, manage 3 websites, and be crafty, but I can't keep 2 tiny babies and one husband on a schedule! Everyone thinks I am super organized, but I am seriously doubting my abilities.

My Mom called me today and it took all I had not to break down crying and pull out the "Mommy" wail. I have so many things to do and I can't figure out how to get them done. I have thank you cards to write, announcements to send out, Christmas cards to send, a living room to clean, a kitchen that desperately needs to be cleaned, plants dying from lack of water.

What was I thinking?!!! There is no way I am going to be able to work and be a Mommy to twins. I worry all the time about Eddie being at home by himself with them. I also don't know how I am going to get all of my work done and help my babies grow and learn.

Babies are hard work. Even when they are sleeping, you are working: laundry, dishes, vacuuming. Some days I am so worn out, I forget to take a shower! That is so not me! I am a fanatic about a shower every morning. This morning, I realized I was in the same pajamas I put on two days ago.

On top of all this, I can't manage to take pictures of the babies. We bought a video camera and haven't video taped them once! Who can do this? Will it ever get easier?

The thing is, I think this would be just as hard if there were only one baby. The fact that there are 2 doesn't make it twice the work. At least not yet.

I love my babies. I just wish they came with an instruction manual to help me figure out how to do everything AND sleep.

P.S. Ms. Stith: If you read this, I apologize for my lack of writing consistency. I'm surprised I spelled most things correctly.

Baby Announcements

Babies are expensive. Ask anyone who has them and they will tell you that they are watching their pennies. When having to choose between that grande vanilla latte at Starbucks and a fourth of a bag of diapers, the diapers will win every time.

So, when I started looking into baby announcements I tried to find some that were pretty and allowed me to include some photos. I did not have any interest in handwriting announcements (can we say TWO babies?). I found some on the internet that I really liked, but the sticker shock was too much for me: $2.00 per announcement. WHAT?! There was no way I was going to pay that.

So, I fired up Photoshop, got out my cute fonts and the multitude of photos we have taken, and created my own announcement. Here is the result:

Then, I saved it as a jpeg and uploaded it to Walmart Photo Center. Voila! I was able to order my announcement as photos and paid $35.00 for 100 announcements (50 5x7s and 50 4x6s). That's a savings of $165 by making my own.

Can you tell I'm feeling pretty proud of myself?