Videos on Blogger

You may recall the video of Max taking a bath that we posted months ago (when he fit into a small plastic tub!). Well, it was a royal pain to get that clipped to the right size and uploaded, so I've decided to post our next video on youtube. It's a fabulously cute one of the boys talking with one another. Max is on the left in the stripes and Kennedy is on the right.

The Sweetest Sound

My favorite sound lately is that of my babies squealing and squeeking and trying out their newfound vocal cords. Matt calls them pterodactyl's. It's great to have a couple of happy healthy (despite my current status as a flu carrier in the house) little boys after being near to having 26wk preemies earlier this year.

Preview of Coming Attractions!

As of this morning, our little Butterballs weighed in at slightly over and slightly under the size of our Thanksgiving turkey! (13lbs that is).

This year we'll be having Thanksgiving at our house with Jeff and Sang and Garrett and a few of his friends. After the big meal and a (small) slice of pie, we'll head over to the Edmonds gathering for dessert mania courtesy of Amy!

Aquatic Park

Yesterday Kristen and I took the boys to Aquatic Park to show them where Dad went swimming (from Alcatraz to shore and practice swims in A.P.) when they were just a few weeks old. We even saw two groups of sea lions playing around near the swimmers!

In other photos - Grammy Chris displays her ability to care for two babies at once and the boys are outgrowing the cats!

The Grasp!

It's here ladies and gentlemen, The Voluntary Grasp. I noticed it this morning and it was confirmed this evening as I hovered my hand over Kennedy's face and he in a very determined and calculated manner, with what looked like steam coming out of his ears, reached out and grasped my fingers! Repeated again with dad's hand!

These are the kind of things that are very exciting to a new mom like me. Now my babies can start playing with toys and exploring a whole new universe of tactile interaction.

Next stop - putting everything in their mouths!

By the numbers...

Today the whole family went to the pediatrician. Here is a recap of today's visit by the numbers:

8 (number of separate appointments crammed into one)

3.5 (total hours it took including car ride)

2 (number of H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines delivered to Matt & Kristen)

6 (total number of vaccination shots delivered to two screaming boys)

$1,000 (cost per synagis (vaccination) shot delivered to each boy. we have to get these monthly for the next 6 months and there is no co-pay. thank you kaiser!)

Max -
Weight 11 lb 11 oz
Height 23.5 in
50th percentile in height (adjusted age)

Kennedy -
Weight 12 lb 3 oz
Height 24.5 in
90th percentile in height (adjusted age)

Busy with Twins!

Hi everyone -

Yes we have been very busy with the boys and visitors...with more on the way. Here are a few photos to tide you over till I have time to write something more substantial.

Hand Studies & More from NewParentville

The boys are really into making some controlled movements with their fists these days. Bringing the arm and fist to the face (eye, nose or otherwise) and studying the movement in detail. It seems like they're learning that it's their hand and they control it. Really neat and I can't wait until they open that fist and start grabbing stuff and putting things in their mouths to start the next phase of exploration.

And here are some unrelated thoughts:

Burger King sounded SO good today after a pathetic attempt at a cobb salad made of random half rotted left overs from our fridge. I ran out and got us some burgers, fries and a chocolate shake. What doesn't sound so good is that we're going to have the other halves of our burgers re-warmed for dinner. However, this does sound better than taking the effort to cook something then have dirty dishes sitting in the kitchen again. I just don't have the energy and frankly, it's almost my bed time. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I go to bed around 8pm. If I can. That's cause I do the "late shifts" on baby sitting. Matt keeps an eye on them from their bed time (also around 8pm) till they wake up to eat. This is the longest period they sleep for, usually 3 - 6 hours. We love the 6 hours. The 3 hours is a little tough to digest. Then I get up and stay with them till morning, and on a week day, the whoooooole rest of the day. Granted we do get a little more sleep between midnight (or so) and the real "morning" but never as peaceful as the off-duty shift.

We had a funny weekend with lots of laughing, a little bit of sleep, even less cleaning, a visit to the newly arrived cousin Aralyn in San Jose, the occasional shower. I can't believe I only have three weeks of maternity leave left! I also can't believe how expensive childcare is. Maybe I should become a nanny because they rake it in, as do day care centers.

Oooh, sounds like my BK is fresh out of the micro, gotta run!

Sustenance

Lately Kristen and I have been having meals that can be categorized as "life sustaining". We have no real time to plan for, much less prepare and eat our typical meals that, say - taste good.

