Sophie Sleeps Through Night

I will count this as sleeping through the night - Sophie had her last bottle around midnight last night and woke up early this morning - I think maybe around 6:00... but Dad gave her her pacifier and she dozed until time to get up, which is 7:00. Sophie is pictured above with Grandpa - this was taken just before we left Georgia on Christmas Day. We are so proud of her for sleeping at night! She is getting better at being awake during the day too and is smiling a lot. So she must also be pleased with the progress.

Both girls are doing better with sleeping at night - I think they are starting to get the concept. They wake up in a good mood when they get a lot of sleep too. Mary slept last night from 8:30 PM to 7:00 this morning. Actually, she stirred about in her crib until about 9:30, but that was still the longest stretch of sleep she's had. I woke her up this morning and she was all smiles. Which is especially nice, since she is just getting over a cold.

The girls and our two dogs did great on the trip down to GA and back to VA. We were all road warriors, stopping only to get gas and for Mom and Dad to use the restroom. Simon and Bailey stayed in the backseat of our rented minivan the whole time. They could not really get out of the van w/ the car seats in the middle seats anyway. Before you go thinking that we are cruel to animals and children for leaving them in the car the whole time - we made our voyage at night - leaving around 11 PM and arriving around 7:30-8 AM on both trips. The girls pretty much sleep as long as the car is moving. So either way we would have lost a night's sleep - better it be making progress on the road then up all night after driving w/ 2 infants all day long plus stopping to feed them.

Sophie and Mary had a nice first Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Forsyth. Santa came to see them and brought them some fun toys that make noises. They can't really play with them yet, but they enjoy listening to the sounds and looking at the bright colors. It won't be long before Mary will be playing her little toy piano and Sophie will be beating her drum.

Turns out that Sophie is the #1 name for 2007. Grandpa heard it on the radio while we were down visiting. We did not know we were so trendy. But that's a cool little fun fact - think I'll write it in the baby book. Once the girls are sleeping at night I'll get right on top of that.

There's Something About Mary

I'm dedicating this post to Mary today because I am so proud of her - she slept through the night last night! She went to bed at 12:30 AM and woke up at 7:00 this morning doing just fine. Sophie on the other hand drank like a fish around 2:00 in the morning but then she slept until Mary decided to get up. We have to work on keeping Sophie awake and eating better during the day.

Hopefully a similar post dedicated to Sophie will be coming soon??

I think it helps to stay optimistic.

Holiday Outtakes

Isn't it the law now that all parents of newborns have to feature their picture on the family's Christmas card? In order to retain our status as upstanding citizens, we've been working on capturing that perfect photo (not pictured here!) to mail out to our family and friends. We finally got it I think. Well, close enough - before Sophie spewed her milk all over Mary. But just thought I'd share some outtakes on the blog. Thanks to Grandma for the Christmas outfits.

Sophie's on the left and Mary on the right in each photo.

Fun with Babies

Sophie

It's been a while since the last post so here are some more baby pictures. Today we all went shopping together at Whimsies - it's a cute children's clothing store but kind of boutique, so we've never been there. We had a gift certificate from Peter's boss and his family so we bought some winter hats for the girls.

I'm not sure how much they weigh now but they've been growing and must weigh much more than they did last doctor's visit. Unfortunately, I weigh about the same - I know it will take time to get off the baby weight but they really talked up breastfeeding in all those books and childbirth classes. It's supposed to burn 500 calories a day and that's just for one baby. But enough about me. Besides if I go somewhere with the girls, they get all the attention. And they are much more fun to buy clothes for! I think Grandma Carol would agree - we just received more outfits in the mail from her today. :)

So since we bought some cool hats we had to take pictures of the girls wearing them, of course. We got Sophie's picture first. I took Mary's picture after some play time and the next feeding, by that time she was already tuckered out, but still cute in the hat.

Dad, Sophie and Mary

Playful Mary

Sleeping Mary

Due date this week

Mary and Sophie (L to R): "We're hungry!"

