2009

We are thanking the Lord for a wonderful year! Finding out in the spring that we were expecting, having a great and healthy pregnancy, and now being a family with our two precious boys...wow!

On Tuesday Caleb and Logan turned one month old. My little peanuts are growing up so fast! :) It's hard to notice some changes when you're with them all the time, but one thing I can see is that Caleb's face is filling out a little. It is fun having them more awake and alert now. They are following objects with their eyes - me being one of the objects, which is totally fun. :)

We try giving both of them some 'tummy time', but Logan definitely likes it better. They both were good at picking their heads up before we left the hospital already, and they continue to do well with that, especially when on their tummies.

Caleb has had a bit of an eye infection, but we got drops for it and it is clearing up nicely so far. We felt so bad - his eyes would be just terribly gooped up and stuck shut, poor thing!

They have gradually been making it longer in between feedings at night. Last night we went six hours between feedings - yippee!


It's been interesting to think back to what the babies were like in the womb, and how they are now. While I was pregnant they always quieted down at night and I hoped that meant they would be good sleepers - so far so good! And, we know that Logan, Baby B, was a little troublemaker during pregnancy, and so far that seems like it still might be the case! Okay, he's not a troublemaker, he's just a little fiestier. :)


In other news, this has been an exciting time in both Mike and my families - Mike's youngest stepbrother just became engaged this week, so we have a wedding to look forward to! And, my brother and his family moved to a new house this week. They weren't very far away, but now they are even closer - the boys have lots of cousins close by to play with! Mike's youngest brother and his wife just flew in from Kenya for a visit, we look forward to seeing them soon. One of my nieces accepted Jesus as her Savior yesterday - how exciting! What a great way to start off the year!!

Have a great 2010!

where it all began

Today Caleb and Logan made their very first visit to Daddy's work (and maybe their future place of employment, too??). And yes, that is where it all began! For those of you who don't know our story, Mike and I met at Schreur Farms way back in the summer of 1999. We didn't start dating until a few years later and we had both moved onto other jobs, but Mike ended up back there over a year ago after getting laid off from excavating. And, then this past spring we were at the farm when we got the good news from the doctor that we were pregnant! So, did I imagine over 10 years ago when I met this handsome guy named Mike that now I'd be married to him and have two beautiful sons with him and we'd still be involved at Schreur Farms?? Nope! It sure can be fun to see God's plan for our lives. :)

So, I managed to get the boys ready, loaded in the car, and over to the farm all by myself! We've been out with them a number of times already, but this was the first time I did it all alone. It definitely takes planning and preparation, but it is doable!

This has been a week of firsts. I had some Christmas shopping that still needed to be done, so Aunt Lea Anne came over and watched the boys so I could go out. This was my first time away from them! We all survived. :)

Caleb and Logan are doing great. Eating and sleeping well. We thought the first couple weeks that we had gotten lucky and didn't end up with spitters, but alas, that has changed. It's mostly Logan (of course!), but Caleb does his share too. Between the burp cloths, their clothes, and my clothes we come up with about one load of laundry each day. I can't imagine how much laundry I would have if we were using cloth diapers... Speaking of diapers, yikes! They're not cheap, and we use lots. :)

who's crying?

This is our new game - if we're in another room and one of the boys starts crying, we try to guess who it is. We're not right 100% of the time, but I'm sure we'll get there after a little longer!

Caleb and Logan are doing great! Last night we had to take them in to the doctor to get weighed just to make sure they are gaining like they should, and they must be eating good because they are gaining! Caleb weighed in at 6lbs 13oz, and Logan is 7lbs. So as long as everyone stays healthy, no more visits to the doctor until their two-month check up.

This week I was mostly on my own while Mike was at work and it went very well. A few times when I'm not sure what to do with two crying babies, but that hasn't happened too often. Caleb and Logan are a little fussier in the afternoons/evenings, but overnight and the rest of the day they do great. They are really good babies!

Want to know how to get attention? Go out in public with two new babies! We've gone a few places with the boys now, and we get lots of looks, comments, and questions. We're not sick of it yet. :)

Macy, our dear, dear cocker spaniel, did something last night that we've never caught her doing before and we're hoping isn't a habit... I caught her drinking out of the toilet!! Maybe she's just acting out because she's not getting as much attention, and she's not happy about spending more time outside in the kennel.