Here was my menu today:
Breakfast
1 yogurt & powerbar (for a source of protein). Time allotted for consumption - 45 seconds.
Lunch
Plain pasta w/ tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Soy milk.
Snack
Coffee, brownie bits
Dinner
Half a TV dinner (split w Kristen), tiny bowl of cheese & bacon soup, cheese on four month old crackers.

Time to buy stock in companies that make frozen pizzas...

Baby Yoga

Today I took the boys to Baby & Me yoga at kiki-yo in Glen Park. The class is taught by the same woman who taught my prenatal class. It was a lot of fun, and I was able to see a few of the moms from prenatal again. The boys were very well behaved and loved watching and listening to everything going on. I may have to make a habit of this for the rest of my maternity leave!

Grandma & Baby-tanical Garden

Grandma (Rampe) and Phil came to town for two weeks to visit and had a great time holding the boys and watching them grow before our eyes!

Yesterday we took the boys to the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park yesterday. It was filled with lots of cool plants... and babies! (We speculate this because dogs aren't allowed and there are nice grassy places to sit while looking at plants.)

These Babies are GREAT!

Everyone always tells parents of newborns "it gets better"... and sometimes it's hard to believe them when you have no sleep and can't figure out what the current cry is demanding. But, I am now part of the crowd that can officially offer the same advice. Over the last week or two Kennedy and Max have gotten much more fun and easier to take care of. They are both smiling and actually spend a good amount of time each day awake and not crying. We talk, we play, sometimes we sleep, though not as much as I think they should (or me!).


Yesterday I received the prestigious Mother of the Year award, as voted on by all five males residing at 21 Bessie (2 boys 2 cats 1 husband). My prize is a massage which I'm redeeming on Saturday. Anyone want to join me? I'll be at Burke Williams in SF at 9am and plan to be the first one in the hot tub!


Pictured above: Kennedy, Max

Drum Roll Please...

A message I got from Proactive Genetics today:

"We are pleased to report to you the results of the twin zygosity test that you requested. Analysis of the DNA indicates that Kennedy Henry Rampe and Max David Rampe are monozygotic, or more commonly referred to as identical twins.

We first isolated DNA from cheek cells from the swab kits that were returned to our lab. We amplified the DNA using a technique called PCR. Next, we analyzed 7-8 standard DNA markers (D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, vWA, TH01, TPOX, and CSF1PO) and determined that the highly variable DNA markers were the same for both twins. Thus, there is greater than a 99% probability that the twins are monozygotic."

Translation - it's ok if we get them mixed up now and again!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. Wewere lucky enough to have a fabulous "team" of babysitters watch the babies while we went to dinner at Emmy's, our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Shelby, Andrea and Rebekah all took great care of Max and Kennedy who didn't cry at all while we were gone.

Matt brought home a long stemmed rose for me. And by long we're talking 32" (what were they feeding that plant!?). Max and Kennedy even got us a gift - they both slept for over four **consecutive** hours last night! I went downstairs to our little front room which has an aero bed setup for the off-duty-trying-to-sleep parent around 9:30 pm and didn't hear any crying until just before 2 am. Even then they were still half sleeping, but not for long.

As for two years of wedded bliss - here are some highlights:

1. Our wedding and reception - probably the best party I've ever been to :)
2. Our "honeymoon" in hawaii
3. Matt's 30th birthday lunch at French Laundry
4. One year anniversary trip to China and Japan
5. My 30th birthday at MacArthur Place in Sonoma
6. Thanksgiving with my big family in Atlanta
7. Finding out we're not just having one baby, but TWO
8. Hearing two babies scream as they're delivered
9. Sleeping for four hours in a row for the first time in many months!

"Real" Babies

In the baby department much progress has been made. Since Kristen and I see them every day - it can sometimes be hard to see the changes in the boys, but there is no doubt the boys are growing up. We went to the pediatrician again on Friday, and we did the usual - spew out all our new parent concerns while he does his best to listen quietly then tell us that yes, everything is still very normal and healthy. They weighed the boys and Kennedy weighed in at a hefty 7 lbs 2 oz., with brother Max at 6 lbs 12 oz. They passed their due date (Aug 18th) recently, so with these "hefty" weights to boot, I am starting to feel like they are "real" babies now. They can hold their heads up for much longer now too and are doing more baby pushups during tummy time. They have also given us some Mona Lisa type smiles recently, but we think they are going to break out in full-on grins any day now.