We are now past Mary and Sophie's official due date - November 13th. I can't imagine if I were still carrying them at the size they are now! Our last doctor's appointment was last Friday. Mary weighed 6 lbs and Sophie 6 lbs 9 oz. Mary is still smaller but has gained a little height on Sophie - by 5/8 in. Other than some spit up and gas they are doing quite well. Mary started taking some Zantac for reflux this week so hopefully that will help some.

Grandma Carol is here visiting and Dad has gone to Chicago for the weekend to collect some data at Argonne National Lab. He'll be back Sunday night. Grandma will stay then Grandpa and Uncle Russ are coming to visit for Thanksgiving.

Grandma has been a lot of help so far and is enjoying being w/ the girls. I bet she will be tired when it is time to go home though! She'll stay at the hotel w/ Daddy and Russ when they get here. Maybe they can get me a room too! But I might miss my girls more than I miss my sleep right now.

Happy Halloween!

Thank goodness no trick or treaters again this year - we did not even buy any candy. But being Halloween we had to get out the girls' pumpkin hats. They were a gift from Emily Duke, a lady that goes to church w/ my parents. The bibs are from my mom. When we got the hats, I did not think we'd be able to use them on Halloween since we were not expecting the girls until next month!



The thing to do here in Charlottesville is to dress up the kids and take them out to the lawn at UVa. The lawn is surrounded by the Rotunda and some prestigious dorms where you have to be somebody to live there - they have wood burning fireplaces in each room. I think you have to go outside to go to the bathroom though... but I digress... The point is that the place is overflowing with parents and kids and I heard that the students are told to buy around $300 worth of candy each to have on hand. It is a Charlottesville tradition. I met w/ some folks in my Mothers of Multiples group Monday night and they were talking about going to the lawn and what their kids were going as this year. I guess if we are still in C'ville we will be out there with those crazy parents. At least we live close so we would not have to worry about parking.

We had a nice Halloween here at home though. A lady from our church brought us some fried chicken for dinner. And some guys came out to fix our furnace so we have heat now. Peter could not get the pilot lit the other day so the landlord came by yesterday but it would not stay lit for him either. He also brought us a big gift basket w/ lots of goodies. :) It was fun watching the heating and cooling guys try to fix our ancient furnace. Peter said they had to take it out from under the house and clean it out 3 times before it would work. They said it must have come over on the Mayflower.

Fortunately we have a space heater for the girls so they've been nice and toasty this whole time. But now I won't be cold when we get up to feed them. I'm happy to hear the clanging and popping of the furnace again. And I'm enjoying the gift basket too, except I made myself sick today from all the peanuts and chocolate I've been eating out of the basket. Maybe I could have used some trick or treaters after all. I would have not eaten so much chocolate, and I would not be eating so many Tums right now! Tomorrow I'll eat the fruit. Isn't that always the last thing to go out of gift baskets?

Together at Home

We're all at home now - actually tomorrow it will be a week but we've been adjusting to our new home life, hence the delay on updating the blog. Sophie and Mary were discharged from NICU on Tuesday, October 23rd, which is the day they would have been considered full term for twins (37 weeks). They are having their first tummy time at home in the picture above, Sophie on the left, Mary on the right.

We've had a pretty good week. Thursday was our first trip to the doctor and we got a clean bill of health. Grandma and Grandpa Edge came to visit over the weekend and helped with some of the feedings, diaper changes and baby kisses. Mom and Dad are doing well and getting a bit of sleep now and then. It is fun to be together at home!

Mom and Mary at the NICU

Mom and Sophie at the NICU

Dad getting Sophie ready for the ride home

We made it!

Sophie slips into something a little more comfortable

Mary and her lion chilling in the bouncy seat

Mary and Sophie's First Bath

We got to give Mary and Sophie their first bath in NICU last night. It was so much fun. We finally got to get them naked and take all the little monitors off of them. It was the first time we've held them without any wires attached. Peter went first and gave Sophie her bath. She was not too happy at first but did fine. I think Peter was a lot more nervous than she was. Our nurse Donna coached him well though. Then I gave Mary a bath and we had a great time. She really enjoyed it, especially when I washed her hair. Peter said he had never seen her so happy. She has actually been more alert since then. I know how she feels! It is no fun being in a hospital bed without being able to take a shower or a bath. We did not have our camera with us but took some pictures with Peter's phone to capture the moment. The pictures are a little red - that's because the girls were under heat lamps so they would not get too cold. They are doing well with maintaining their temperature though. I think they may get out of their isolettes tomorrow and will be coming home with us soon!

