Twin Talk

Yesterday (which also marked their 12-week birthday), Eleanor and Ian seemed to have their first conversation while laying on their activity mat.



And then when Eleanor started to fuss, Ian tried to soothe her.

Weekdays

Ever since Kevin went back to work a few weeks ago, I have had the privilege and challenge of taking care of Ian and Eleanor on my own. I would like to say that it’s been easy as cake, but that’s not true. In fact, I very much look forward to the days that Kevin stays home with us and the days that Mary comes in from Annapolis to visit. The ratio of adults to babies is far more balanced and each baby gets plenty of attention and coddling.

When it’s just the three of us, there is a little more fussing and a little more crying during the day. A typical day goes something like this:

7-8 a.m.: The last “night” feeding ends. I burp the babies, re-swaddle them, and lay them back in bed. Kevin usually starts getting ready for work while I am feeding them, stopping in between each of his tasks to see if I need anything (when I’m wearing my twin breastfeeding pillow and the twins, I’m basically helpless). He makes his lunch, feeds and walks the dog, and makes a fire to warm up the house. I get dressed, brush my teeth, and go downstairs to eat. I bring the big pillow with me and make sure that my downstairs feeding area is ready for when the babies wake up.

8-9 a.m.: Kevin leaves for work. I try to do some laundry, wash dishes, and check email. Sometimes this just doesn’t happen.

9-10 a.m.: One or both of the babies wake up. If it’s just one of them, I put him or her in a sling to buy some more time until the other one awakens. If both wake up, I change their diapers and the first daytime feeding commences. A few details about my feeding setup: I’ve set two boppy (doughnut-shaped) pillows on either side of me where the babies are laid before each feeding. Using these allows me to strap on my big breastfeeding pillow and sit down without worrying that the babies will roll off the couch. Plus, I can more easily reach the babies over the edge of my big breastfeeding pillow when they're in their boppies -- and every inch counts.

The fire is nice and warm at this point and has warmed up the living room. Sometimes we listen to NPR Morning Edition or we just sit in silence. I burp one of the babies at a time. The other baby lays in the boppy waiting, and occasionally crying or spitting up because s/he needs to be burped. I’ve decided that I can’t stress about this or feel too bad about it because I’m doing the best I can.

10-11 a.m.: The babies relax in their boppies as I read to them. Sometimes this is very nice – with both babies wide awake and watching me. Other times, I’ve got one or two fussy babies and I’m holding them or trying to calm them with their pacifiers. When Eleanor starts getting tired, she lets out raging screams. I try to change her diaper before this happens, and then I swaddle her and hold her tight until she gives up the fight against sleep. Ian coos, yelps, and wines when he is tired and is usually content in the boppy or a swing as he falls back to sleep.

11 a.m.-12 p.m.: The babies are usually sleeping. I try to prep and eat my lunch early. I usually check my email again and sometimes even throw the laundry that I’ve washed in the dryer (other times, I end up getting back to the laundry after Kevin gets home at the end of the day).

12-1 p.m. Another feeding begins. And ends. And then I burp them and change their diapers.

1-2 p.m. This is usually the time of day when I try to get out for a walk with the stroller. We’ve got a very nice jogger-type stroller with fully reclining seats for newborn babies. Plus, we’ve got some awesome accessories to go with it. First is the pair of fuzzy seat liners that supports their heads and keep them nice and cozy (thanks Mary). Second is the amazing diaper bag that holds all of their gear (and mine – thanks Mannie and Elisa). Our community is pretty conducive to walking – tree-lined streets with sidewalks and lots of interesting houses to look at. I can usually return from the walk and get a couple little things done around the house – a phone call or some minor dinner prep. They are usually hungry again by 2.

2-6 p.m. Needless to say, the feeding, playing, sleeping cycle happens a couple more times before Kevin gets home. Sometimes I spend a decent amount of the afternoon feeding them (also known as cluster feeding). When this happens, I tend to turn on the TV. I need to figure out how to hold a book or control the stereo better while I’m feeding them so that I am not exposing them to so much TV. We’re not planning to let them watch as much as I’ve been watching lately!
This week, I had plans three days in a row! On Tuesday, our neighbor Laura and baby Isaiah came over to spend the morning with us. On Wednesday, a new friend Mary came over to help out. She is preparing to be a postpartum doula so she is looking to clock some hours with a mother who needs help (that would definitely be me!). And then on Thursday, we met Julie and baby Audrey at Mark's Kitchen for lunch and then they came over afterward. It was really nice to be with some adults during the day.

6-10 p.m. When Kevin gets home, he typically plays with the babies and pulls the remainder of dinner together while I take a shower. Many of our dinners have been generously prepared and delivered by countless friends, colleagues, and relatives (thank you!) and are often simply pulled out of the freezer and microwaved. We eat, feed the babies, and head upstairs to bed where we’ll sometimes read for a little while but often pass out – especially lately since its been getting dark so early and we’ve been fighting a cold.

10 p.m.-7 a.m. Feedings usually take place between 10 and 11, then again between 2 and 3, and then again between 5 and 6. This means we get two or three 3-hour stints of sleep over night. Not bad. But we’re definitely looking forward to longer nights in the future!

Even though the days are pretty hectic, we'd like to start posting more. (Sorry it's been so long...)