In other news, it has been like an ongoing family reunion over here. If Kristen's family isn't in town mine is. It will be this way until the new year, and let me say to all the would be parents (especially if you have twins) -- DEFINITELY GET FAMILY HELP. They have been a Godsend and there is NO way we could have gotten this far without their constant help. Being a parent is a tireless job and it's nice to have someone to do a baby hand off to. Gramy Chris, Great Aunt Betsy, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Shelby all were around this week.

Max and Kennedy August 09, by Kristen Hebert

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Meet your 17 lb cousin, Caden

This weekend we went down to my cousin Jessica's baby shower in San Jose. We also got to see Aunt Leigh, cousin Kat and her 6 month old baby boy, Caden. Caden is a BIG boy. Everyone always says how small our boys are, and after meeting this guy we can see why. Here are a few more perspectives on the size of our boys...

Slightly longer than a strip of bacon, slightly heavier than a bag of flour:

Hungry?

When you have your first baby you learn facts about kids like "babies eat every 2 - 4 hours". Sometimes it's recommended to wake up a baby at the 4 hour mark or whatever your doctor's thought is on the maximum time limit for your baby and feed them. With preemies this is even more unanimous because they are often sleepy and might just rather sleep than eat. Well our boys are over that stage, and have no problem letting us know they're hungry.

Kennedy and Max eat about every two hours. For those of you who aren't yet parents this means from the start of one feeding to the start of the next is two hours. Each feeding takes about 30 minutes, more if you add in the related burping and diaper changing, which means the Breastraunt is only closed for employee breaks for about 90 min at a time. We also learned from hanging out with our neighbors who also have newborn twins about a neat thing called "cluster feeding". Expecting parents read up! We used to think "you just ate two hours ago you can't be hungry" and tried to kind of keep the boys at bay between these two hour intervals - not the right answer.

Are you feeling tired from not getting enough rest last week or over the weekend? If so, read below to add a new perspective to your fatige.

Max & Kennedy Rampe's feeding start times for August 6th and 7th:

2:30am
(3:30am - Max only)
5:45am
(6:45am - Kennedy only)
7:45am
9:50am
(10:35am - Kennedy only)
(11:35am - Kennedy only)
12:05pm
2:35pm
4:05pm
5:50pm
7:45pm
9:35pm
11:50pm
(12:30am - Kennedy only)
1:55am
4:30am
6:30am
8:40am
11:50am
2:20pm
4:20pm
6:10pm
(7:40pm - Max only)
8:45pm
10:20pm
(11:00pm - Max only)
(11:30pm - Kennedy only)

If that doesn't leave you ready for a nap yourself I don't know what will!

Trouble Brewing

Earlier this year I started brewing some beer to celebrate the birth of the twins. That beer is now ready. It's called Dubbel Trouble (pronounced Double Trouble) and is available for consumption at a Rampe residence near you. The beer is a Belgian Dubbel and has a pretty strong flavor that I think should mellow out nicely with age. Although I have brewed a handful of tasty beers in the past, this time I somehow over-carbonated it. All of these beers I have opened so far have lost about half their contents to upon opening without any shaking on my part. Trouble indeed! Here is the label - get a cold one today!

Which one is that?

A common question in our household. Just today we've started assigning hats to each boy, so hopefully that will help some of the "which baby am I holding now" confusion that comes at the wee hours of the morning (and really all day long). In addition to the traditional Max and Kenedy monikers we have compiled the following list of

Top 5 Nicknames:

5. Milk Master

4. Super Baby (when arms are extended as if in flight)

3. Burrito (when swaddled)

2. Milk Man

1. Milky

All above names are used to refer to either Kennedy or Max. Milk related names have to do with either the amount of drooly milk left on the face after feeding, or the uber heavy eyelid look after a big milky meal. See attached depiction of "Milky" (Kennedy).

Raising Boys and Other Crimes Against Humanity

I remember reading in one of my college business books that teams go through four distinct phases before performing well together: Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing. They meet and play nice initially (forming), over time personalities inevitably collide (storming), everyone gets used one another (norming), then once the road is paved, they work well together (performing).

I'd put our family in the Storming phase. The last two days have been pretty sleepless with a lot of crying. I realized at about 4 AM that to consider using a pillow to shut up a screaming baby is human, but to then finish changing his diaper and gently hand him to mom for feeding is to be a dad.