Peter and Sophie	Sophie in the tub
Mary in the tub

Making Progress

Today was a good day in NICU. The girls still have to be there a few more days until they can both maintain body temperature. As it stands now, Sophie may get to come home a day or 2 before Mary since her isolette is at a bit lower temperature. She's also the bigger baby.

Mary is eating a lot better now and is doing well at both breastfeeding and the bottle. Over the weekend one of the nurses could not feed her and put in a feeding tube. They left it in and she's been feeding from that for about 1/3 of her feedings. They finally took it out today and she's eating a lot better. Today our nurse was Sarah, who is also a lactation specialist. She explained that if the girls breastfeed well, then they should not be expected to finish their entire bottle. That was a relief. Mary breastfed twice today for 20 and 15 mins and did a good job. She did not finish her bottle after breastfeeding, but she came pretty close. At the other feedings she just had a bottle and finished it fine. Hopefully she is continuing to do well tonight. Peter was there for the 6:00 PM feeding but we did not go back there tonight - we went out with some friends.

The girls are wearing their own clothes now, which is nice. They got some outfits in the mail from Grandma and Great Aunt Dorothy. We did not have any preemie size clothes. We bought some too though and actually had a few things in "newborn" size that fit them fairly well. Now that we can use our clothes we can dress them a bit warmer too, which will help them get out of those isolettes. Both Mary and Sophie have broken in their new outfits by soiling themselves, but that's OK! When Mary gets dirty she gets very upset - she likes to be clean and fresh.

Here's a picture of Sophie that Peter took yesterday. I just wanted to finally get one of her with her eyes open. It will be a lot easier to capture some Kodak moments when they get home...

Still growing...

We are so ready for our little girls to come home! But all the same, we don't want them to come home too soon - they are still working on getting strong. Peter and I have a little feeding routine now. He checks Sophie's temperature, changes diaper, hands her to me to breastfeed then does the same with Mary. After we try breastfeeding a bit, each girl goes back to Daddy to get fed from a bottle. Sophie is a good eater, she eats pretty steadily and finishes her bottle with no fussing (like her dad). Mary is eating but takes her time and has to burp a lot (I admit - like her mom!). They are both making a little progress with breastfeeding. Sophie seems to have the hang of it lately, in fact, when I've passed her over to Daddy for the bottle she's tried to suck on him a couple of times. :)

The thing with breastfeeding is that you don't know how much milk they are getting, and that's something that's really important right now. But they are both getting mom's milk through the bottles with no formula supplement. So I am proud that I'm able to provide for my girls.

The real reason for this post is that my mom wanted to see a picture we have of Sophie with her little hat. So here's Sophie! We still have to get some pictures of her with her eyes open. We have just been keeping busy during our last few visits and have not taken any new pictures. We'll get on top of that.

The Girls are HERE!

Sophie Elizabeth and Mary Virginia Horanyi were born on Sunday, October 7th, 2007.

Sophie was born at 7:14pm, weighing 4 lbs 5 oz and 44 cm (17.33 in) long. Mary was born at 7:15 pm, weighing 4 lbs and 43 cm (16.93 in) long. They arrived 5 weeks 2 days early but are doing great. They had to be born early because mom got really sick (mom is doing fine now too). They are still in the UVA Children's Hospital being monitored to make sure they are growing and eating well and should be at home in a week. They are just perfect but a little small. They have been breathing, eating and doing everything on their own since they arrived, and we are really proud of them! We can see them as much as we like but cannot get them too tired because they really have to concentrate on getting fatter. In a way it has been a blessing that they are being taken care of there, because we were not prepared to bring our babies home yet! We are learning a lot from the nurses and doctors there and will be much better parents when they are ready to come home.