Well, I've got one baby sleeping contentedly on my chest, and Mike has the other - ahhhhh, this is the life! :)

the wait is over!

Can you believe I haven't had time to update our blog?! :) I started this entry a few days ago, let's see if I actually finish it now...

Well, after months of waiting to hold our boys in our arms, the time finally came! We

checked into the hospital on Friday, November 27th, to be induced. The doctor had decided the babies were big enough and

it was time for them to be born.

I was started on Pitocin first thing, which meant I had to be on monitors constantly - one for each baby, and one for contractions. Ugh, what a pain. Our very active boys kept moving around and they had trouble keeping them on the monitors. Plus, I was very uncomfortable in bed, but anytime I tried to shift positions they'd lose one of the babies on the monitor. So, most of the day was spent with a nurse fiddling with the monitors - very annoying and frustrating. And, of course, labor wasn't progressing.

Friday night the doctor gave us three options: 1. stay on Pitocin and hope things kicked in 2. go home and come back in a couple days (no way!!!) 3. try a different drug overnight and go back on Pitocin the next day. The doctor was leaning towards #3 and that sounded good to us. What was nice about this other medication was that I only had to take it every 4 hours, and only had to be on the monitors for 1/2 before taking it and an hour after - so I actually had some 'free' time!

Saturday late morning the contractions finally got stronger and more regular. They put me back on Pitocin to make sure things kept progressing. Mid-afternoon I got an epidural. The contractions stayed strong and regular, but things just didn't move along. It was a long night - I had to push the button every 15 minutes to keep my epidural up - they kept reminding me I needed to be good and numb at delivery time because of Baby B being breech.

Sunday morning, after two days in the hospital it was finally time to bring these boys into the world. It was around a shift change for the nurses, and the doctor wanted to make sure it happened with them all there because he knew Baby B would be a little stunned by the breech delivery. So, he sped things up by delivering Baby A with forceps - he cried right away and it was just amazing to see him. Then the doctor grabbed Baby B and we got him out - it was a good thing the doctor warned me he would be stunned from the delivery because he was limp and not breathing. But, they got him going right away and he was just fine!

After seeing both babies we decided to name Baby A, Caleb Donald, and Baby B, Logan Harold. For those of you who don't know us as well, the middle names are after their grandfathers. Kinda handy to have two boys at once so we didn't have to choose one! :) Caleb weighed in at 6lbs 7oz, and Logan was 7lbs 3oz. I'm really not sure how they both fit in my belly!

Sunday afternoon we had a bit of a scare with Logan. Being the second born and breech, he ended up with a bunch of fluids that he needed to get rid of. He started choking at one point and was not getting any air - he turned purple fast! Mike yelled for the nurses and they were in the room and working on him immediately (we love the nurses, they were wonderful through our whole stay!). They had him breathing again in no time.

We came home on Tuesday, December 1. The first couple nights weren't so hot, but then the boys started to figure out daytime and nighttime. We have to get up a few times to feed, but for the most part they are sleeping well - what a blessing! Mike went back to work this past Tuesday, it has been so hard for him! He just wants to stay home and be with his boys - and I would certainly love it if he could. :) My sister has been here this week helping during the day and it's been great. It's wonderful to have an extra pair of hands, plus she's been cooking, cleaning, and even decorated our Christmas tree.

Last Friday we took Caleb and Logan to their first doctor's appointment. They had normal weight loss - Caleb was down to 5lbs 13oz, and Logan was down to 6lbs 7oz. The doctor thought they looked a little jaundiced, so we had to take them in for bloodwork. What a pain! Their levels were up from what they were in the hospital, but not high enough to need the special blanket. We had to take them in again on Saturday for more bloodwork (again, what a pain!), and their levels were decreasing so that's a good sign.

They stayed quietly sleeping so I could finish this entry - yay! :)

house update

As requested, here are a few updated pics of the house...

The living room in it's current state. Finally free from the big pile of baby stuff in the corner! Also, notice the 'new' chair on the right - so exciting to finally have a chair that matches the room! Take a hard right to walk through the room and that wall is totally open, just waiting to put the Christmas tree up later.

The former office, which is now the playroom (but will start out as the babies' room so we don't have to go upstairs right away). The loveseat will normally be in the living room, but we wanted something to sit on in this room, plus make room for the Christmas tree.