And Mother Earth will have more charges to bring against my stay on this planet... we initially signed up for a cloth diaper service that got great reviews. The ecological case for cloth diapers against disposal is unshakable and to boot since we have a slight volume discount with twins it's actually cheaper. But let me tell you, those diapers are huge, clumsy, look like they are squashing my babies' guts and take a LONG time to put on (even after practice). When a baby is screaming in your face at the top of their lungs in the middle of the night and you know the countdown to them getting mad enough to pee on you is dangerously close to zero, then every second counts. We are switching back to Pampers, and I have never felt better about it. They can name a landfill after me - I'm ok with that. Anything that takes stress out of my life right now is a Godsend.

Bath Time!

Kristen, my sister Jenny and I bathed Kennedy and Max for the first time since they came home yesterday. Here is a little bit of video of Max's bath time (sans rubber ducky). He fits nicely into a bucket that takes up only 1/4th of our kitchen sink.

What's happening at our house right now...

All four of us lay in bed: Matt (mostly sleeping), Max (finally sleeping), Kennedy (also sleeping), Kristen (on laptop). All three boys have their heads turned to the left and their right hands over their bodies. Has to be the most precious thing I've ever seen. You, dear reader, will probably be left to imagine this on your own because the chances of me being able to get up and grab a camera without disturbing everything are minimal.

Nights 1, 2 and 3

Things are sleepless, but improving here after three nights with the boys home. We are getting used the various noises (and screams) that the boys make - and trying to interpret them. So far I am learning that babies like to do three things above all else 1) eat, 2) sleep, 3) poop.

The first night was pretty rough - no more than 1 hr stretches of sleep at a time. Night two I think we got up to 1.5 hrs at a time and by night three, we got two two hour stretches of sleep thanks to earplugs and some time with dad sleeping in another room. A friend's doctor said if you don't get at least one 4 hour continuous stretch of sleep in a week you go crazy... we've still got a few more days left to save our sanity.

Another friend hit the nail on the head when he said that having a baby is like owning an alarm clock... that you can only hit snooze on.

Today we are going to try to bathe our two little alarm clocks. Pics to follow.

The Boys are Home!

After three weeks and two days in the nursery, Max & Kennedy Rampe came home! Both weighing in around 4.5 lbs, they were cleared on all fronts and given a clean bill of health.

We are very happy to have them home and from the looks of it - they are too. When Kristen and I took them out of the crib in the hosptial for the last time they both raised their arms in celebration (we think they rehearsed it beforehand).

It was a long slog - first with months of pre-term labor/bedrest, then with another month in the ICN, but we are very excited that they are healthy, happy and home. Now the real adventure begins!

Feeling human again

HI! So by now you know the big news (we had our babies), and I will get to posting on that whole story later, but wanted to share my thoughts of this current moment. I am very very happy to be feeling pretty damn good right about now. Here's what got me to this wonderful state:

1. A long hot shower
2. Brushing my teeth
3. Vicodin
4. Putting on my white fluffy robe (gift from Kaiser hospital)
5. All bodily parts and functions feel like they're operating correctly
6. Ability to get up and down on my own (out of chairs, beds) and walk around whenever I want to move objects from one place to another, feed myself, etc etc.
7. Cat on my lap (Napoleon)
8. Knowing I have two very healthy babies waiting to see me tomorrow morning in the NICU
9. Knowing I will be able to go to bed tonight and not be completely uncomfortable and waking up every 30 - 45min.
10. Progressive success with the milk factory

Joy!

Rampe Twins (19 photos), by Matt Rampe

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
http://www1.snapfish.com/fbshareredirect/p=825281246249128801/l=1670284016/g=1666679/redirectURL=share/otsi=SALBBL/AlbumID=824701016/a=1666679_1666679/usercomments=I_xqd%20like%20to%20share%20my%20Snapfish%20photos%20with%20you.%20Once%20you%20have%20checked%20out%20my%20photos%20you%20can%20order%20prints%20and%20upload%20your%20own%20photos%20to%20share./counttext=19%20photos/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

This is almost getting "normal" (32 weeks)

Ok truth be told, I'm posting this a day early as 32 weeks is officially tomorrow. However, I've gotten pretty good at this bed rest thing and have no doubt that I will make it through tomorrow without adding to our family. 32 weeks is a milestone, that six weeks ago, seemed a lot more tentative but I'm happy to report that other than getting larger by the day, not much has changed.

I now have weekly doctors appts on Wednesday afternoons just to be sure I'm not missing anything, but otherwise am just holding out on bed rest until I deliver or am released which I guess might happen at 36 - 37 weeks or so. Though at that point I probably won't be *able* to move even if I wanted to...but we'll see!

There are a lot of things we still need to do before the babies come home, like buy cribs, rearrange things, get rid of all of our personal belongings to make room for baby "stuff", oh yeah and go through labor and delivery. Luckily we have lots of baby clothes, thanks to bags of hand me downs and various purchases by friends and family, it's nice to have one less thing to worry about there.