We were anxious to find out if the girls were identical or fraternal. Though we figured they were probably fraternal, there was a small chance they were identical - I thought that would be cool since it is a rarer occurrence. Well, they are very different! It is like Peter and I each have a little image of us. Sophie is the spitting image of her daddy and Mary looks more like I did as a baby. Here's Sophie getting a little tan. She has been lounging under the lights some because her bilirubin count has been a bit high and they are preventing her from getting jaundice. Peter actually had similar issues when he was a baby. But of course he was fine, and Sophie is doing well, too.

Mary is a little smaller than Sophie but she is doing well and will be able to catch up soon. She has been eating well for Daddy but some of the nurses are not able to get her to eat as well. They are all good but each have their different ways of handling the babies. She is very curious and likes to see what's going on while she's awake. This picture was taken after she got a new little hat. They have lots of knitted caps that are donated by volunteers. Their nurse Donna found these 2 hats earlier and thought they were nice and set them aside for Mary and Sophie to wear.

Getting there...

Our girls are doing great, but it was not an easy road for either of us - it took a lot longer than expected with several detours. I was in the hospital for a week. I was admitted on Thursday afternoon, October 4th, after stopping by the OB clinic for what I thought was a stomach bug. Though I had been retaining fluid and swelling a lot, I never had any other issues and the pregnancy was going pretty well. Each time I had an appointment, I asked about the swelling, but my blood pressure was always low and the doctors had no reason for concern. It had gone up a bit when I stopped by the clinic but was 118/70 so still on the low side. I got a prescription for a nausea pill but was told to go up to Labor and Delivery for some blood tests as there was a trace amount of protein in the urine they tested at the clinic. Just as a precaution - it would probably take a couple of hours then we'd be on our way.

Peter went with me to Labor and Delivery then went back to work for a while (he just has to walk through the hospital link to get over to his lab in the next building). He came back and walked in as they were telling me that we may not have the babies that night or the next day but I had to be admitted immediately. I had severe preclampsia. From the time we left the OB clinic and went up to the 8th floor, my blood pressure had skyrocketed. I also had issues with my liver and blood platelet count. During the time between being admitted and having the girls, I swelled up beyond recognition. You can tell in this picture of me and Mary during my first visit to NICU that I had been through a lot. Who's arm is that? It's not my arm, my arm is maybe half that size!

They tried to induce labor at the UVA Hospital for three days, which sounds just ridiculous. But they were hesitant to do the surgery because it would take longer to recover from all the complications. And the girls were in position for delivery, so I really wanted to avoid a cesarean. They finally did the surgery on Sunday night after I had not had much success dilating and by that time had other issues like a swollen cervix. Yeah, everything was swollen.

Looking back, all that craziness did give the girls more time to grow in the womb. And they did great through the whole thing - they were monitored the whole time - and were in much better shape than their mom when it was all over with. I am doing well now and am feeling better every day. I look like myself now too, though it will be a couple of weeks before all the swelling goes down completely. Now we are just enjoying our beautiful girls and can't wait for them to come home. We are so proud of them!

We will all be home together soon and the next chapter begins. More to come!

Babies' Shower in Forsyth, GA

Here are some pictures from our shower in Forsyth, Georgia last Saturday. It was a great visit - we enjoyed seeing all of our family and friends and of course, got some great loot for the girls!



My Aunt Dorothy had the idea to host the shower and we really appreciate all of her work. Her daughter Sheila and my Aunts Janis and Marilyn (my mom's sisters) co-hosted the shower. We had a great brunch and had a great time opening all the gifts for our girls.

I don't know if any of you have a Mema and Papa but they are good to have - as usual they outdid themselves and amazed us all w/ their generous gifts. We are not actually related but consider ourselves family. I think they already have 10 great-grandchildren, so I guess ours will be the unofficial # 11 and 12. One of them, Lydia, came along to the shower - shown in the pictures.

