Welcome Back!

Ah, it's been too long! Too long!

I've really just used this space as a place to update my family about the gals, but I hope to evolve it into something more.

I liked updating my blog with news about the gals because I've always been kinda anti-Facebook. More or less because I felt that some things just aren't meant to be shared. When I spent a month in the hospital hoping that the gals would stay put just a few weeks longer, I couldn't bring myself to post anything about it. Instead, I stuck by my family, friends, and my twitter ladies (who understood what I was going through more than anyone else). These people kept me hopeful. That's all I needed.

The gals came 9 weeks early, and again, all I could post on FB was a quick pic of the gals. I'm not a fan of searching for likes, for comments, and for prayers. I wasn't ready to hear the sympathy from a person I hadn't talked to in 10 years. I just wanted my family and friends to know they were okay.

However, over the past few years FB has evolved into something more and more of my "older" family members have embraced, so I'm gradually letting my guard down and posting more pictures there.  I must admit, I love it when the Grandmas get excited about the latest gals post.

I've been thinking that this place doesn't just need to be an "update" blog. I want to branch out a bit more.

So here's what I want for this blog:

Obviously I want to talk about the gals. I'm with them all day, everyday, and they are embarking on such an amazing part of their development. These enthusiastic 2 year old could fuel any blog for centuries.

I want to talk about ME! Me?!? Isn't that selfish? But of course!! What are blogs for? I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments over the past year and half. Mostly because I put my nose to the grindstone, lost 90 pounds, and have kept it off. Yea. Pretty proud of that.

My family. All of us. What we do, where we go, and what we enjoy in our fun town of Atlanta and beyond.

And anything else interesting. Captivated yet?

There I've blogged it. That means this will all totally happen right? I won't forget about this blog again will I?

Nope...no way.

My 10 month old 31 weeker wearing 12 month jammies!! #preemie

We are 8 Months Old!

The gals are 8 months {6 months adjusted} today!

We can't believe they have been here this long, but they are doing so amazingly well, despite their early arrival.

 

This is how we roll...

And we have rollers!

Maddie figured out the back to front roll last weekend. She'd been rocking the side lay for awhile now & it was just a matter of time. She is still working on the front to back roll.

Amelia figured out the front the back roll earlier today. It was more like a graceful fall at the time, but since then she has been rolling back and forth! The girl is a champ!!

We are loving watching the girls reach new milestones!  We are supposed to go by their due date & not their birthdate for these things, but it seems like they are somewhat in the middle. Some are spot on with their due date & others they are achieving sooner. I'm hoping that this keeps up & that the girls won't need any special intervention in the future.

UPDATE: Both girls are rolling both ways...ahh time to baby proof the loft!!

4 Month Doctor's Visit

Our 4 month check up went really well! Maddie was almost 11 lbs & Amelia almost 12 lbs! The doctor was impressed with their gain, so we no longer have to fortify breastmilk or use preemie formula. This in itself was a huge relief.  The constant fear of a preemie mom is that their babes aren't getting enough food or gaining right. We are happy to announce that the girls even made it into the 1st & 2nd percentile on the WHO charts - beasts right?!?!

They are also right on track with their milestones. We go by adjusted age in this department so they are similar to 2 to 3 month olds.  They lift their head when they are doing tummy time. Lots of smiles & coos. They have found their hands and are starting to reach towards toys and constantly are hands to mouth. We introduced toys this month & they are madly in love with their "woobies" (blankets/stuffed animal in one!) We are very happy that they are demonstrating growth both mentally & physically consistent with other babies their adjusted age!

We also got the ok to start rice cereal & in the next few months to expand their palates with more solid food.

The girls were champs during their shots & had their first little fevers that night.  Luckily they weren't too fussy. Just really tired.

All in all it went really well! Not worth all the worrying I was doing before, but then again, that's what mom's do right?

We are 4 Months Old!

Just a few pictures today. I will do a full update after we have our doctors visit next Monday. Can't wait to see how much the girls have grown since last month!!

Newbornish Photo Shoot

Based on my babies adjusted age, they are newborns.

But in reality they are 9 weeks old.