My mom has been staying with us for the last two weeks making my life on bed rest even easier (no getting up to get food - just call mom!). I know this has helped us make it this far and will help me keep the boys incubating till 34 or 36 weeks or more so they can pop out screaming healthy and ready to walk (or something - just not too much time in the NICU please). Matt is also quite happy to be getting lots of meaty, protien filled meals which I need at this point and mom is great at making.

Everyone always asks if I'm bored, and I'm still not really there yet. Some moments are definitely less exciting than others, but it's really not that bad. I could do without the discomfort that bed rest + 32 weeks with twins offers, but such is life and I only have 6 or 7 more weeks MAX to go I'm sure. I can easily do this for that long.

Oh and I haven't been to the hospital in over two weeks which is soooo great given my track record mid-May - mid-June!

Mini Rampe Reunion

Two weekends ago we had more Rampes in our house than ever before! Here's a photo of the extended family together: Jason Rampe, Sally Rampe, Rivers Rampe, Matt Rampe, Kristen (+2) Rampe, Roxanna Rampe, Scott Edmonds (a Rampe by matrilineage), Jeff Rampe and Sang Tran.

The Sunday afternoon involved some BBQ, some beer and some assembly of train sets and baby swings. The question is where and when will the next Rampe Reunion be?

Yes, we're home! (30 weeks!)

Sorry this is coming so late, and if you've been waiting on the edge of your seat, I did manage to get discharged from the hospital on Monday evening and came home, off all drugs and ready to be on home bed rest yet again.

The hospital stay was a little less fun in the beginning this time because they gave me a HUGE dose of magnesium sulfate, which is really no fun. It wasn't as bad the first time but this time I was hot and thirsty and miserably groggy and uncomfortable. Not to mention I had to use a bed pan! But anyway I survived and the tikes are still where they belong. The latest word from the doc that discharged me was that we're probably done with all meds to stop contractions/labor and they'll just let me go at this point. Granted it's still pretty early to have babies, but much better than 26 weeks and I think they don't want to keep pumping me full of chemicals in the meantime (ok with me).

So now I'm allowed 10 contractions an hour (or so - I think I get to decide a little more now that I've been through it so many times). Every day is still a great milestone to not deliver and we are hoping to make it to 34 weeks at the very least...please keep the positive vibes coming our way!

On Tuesday when we celebrated 30 weeks, we opened the baby shower gifts for the shower that didn't happen except for a few fabulous visitors to the hospital in Hayward. Here's a current family photo for you. (Complete with Matt trying out putting a Dad tattoo onesie from Jenny on the teddy bear)

Hold on for the ride

Many things are unclear right now, but we do know that the boys are going to have to come through in a big way on Mother's Day each year...

This Friday I got a text at work from Kristen - it was time to play ambulance since her contractions had spiked to 12 an hour. Even after having her contraction limit adjusted upward, this was still too high. So we took off to the hospital on a nice sunny Friday afternoon. SF was full again, so we opted to visit our friends in Hayward again.

I think the best words to capture the experience of our third trimester are "rollercoaster". After being called out of comfortable home bedrest on Friday (that pleasant, slow climbing on the rollercoaster), we arrived at Hayward in the triage department where Kristen was promptly examined by a doctor who told us we may be delivering babies the next day (this would be that sudden cliff-like drop in the ride where everyone looses their stomach and screams before going through 5 upside-down twisty turns). Kristen got put on a very heavy dose of anti-contraction medication, which made her feel very hot and groggy. She also got put on a clear liquid diet (meaning only can eat popsicles and soup broth - diabetic popsicles and soup broth mind you). When I came in Saturday morning she was looking pretty miserable from the drugs, but the upside was the contractions slowed dramatically and it looked like we would probably stave off delivery for at least another day (sudden corner turning and ascent up another big hill).

With a full day of hospital ahead of us, we decided to have a very scaled back baby shower (aka - just a few people came to visit). It was great and I think Kristen really appreciated seeing and hearing from everyone. I personally want to say a big thank you to everyone who calls and visits etc. - it is a huge help physically and mentally to have so many caring family members & friends and I know there is no way we would have gotten this far without you (I for one would have lost my mind long ago).

Saturday night Kristen and I had dinner and a movie in the hospital - Chipotle and a DVD from the Blue Planet series (the ocean version of Planet Earth). That's pretty much what a date night looks like for us right now, but we both enjoyed it.

