Fun in the City

Today was Abby's appointment to see the specialist at UIC for her strawberry birthmark. The doctor thought everything was progressing the way it should. The blood vessels in the birthmark have broken up more even though it is still significantly large and elevated. I was happy to hear that the doctor still thinks treatment is not necessary. We are scheduled to see her again in three months.

Teeth

Rachel has two little white teeth poking through on the bottom of her mouth. Abby has one little tooth coming through on her bottom gum as well! The teeth are starting to come in!

4 months

This past Monday, the girls had their 4 month doctor visit. Rachel weighed in at 14 pounds 12 ounces and 25 inches long and her sister Abby weighed in at 14 pounds 6 ounces and 24 1/2 inches long. This is the first time ever Rachel has passed her sister in height and weight! The girls did receive shots and the doctor thought they were doing quite well. She would like them to start eating solids with a spoon! Just one tablespoon a day during the fourth month and two tablespoons a day in their fifth month. The girls did scream at the medical assistant and doctor. After further discussion about them doing this with others made it very clear to the doctor that they are in the "stranger anxiety" phase.

The doctor does want Abby to go back to the pediatric dermatologist at UIC about the strawberry birthmark. An appointment was made for the 29th of June.

Enjoy a couple videos:

Latest Update

Okay, so it has been a while since we have posted an entry on our blog. Since the twins were born, we have been very busy and transitioning into parenthood.... parenthood to newborn twins no less as our first child(ren) experience. It was certainly a rough beginning. The twins both have GERD (a reflux disorder) which was causing them to vomit quite frequently. Abigail has a strawberry type birthmark on chest which was checked out by a pediatric dermatologist at UIC. She had an ultrasound done on it and everything has come back good.

We certainly appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers. We're still not quite into a regular routine. In other words, life is not quite back to normal but we're getting there. There must be a term for this... perhaps "baby shock" or "twin shock".

More later....

Doctor Visit - Gastro-Esophageal Reflux

Wow! Life with twins is definitely different from anything else I have ever experienced. They are such beautiful and good babies.

Yesterday Andy and I took the girls to the doctor because the vomiting started again. They are now on an additional medicine Raglan (three times a day) and the Zantac has been increased to three times a day. The hypoallergenic formula is still being used and rice cereal is still being added as a thickener. The pediatrician says the girls have gastro-esophageal reflux. The good news is by or before their first birthday the issue usually corrects itself.

Thank you to everyone for the cards, flowers, gifts, encouraging words, and prayers. We miss all of you. :) Pictures will be added to the site hopefully by tonight. As embarrassing as it is, I don't know how to fully do that without Andy's help. I'll have Andy show me the process so I can add pictures often.

Twin Update: Midweek of Week 2

Hello everyone! Well, it has been 17 days since the twins were born and Jennifer and I are getting adjusted to life with twins. It has certainly been challenging both for us and the girls. I'll give just a brief couple update items:

• To everyone who has called or Emailed or Facebook'd that we have not gotten back to: We really appreciate your phone calls and have listened to every message. We wish we could get back to everyone but at this time it's just not happening due to the schedule with the twins. So, please know we appreciate and love everyone of you who has called, written, etc.
• The twins have had a rough start in a couple different ways. Long story short, they have had a hard time feeding. We've been through multiple formula's including soy. We're currently on a formula by Similac called Alimentum. It's a hypo-allergenic formula which is supposed to be the easiest to digest. Both girls are both on Zantac for acid reflux. They both, interestingly enough, can't stand the taste.
• While at the pediatricians on Tuesday, the doctor fed both girls to observe. After she fed Rachel, she vomited all over the doctor. After Abigail had been sitting in her car set for half an hour, she vomited as well. They sent us to Hope Children's Hospital where both girls had ultrasounds of their stomachs. Apparently there is the possibility of a muscle in the stomach that doesn't form correctly. Both girls were negative so that's great. However, finding the cause of their discomfort has proven to be a challenge. I believe we now have a handle on it. The Zantac with the hypo-allergenic formula appears to be doing the trick.
• We believe we can now begin to get the girls on a schedule that will be doable for Jennifer while I am at work (going back tomorrow). We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers both for the girls and for us.

Again, we'd like to thank everyone for being so understanding and helpful. It's great to have the family and friends that we have. We are a truly blessed family.

P.S. Pictures will be posted soon.

The Twins Have Arrived!

After 38 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, I am happy to announce that Jennifer gave birth to two healthy little girls this afternoon. Rachel Ann was born at 12:12pm and Abigail Jean was born at 12:13pm. They both were amazingly each 7 pounds and 20 inches long. They are not identical but fraternal but apparently wanted to come out weighing the same. Jennifer did great and is recovering wonderfully. We arrived at the hospital a little after 7:30am. The C-Section was scheduled between 9:30 and 11:00 but other cases came up so we ended up in there at 12ish. It was amazing to see the system the hospitals have in place. There were 15 people in the Operating Room: 5 for the surgery aspect and then 5 for each baby. After post-op, Jennifer was wheeled to her room and the babies came up shortly. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. The adventure begins today. :)


This is Rachel Ann


This is Abigail Jean