Two Weeks

Holy smokes!
The babes are two weeks old already!
(OK, 17 days, but who's counting?)

It has been an eventful two weeks, that's for sure!

The first 4 days were by far the most tiring. Even though we sent the babies to the nursery at the hospital for the 2 nights we were there, they still brought them back to us every two hours for feedings. They took them and changed their diapers, but not much else. And with either babies or Megan getting poked and prodded on an hourly basis and with the grandparents visiting the newborns, we had no chance to grab a nap during the day.

Things were a little better when we got home, though, if only because we could take naps during the day. It took us four days of only getting 3 or so hours of sleep per night before I (Kevin) decide to double the amount of formula we were supplementing them with at the night-time feedings. Once we started doing this, the babies would sleep for 3 hours (IN A ROW!!!).

The first time that happened, I turned to Meg and exclaimed: "THAT, was AAAAAaaawwesome!" and we gave each other a high five before feeding the little birds.

The first two weeks have been full of other firsts, too.

We've had our first little walk around the block.


Our first trip to the doctor's office (Jorge stayed home, but they're both doing great and have regained their birth weight after only 8 days).


The first time the babes met their cousins Owen, Hugh, and Finn (Hugh and Finn (and Jorge) were happy playing Legos).



Their first bathes.


Their first time meeting Aunt Karen and cousin Ashley.


And all the while, we have had Maureen (Megan's Mom, a.k.a. GG (short for "Grandma Gallagher")) staying with us and helping us through all these firsts. We are Tremendously grateful for all the time she spent here with us and our little ones and all the burping and feeding and diaper changing help and keeping the groggy parents well nourished.


A very close second on gratefulness scale has been Aunt Mary Grace (or, plain ol' MG as she'd like the little ones to call her). Not once, but TWICE, she's come in and spent the night and let me get 8 hours of sleep in a row. As much as I love my children (even at 3am), I do enjoy a good night's sleep. Thanks, MG!


I'm sure the next two weeks will be just as exciting. In fact, I know it already has since technically we're on day #17 and things have been pretty crazy around here the past few days. I'll try to find some time tomorrow to write about it (but I'm making no promises...).

Leaving the Hospital

These are two pics from when we were leaving the hospital. It's amazing that we've been home with the babies for a week already! The sweaters they are wearing are the exact sweaters my twin sister and I wore home from the hospital some 33 years ago. Some relative knitted them, but I'm at a loss right now as to who it was (could be that those two 2-hour sessions of sleep last night weren't enough).





We've taken a million and two pictures this week of the newborn babes. So the way we're planning on this working is that we'll post a few pictures here, but for those who want to see more, that picture over there to the left is a link to our Flickr stream of photos.

Hopefully we'll be able to keep these pages updated, 'cause we know we've got far off grandparents and aunts and uncles clamoring for updates!

First Pics

We are very, very pleased to introduce two new people to the world!

Ian Aloysius and Eleanor Grace.

We'll post more pictures when we can, but here are two taken on their second day on the planet.

Weekly Non-Stress-Tests

So, for the past 3 weeks or so, we've had a standing appointment over at the hospital for a "Non-Stress-Test" (NST) to be performed. A few weeks ago, we were sitting in the OB office trying to select which day of the week would work best for us. I turned to Meg and said "I don't think we have anything planned this weekend, so Saturday would work fine." The doc then interjected: "From here-on-out, your life is over and you don't have any weekend plans!"

Not funny.

Anyway, we call over to the hospital every Saturday morning and find out what time works best for them (depending on how busy they are). We go over there, get checked in, go up to the 3rd floor maternity ward, and get situated in a Labor and Delivery room (LND to the docs and nurses with the "in-the-know-lingo"). So it's been kinda nice that we've gone through these dry runs of checking in and finding our way up to a LND room.

Aside from the first time we went in for one of these, I've found them to be pretty damn boring. I think this is a good thing, since they've never found either of our little ones to be under stress (perhaps that's why they're called "Non-Stress-Tests"?). The NST involves hooking Meg up to two separate monitors (one for each baby -- gotta make sure they're listening to separate babies and not picking up the same heart rate) and then another monitor that checks for uterus contractions. The goal is to find at least two escalations in the babies' heart rates within a 20-minute period. Sometimes the babies don't cooperate and we're there for 40 minutes or an hour, but this past Saturday we were hooked up and released in a half-hour.

Below is an image of a 36+ week pregnant woman with twins getting an NST (no, it's not a beached whale but we understand the confusion) and a short video of the NST in action. Please note that the pink and blue tags on the monitor belts do not mean anything - for those of you who are eagerly awaiting news on the genders of the babies!

The Pregnancy (so far)

Hi there!

Welcome to Two For Fun, our blog to share pictures and news about our two babies on the way.

This first post is designed to respond to the many and varied requests we've received to send photos of the belly or sonograms of the babies. This post attempts to do both - (as well as show Kevin's transformation over the same time period!).

[The images on the right are from February 2007; the images on the left are from March 2007]

From the time that we found out we are having twins until this current period of watching and waiting, we've been able to peek in the womb on a monthly basis. This is a little snapshot series of the changes going on inside and outside so that you can share in some of our prenatal journey.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for a birth announcement in the next 6 weeks!!!

[The images below are from April, May, June, and July 2007]