Sunday we are still in the hospital although Kristen may get to go home tomorrow if her cervix behaves itself. The head labor & delivery doctor informed Kristen that the drugs they have at their disposal haven't been scientifically proven to actually postpone pre-term birth (rather they slow the contractions - which aren't 100% correlated with delivery surprisingly). So his advice was to just stay as relaxed as possible and lay low as long as possible since the women who seem to last longest in this situation are the ones who stay relaxed.

To that end we are going to up the bedresting efforts and try to keep Kristen laying down and relaxed as much as we can. We are almost at 30 weeks (Tuesday) and are going for every extra day we can get!

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts, prayers and help!

29 Weeks!

Another week! Here's a rundown of what happened over the last 7 days:

May 27: bed rest
May 28: bed rest
May 29: bed rest
...

ok, I'll spice it up a bit:

May 27: bed rest and post the "28 weeks" blog entry

May 28: count 11 contractions in the evening. follow procedure and drink 16oz water and recount, with 7 - 9 (some I wasn't sure of). called nurses, who of course said "you have to go in", find out SF is full again so requested Hayward which I learned is 45min away not 30. hung out in triage at Hayward from 10pm - 2am discharged with a prescription for Procardia to reduce contractions.

May 29: Slept. Matt worked from home (yay!). Had pizza and coke for dinner with Matt and Scott.

May 30: Chris and Emilie came over and cooked chicken piccata for dinner. (yes my life still revolves around food). Came up with a list of "real movies" that I can add to my NetFlix queue.

May 31: Practiced bed rest skills all day with Matt who is busier than ever caring for me and keeping up with his job, oh and taking a dip in the SF Bay to prepare for his upcoming aquathon. The bay is about 52 degrees cold +/-.

June 1: Contractions, which were down to about 4 - 5 per hour with the medicine, are now back up to where they were (7-8/hour). Can I enter my uterus in some sort of strength contest? I think I'd win with all of the workouts it's fitting in.

June 2: 29 Weeks! Bed rest all day then Emilie and Matt cooked dinner and a quiche for me to feast on for my diabetic breakfasts over the next several days. Being the greatest friend ever, Emilie also did some shopping for me as I'm outgrowing articles of clothing that I know Matt would prefer not to shop for. I know I'm entering new territory here because my new bra has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR rows of clasps at the back to secure everything into place.

28 Weeks! (&GD)

We made it to the next milestone! Last night Matt and I celebrated 28 weeks complete with party hats, bubbles, some sweet treats and we made a little paper chain that's now hung on the wall with a paper link to tear off each day until 38 weeks. The chain is colorful and cheery and looks nice against our blank living room wall, in that 2nd grade sort of way :-).

Speaking of sweet treats, as if bed rest wasn't enough of a medical pain in the arse, let's add to that my recent diagnosis of Gestational Diabetes! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the results are in and it's official. I will get a call from a dietitian soon to schedule an appointment to talk about meal plans and learn how to use my soon to be purchased glucometer. Ohhh boy! So - anyone dying to send a care package my way should probably include nothing but grilled chicken breasts and plain milk (blagh). The good news is that I've got plenty of time on my hands to track my diet and stick myself for blood, so why not go on a little "oh so that's how that food affects my blood sugar" educational exercise. Let's hope I can escape without having to use insulin.

Why does Kristen have gestational diabetes you might ask? I have the same question. There's no way to pinpoint the exact reason, but the answer, once again, could be because I'm carrying twins. Of course it could also be linked to my obesity issue or my smoking habit.

Here's a blurb from some non-authoritative website:
Multiple Pregnancies often have an increased occurrence of problems like gd and pre-eclampsia. The effect of twice the hormones may overload the insulin sensitivity of moms who might otherwise not develop gd in singleton pregnancies. Moms with twins or more should be monitored earlier and possibly more frequently. Some studies have found that dizygotic (fraternal) twin pregnancies were more likely to have gd than monozygotic (identical) twin pregnancies, probably due to the number of placentas (producing twice the hormones to interfere with insulin usage).

Given that, I have also read that it's possible to have identical twins with two placentas if the egg splits early enough - so the jury is still out on that question! (I do have two placentas)

Anyway back to the pleasant stuff. (oh one more unpleasant thing first - I now wake up every 30 min at night to change positions because my hips/back get sore, it's a real pain in the side - but I'm hoping that some yoga stretches will reduce this!). So - we made it to 28 weeks! That's two weeks more than the direction I was heading when we checked into the hospital. This week the buns are blinking their eyes and putting on more baby fat!