Of course while pregnant, I had already planned out everything that I wanted to do during a newborn photo shoot. I wanted to hire someone local to come out to our place & take photos of beautiful sleeping babes in funny positions.  I wanted professionally edited photos that I would turn into giant canvases and hang on our 24 foot walls. Basically I wanted what every new mom wanted...right?

At first I was really excited to hear about an organization called Pictures of Hope. They link up with local photographers that will come out to the NICU for free & take pictures of your babes.  I quickly looked up their info & was thrilled to find out that one local photographer, Laura Brett participated in their program. Thinking it was too good to be true, I went to her website & she had a button on her site saying she participated!! Woohoo! When you are a NICU mom, lots of things don't go right - so thinking I might get some quality photos of my precious babes was really special. I emailed her almost instantly. However, I woke up the next morning to an email from her saying that she no longer participated in the program. Heartbreaking. I responded that she might want to remove the button from her website that said she participated in Pictures of Hope. I recently visited her site & thankfully she has. Now no other mom will be so disappointed like I was.  I also emailed Pictures of Hope about the situation, but they have yet to remove Laura Brett Photography from their site. Sadness.

Fast forward now.  Hospital bedrest, birth, & NICU bills are all rolling in.  Not fun. Seriously puts a financial damper on my dream "Anne Geddes" like photo session for my babes.

So the professional scenario is now out.

We start researching chains. I know that we won't get the experienced photographer, the editing I want to see & the just the general patience that a pro can offer, but that's the way things go.

We choose the Picture People & scheduled a session for last Saturday morning, right when they open, hoping to beat the rush.

Yea, apparently even if you have the one of first sessions of the day, you still wait 25 minutes before your session starts.  Doesn't make sense to me either.  So now because we had to wait, we are getting closer to the girls next feeding time. Ugh. I can already see what's going to happen in our future.

The photographer was pretty nice, but really had no creative insight for us whatsoever. We brought one outfit to change into & figured the rest would be au naturale...yet there was no place to really change the babes. We basically laid one of our blankets on the hard floor & used the another one to support their little heads.

The babes are now ready to get their pictures taken & here's where that reality sets in. There will be no sleeping baby pictures. It was all that we could do to even keep them still.  My babies aren't newborns, even though their adjusted age says they are.  Ten minutes in and all we could do was laugh in order to keep our sanity.

Hence why this is my favorite shot from the entire shoot:

Once we wrap it all up my attitude changed completely.  These photographers are completely over worked & are in a high stress situation with all these families running around.  They probably aren't paid much & are doing the best that they can.  I have a lot more respect for them now.

We waited another 40 minutes to an hour for the editing & printing.  I was thankfully, during this time, able to get everyone fed.  The photographer took some good shots & for a reasonable price we got a really big/nice framed portrait of the babes, lots of extra prints, birth announcements, & the high resolution copies of all the pictures.  All in all we left pretty happy, much more so than when our day there began!

So would we go back there? Maybe.

Do I still want my glorious dream version with a professional who makes my babes look like beautiful cherubs? Of course.

But until then this will have to do...

{The blankets the babes are lying on were crocheted & donated to them by a local charity for NICU babies.}

{Maddie}

{Amelia}

{Top: Maddie - Bottom: Amelia}

{Left: Amelia - Right: Maddie}

{Left: Madeline - Right: Amelia}

Dave's Vlog 4/27

I wanted to start contributing more on the blog & decided that a vlog might be a better way to do that.

Here is the first installment!

Follow me to the girl's hospital room to meet Madeline & Amelia!

- Dave

Mini Update

Fabulous news from the girl's doctor today.  At two weeks old, head ultrasounds showed both girls had possible grade 1 brain bleeds. Yesterday's scan showed that all issues have resolved themselves & they won't need to scan them again!  This is a huge weight off our shoulders!

{Madeline}

Amelia also hit another milestone...she is 5 pounds! Well 5 lbs 2 oz to be exact! She is up to 3-4 bottles or breastfeeding a day & her sister is up to 4-6.

 {Amelia working with the OT}

 {Amelia working with the OT}

The anticipation of having them home is almost harder to handle than all the worry at the beginning of their stay. We know they are so close to making it!

Daddy & Maddie