The new office. This is the 'open room' at the top of the stairs.

The nursery currently. Needs a few odds and ends completed, but we're almost there! Can't wait to see what the curtains look like when we get them up - made by my mom and I, and we are NOT seamstresses (but she does better with that stuff than she thinks she does...).

The new upstairs bathroom. Also needs a few small things finished, but is very close to being done. I'm very excited for it to be completed so I can decorate with all the fun monkey-themed stuff!

just a little bit longer...

I am SO ready to move on with things and have these babies here! For a while I was getting uncomfortable and of course excited to meet our boys, but I wasn't feeling like I couldn't handle one more day of being pregnant - now I've hit the point where I'm really anxious to just be done with it. I was wondering how in the world someone with one baby can make it to 40 weeks without going crazy, but the doctor reminded me today that I've hit the miserable point sooner than someone with just one baby would.

Babies are doing great and very happy in there - hopefully they don't like it TOO much, and decide to come out soon! The doctor is pleased with how they do during the non-stress tests, and they are growing good. Actually, he did a very rough measurement today (normally he just takes a quick look to check heart rates) and they are probably about 6 pounds each. 12 pounds of baby in there! Yikes! No wonder I'm ready to be done. The doctor had said a few weeks ago that he would induce if I made it to 38 weeks, but after measuring them today he said that if I make it to next week we'll plan an induction for that week (which would be the 37th week). So there IS an end in sight! This could be a long week though...

Baby B is going to keep us guessing. He has flipped around again and is body crosswise and head up. Ugh! I have no idea how he has any room to move around so much, but apparently he's not happy to just get into position and stay there. Whereas Baby A has been locked and loaded in the proper position for quite some time now. I am very curious to see if this is any indication of their personalities - will Baby A be more laid back, and Baby B more active? Maybe B is more athletic. Although, Mike has dreams of them being basketball stars together. :)

We had our very own maternity photo session this weekend - I am really not comfortable in front of the camera! Even though I'm used to directing people, I have no idea what to do myself in that position. I'm really anxious to see how the photos turned out - besides the fact that it's documenting an important time in our lives, Mike and I don't have our picture taken together much, so it's just nice to have that done once. Below is a snapshot taken a little over a week ago - maybe not my best angle at this point...and why do I have to have such a skinny husband?? :) I passed him up in weight probably a few weeks ago, my only consolation is that I'm only 3 inches shorter than him. I shouldn't be too bad off though once I get 12+ pounds of baby out, plus all the other fun stuff that comes along with them!

mindset

Well, the doctor walked in today and knew I wasn't in labor because I'm still smiling. :) But he does want me to start thinking labor! He said it's just nicer if the babies come on their own, rather than getting to the point of having to induce. As long as they keep doing okay he'll let me go a few more weeks, but he doesn't want to leave two babies in there too long and I guess it's debateable on how long is too long. So he's getting a little anxious for things to start happening. I told him I'd like to have at least another week so we can finish up the odds and ends of our house projects and have a few days to chill before things get really crazy - he said as long as I'm thinking that way they'll probably come soon and not give me that time! :)

Both are still head down, and it's very unlikely to change at this point - it's pretty cramped in there, and they're settled into their own little bit of space that they have. We could see on the ultrasound that they are starting to 'breathe' - obviously they're just taking in amniotic fluid at this point, but the doctor said they don't start doing this until a couple weeks before birth and it's a good sign that they are going through that exercise. If there were to start getting stressed in there they wouldn't do it anymore.

So, the house is pretty much ready! Just need to tie up a few loose ends, and the house needs a good post-construction cleaning. Ugh. Thankfully I've got people that can help so I'm not trying to do it all myself! My energy level is definitely very low - even if I manage to get a decent night's sleep. And if I DON'T sleep well? Watch out! I turn into a cranky, emotional pregnant lady. My dear hubby does a pretty good job of handling it. :)

Things are still quite busy farming wise (which doesn't help with my stress level when I'm tired...). Soybean harvest FINALLY finished at the end of last week! What a yucky fall for trying to get crops in. Now it's right on to corn. The ground is wet, and the corn is wet, but they're able to roll with it. Slows things down out in the fields, and the corn will need extra dry time in the bin, but at least they're able to get out there and work on it!