Birthday Boy

This weekend was my birthday and I had a great time. It was somewhat tempered by two factors (1) Kristen is on bedrest, and (2) I am another year older (the later may have more to do with any slowdown in action).

Here's a thumbnail of what I did on my birthday:
8:30AM - Got a card in bed from wifey
9:00AM - Waiting outside my barber shop, coffee in hand, for my birthday haircut
10:30AM - Running in Golden Gate Park with my friend Chris for 45 minutes
3:00PM - Fired up the grill to make Beer Can Chicken over the next 3.5 hrs
6:45PM - Scarfed the chicken, beans, grilled corn and half bottle of wine (wine was all me)
7:30PM - Cousin Scott came for a visit and dropped off a nice bottle of scotch which was tested and approved by those non-pregnant in the room

Yes, a good time was had by all.

27 Weeks!

Last night, Matt, Emilie and I had our first of hopefully many weekly non-birthday celebrations. I made it to 27 weeks! One week ago this milestone was a lot more tentative, but today, having made it one week (and a day now) and following another *scheduled* (this is good) doctor's appointment, I have lots of optimism.

We met with a perinatologist in San Francisco today and got checked out again. Dr. Field said that everything looks good for me and that I'm "doing great". I now feel like I kind of have my pregnancy a little more under control and have a better idea of when things are heading south. Of course I still get to spend all day lying down, but I think I can definitely make it to 31,,,,34,,,,maybe even 36 or 37 weeks! Granted I will look like a Beached Whale by the end of it all, but I also will get two healthy kids out of the whole deal.

Tuesday May 12th - and how my life changed!

On Tuesday May 12th, I started my day working from home, before heading to a scheduled doctors appointment. The appointment was with the Pre-Term Labor department and it was for an education session with a nurse to teach me the signs of pre-term labor. Being pregnant with twins landed me automatic referral to the program at Kaiser which they have set up to educate and monitor "high risk" pregnancies. During the visit I met with RN Jill Bascom who sat me down in a little office room and started to go through the materials describing pre-term labor symptoms. Luckily I didn't have any of them...or at least that's what I thought. As we were sitting there, the RN looks at me (sitting 5 ft away) and says "I think you're having a contraction right now". To which I answered "really"? She points out how hard my belly is, I think to myself "this is how my belly has always felt for the last few weeks".

Luckily for me, this woman was observant and on the ball - she took me back into their little clinic area and hooked me up to some monitors. Long story short, I was contracting every 2 - 3 minutes and didn't even know it. I had always thought this stretching sensation was a little baby bum or head poking up in my belly. I thought a contraction was something that would be more painful, and would make more surface area of my abdomen hard, not just the baseball size shape that I felt when it was happening to me. I've learned a lot since May 12th!

Nurse Bascom tried to get me over to Labor & Delivery (i.e. the hospital), but I think they were full. Instead I got a quick appointment with an MD in their suite, he did a pelvic exam, determined that I wasn't dilated (good news), and prepared a FFN test (fetal fibronectin). He ALMOST tossed out the test after finding out via exam that I wasn't dilated because the risk of being in pre-term labor with no dilation is low (at least that's what I gathered). Thankfully he did decide to send it to the lab just to be sure. After that I went home.

As part of my pre-term labor education I was told that I need to lie down and monitor for contractions twice per day and call the hotline if I have more than 6/hour. So, I laid down that evening, and since I was still a complete novice, got done with the hour having no idea if I had one giant hour long contraction, or none, or something in between. I was not at all confident in my ability to know what the heck a contraction really was. So, I called the hotline. Long story short again, the nurse on the line there pretty much dismissed me and said if I wasn't feeling any that was good and to do it again in the morning. I was kind of ok with this because I had just been checked out by the doc and sent home, and had another appt scheduled for three days later (and I didn't feel bad/laboring in my mind). So that was the good news for 45 minutes until I got a phone call from another doctor who had received the results of the FFN test - it was positive, which is another indication of pre-term labor. She wanted me to go into the hospital to be monitored...oh and by the way the SF hospital is full, you have to go to Hayward (30min away).

No problemo - Matt and I stopped the oven warming up for a frozen pizza dinner, packed a few things and headed out. I called my boss to say I might not come in to work the next day or so (wish I had thought far enough to say "and maybe not for the next six months" haha).

