Surprise!

Well, it seems that another month (and a half) has passed, the twins keep growing, and all of you who love them so well are curious as to what they’ve been up to…let me fill you in!

We celebrated Easter in a very low-key manner–as we were still under house arrest, we stayed home from church (on the busiest day in the church all year, it just seemed like a good idea).  Our dear “Uncle” Kyle and “Aunt” Katie came to see us and enjoy a cook-out, and we got the twins all gussied up after church just for fun.

Exhibit A: Easter outfits!

(Forgive the picture quality—it’s an iphone photo of the screen on our Canon point and shoot…you get the idea.)

The Easter bunny even came to our house and brought us all sorts of fun things in our (overpriced-even-on-sale-but-so-so-adorable) Easter baskets from PBK.

We put the monkey mirror to good use right away during tummy time…

        

…as you can see, it’s a bit of a funhouse mirror, and makes the babes look a little crazy!

The week before Easter, Auntie Rachel came to visit and FINALLY got to get her paws on her niece and nephew!  Rachel drove my mom out to NJ two days after the babies were born (someone needed their mommy), and came out again at Christmas…all without getting to properly love on Henry and Holland.  As you can imagine, here was a major love-fest going on up in here!

Auntie Rachel with her “Cutest Nephew EVER”!

A few weeks after Easter, Grandma Jacobsen and Great-Grandma Phyllis came out to cozy up with our sweet babes.  I’d say they had a good time.

     

The family visits didn’t end there!  At the end of the month Auntie Dawn and Grandma Julie (again!) joined us for the better part of a week.  Auntie Dawn had visited in December when the babies were about 3 pounds and still on the ventilators…I think she had more fun with them this time!

We loved having all our visitors…Chris and I didn’t give a bottle or a breathing treatment for what felt like weeks!  We managed to get out a bit; a viewing of “42” and dinner, and a trip to Princeton to Winberie’s, one of our favorite places.  As the weather has gotten nicer, flu/RSV/general yuckiness season has all but ended, and our babies have gotten big and strong, we’ve been venturing out into the world a bit more…

…like to Babies’R’Us (makes sense, doesn’t it?).

And, on a particularly nice day, to the Jersey Shore outlets to walk around, get some fresh air, and see what the Banana Republic Factory Store had to offer us (unfortunately, not much!).  I’ve gradually been venturing out with BOTH babies on my own.  The first time we went through the bank and pharmacy drive-thrus (not requiring us to leave the car).  The next week we went walking at the Brick Reservoir with some other moms I’ve met.  This last week the 3 of us went to the New Mom’s Group at the hospital.  Today included a trip to FLC to say “hi” to some of our friends (without entering the learning area), and to give notice about some interesting changes…

I’ve been asked a lot about what “the plan” is for September.  Being tenured in my school district, I’m “entitled” to another year off with my employment status being reserved (there’s no guarentee I’d be assigned back as Basic Skills 3-5).  I had told my principal that I would be taking that year, knowing (with reasonable certainty) that I would not be returning in the fall of 2014.  Long story short, I took the plunge and officially resigned this afternoon.  It wasn’t a hard decision, and I’m so excited to be able to spend my days with these sweet babes!  I’ll certainly miss my coworkers and the interactions with students, but know that my work at home is what I want to be doing.  Hooray for a new phase of life!  (And, my visit to school is the reason you all get to enjoy this blog post…turns out our readers were anxious for more!)

Henry and Holland continue to amaze us.  Henry is weighing in right around 11 pounds, and Holland isn’t too far behind at about 10.  They continue to eat like champs, and sleep even better…yeah, we know we’re lucky!  About a month ago, Chris and I woke up at 6:21 am, looked at one another and smiled…the babies hadn’t woken up to eat at all…high fives all around!  They’re consistently sleeping from about 9 pm to 7:30 am, and even with a midnight pumping session thrown in there (building up that freezer stash again!), this is one well-rested mama!

Henry ended up having laser correction on his left eye at the end of March.  Thankfully it only required a 1-night stay at Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, and after several follow-ups, he has officially been CLEARED of his ROP (retinopathy of prematurity).  All of the blood vessels around his retina have vascularized just the way they should, and we don’t have to go to the eye doctor for 2. Whole. Months!  (Holland was also “discharged” from the Dr. Pardon’s care, but didn’t need laser correction…show off!)

We’ve had several sleep studies under the direction of our pulmonologist, Dr. Dadzie (the “Lord of the Lungs”).  After the first (March 20-21), we turned their settings down to 1/8 of a liter per minute, which helped the tanks last a lot longer!  We had been calling for “refills” once a week, but at 1/8 lpm, we could get 2 weeks out of the deal!  On April 17 we headed back to Jersey Shore to see if we could transition to room air during the day and 1/8 lpm at night…and we did!  This week we were back on the pediatric floor, and, while we didn’t have any alarms or huge episodes that would cause concern, Dr. Dadzie wants us to keep our peanuts on the oxygen at night for another month.  We were a little disappointed, but in the grand scheme of things, one more month of oxygen is nothing!  And, lungs are pretty important, so we want our babies to have healthy, fully-developed ones…and that’s what the oxygen helps do!  This last sleep study was decidedly less “fun” than the previous ones…the babies are older and know that they’re not in their home…and they didn’t like it very much!

Henry had another follow-up with the GI doctor, who was pleased with his weight gain, as well as the status of his poo…I changed his diaper, and the doctor snatched it from me to check it out!  GI sure is a glamorous speciality!

Our most recent trip to the apnea center was equally positive–both babies’ monitor readings were “normal,” and we are about one month out from getting rid of the monitors!  With each appointment and follow-up visit, we are reminded about just how healthy and amazing these babies of ours are.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again…our outcomes could have been very different.  We are so incredibly thankful for our healthy, robust sweethearts…and for all of you who prayed fervently for them.  As if we need a reminder, but our God is so very, very good!

Now for a picture dump!

Twinsies!  Holland and Henry (left to right) are FINALLY big enough to wear the outfits I bought the day I found out we were having twins (July 2).

Here they are cuddling under Grandpa Jim’s baby blanket.

     

Sometime in April we started getting REAL smiles from both babies.  Henry dished them out first, but this was one of Holland’s first real-deal smiles.  You’ll notice Henry still has a very serious face at times…I keep telling him that worrying so much will give him high blood pressure.

     

Waiting at the GI doctor makes us (Henry) feel a variety of emotions…

We often take a bunch of pictures in a row to capture a series of facial expressions…here’s an especially funny Holland one:

Seriously.  This is why my house is a wreck.  HOW am I supposed to get anything done with that face (and another equally as cute one) staring back at me?  I mean, really!

REALLY!  (Look at the rolls…my baby boy has ROLLS!)

 

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