Matt and I got to Hayward and I got all settled into my hospital gear. Got another pelvic exam from another doctor who found (or made!) me 1cm dilated. This was the worst exam I'd ever had in my life - quite painful and no gentleness involved. But anyway, I guess you don't go to the hospital for pleasant experiences. That doc ordered me on magnesium sulfate to slow the contractions, steroids to help the babies lungs mature in case they were to be delivered early, and an appt with the Perinatologist the next day. Matt left around 12:30am and I survived the night in the hospital. I had a few visitors the very next day and Matt came back in the afternoon to keep me company. Magnesium sulfate is no fun, leaves you hot and thirsty and kind of groggy. At 4pm the Perinatologist came in and did an ultrasound - the bad news was/is that my cervix was only 1.5cm thick...he typically likes to see 3.5cm on a twin mom at this stage. A pregnant cervix does not get thicker, so what damage is done, is done, and the hope is just to keep it, and the contractions from cascading me further into labor.

I spent two more days in the hospital and finally got released on Friday afternoon, after another ultrasound from the Perinatologist who got some better images and measured my cervix at more like 1.7cm (not that it grew, but maybe just a better angle?). He felt good that things weren't getting worse and my orders were to go home and be on strict bed rest (that means 22 hrs/day ladies and gentlemen!) with monitoring from the pre-term labor nurses who call me each day. I get to get up and go to the bathroom anytime, and get to make some quick (5min) meals and eat them, shower maybe every other day, and that's about it.

Since we've been home things have been sort of up and down. I'm better at knowing when I'm having contractions, yet there are other signs that I wonder about sometimes (is that low back ache from the way I'm sleeping? or is it yet another pre-term labor sign?). I pretty much quit work with about 0 hours notice (sorry guys - I promise I'll be back later this year) and have been working hard at just relaxing which is not as easy as it sounds when you also have to learn a million new things about your own body and how to read different signals it's giving you.

I would like to give a huge thank you and apology to all friends, family, co-workers who have sent their well wishes my way, who have visited, who have not visited (this is very much appreciated too!!), etc. It took me this long to get the energy to sit up with a laptop and type out my story for all to see...the whole two way communication thing is still a tiring thought, so if I ignore your call or say I don't want visitors, please don't take it personally. Call Matt or Emilie for updates on me, both have been fabulously helpful and are making my life much more pleasant. Hopefully if things ever get kind of regular or boring on bed-rest I will be more up for talking/writing/etc. For now though, I'm not bored at all, so don't worry about me.

Oh and for the "how did this happen" side of the story - I'm not sure there's a very clear answer. What I'm telling myself from what I've pieced together, is a few things 1) I have twins - which automatically is more of a burden on the body than a single baby, 2) I'm not exactly the largest woman on the block, the bigger you are the more adaptable your body/womb/etc is to handling the excess capacity, 3) I'm pretty active, it's not easy for me to be "somewhat relaxed" which is why bed rest is probably a good thing for me. Until Tuesday I was pretty much up and about (sitting/standing) all day long, with maybe just a little extra sleep each night. This is not exactly what my body needed I guess.

As for my pregnancy timeline, on May 12th I was at 26 weeks, which is just barely in to the "possibly viable" state for the babies, but definitely far from developed and ready to live on their own. Each day is a milestone at this point and probably every week they stay inside me for the next month is 3 - 4 weeks less in the NICU when they come out. We really want to get them as far as we can, especially past the 31 week mark (June 16), and even better if we can get to 34 weeks before delivering. More than that is great too but the long term issues get less and less the further you get into the 30-week zones.

Also, if anyone else is ever faced with bed rest, I highly recommend getting some cats and a great husband. The cats are GREAT at this bed rest thing and have been showing me just how to do it since the moment I got home and Matt had been a superstar in getting me what I need to be comfortable and trying on some new culinary skills to keep his wife and two boys fed, which is not easy despite only burning calrories laying down.

I'll post again when I'm up for it - in the meantime please leave comments on the blog or send me emails, I love to get both.

Mother's Day

Matt and I had a wonderful mother's day last Sunday. He found the most fitting card - depicting two kids that looked like twins, one dad, one orange cat and a pillow that looked like Pascal (our other black and white cat), with mom passed out on the couch. The caption said "Oh No" and inside read "The Server's Down!" "Time to relax and enjoy mother's day".

We spent the day relaxing around the house, took a quick trip to IKEA to get an idea of what cribs are all about, and went out to Cafe Gratitude for dinner which was delicious!. I received several "happy mothers day to be" greetings from people that day and cards in the mail. I'm so glad to have such a great husband, family and friends! Here are a few photos of the not-so-pregnant and so-pregnant perspectives of me...