There were 2 babies there - unfortunately I don't have a picture of my cousin Brent's baby Kadie. (Maybe someone else took one and can forward to us?) But I wish I could put pictures of both her and Lydia along w/ their dads b/c the resemblance is eerie. They say babies look more like their dads at first. Maybe since we will have 2 one of them will look more like me! I have to admit Peter and I were both cute babies, so I am not too worried. :) Maybe we will post some pictures for comparison once the girls arrive.

It was great to be in Georgia! Hopefully the girls will travel well and we will be back soon.

Babies' First Shower

My friend Gwen hosted a shower for our girls this weekend at West Main Restaurant in C'ville. Just a small group of friends and co-workers but it was really nice - and the brunch there is delicious. I highly recommend the blueberry pancakes.

The girls got a lot of great gifts too! So that was fun, and Peter and I had a good time playing with the toys after I got back home. Our server took this shot of us. Going clockwise, these folks are Donna Shaunessey, Ann Whitham, Billie Campbell, Stacy Cooper, me, Gwen Miller and Rochelle Garwood. Most are co-workers except Donna, who is kind of a co-worker or maybe I should say "colleague," our friend Stacy, and Gwen (who used to be a co-worker too).

And I know I'm supposed to keep up w/ this for a baby book, so here's all the prizes I got for the girls:

Lots of onesies from 6-12 mos. - Donna
Burp cloths - Ann (she is also knitting a gift that will be here soon!)
Baby monitor - Billie
Bouncy seat - Stacy
Big box of baby supplies (or the "motherload" - lots of great stuff!) - Gwen
Baby Einstein sea turtle crib toy - Rochelle

Gwen really outdid herself w/ the shower and the great gifts. She's also busy these days b/c she just got married (soon to be Mrs. Goulder if she has not changed her name already), bought a house and started a new job. She's now an aide for special ed middle school kids and today's the first day of school. So we really appreciate her thinking of us. Wonder how she's doing today...

A book was in our big box of baby supplies - I think it's called "Worst Case Scenario" baby book or something. Gwen got it especially for Peter. I think he liked the book (well maybe not as much as the toys) but he said that it assumes he's a big idiot. I wonder where she got that idea?? I think we'll be OK, though. Now that we have the book, we know not to use a shoe as a pacifier or wash the babies in the toilet, for example. Really, we'll be fine.

28 weeks 3 days

It was hot today - I rarely say that here in Virginia. It's actually just 88 deg. but the heat index is 99. A great day to sit outside at an elementary school. Well that's what I was doing today, signing up parents to carpool. It wasn't that bad though since we were under a tent and I had my big water bottle. I brought the camera along and had one of the secretaries take my picture at the end of the event, since someone reminded me it's been a while since I've posted a picture of myself. :) Maybe next time I'll have a pic w/ Peter or a friend. I feel silly just posing for a picture w/ just me and my big belly. It's just whenever I think about it there's only one person around to take the picture.

She took a picture from both sides so she could get each twin in the picture. (It kind of looks like I have a twin - a big pregnant one...) But she's about right - they've each settled in on their own side now, although sometimes they kind of move over to one side and make me lopsided.



The other day I was walking to work and a lady pulled over and offered me a ride - I guess she thought I looked too big to be walking around. Nice gesture but a bit sad all the same. I'm ready for some pictures where I have a waist again!! They say breastfeeding burns 500 calories a day - maybe since I'll have 2 I'll get a jump start?? Oh well, I still have a couple of more months to grow and waddle around so not to get ahead of myself. I know... it will all be worth it!

The girls at 26 weeks 6 days

We're in the 3rd trimester now and starting out week 28 today. Yesterday we had another ultrasound and the girls weigh about 2 lbs each, which is right on track. I thought they would be bigger - not that they should be, just feels like they have been growing a lot lately.

You would think that you can see more detail on the ultrasounds as we go along, and you can, but they are more crowded so it is harder to get good pictures. Baby B was facing my back so we could not get a picture of her face. Peter said that Baby A's profile looks like him. Maybe he's right - what do you think?

Everything is going well and we are due for another ultrasound on Sept. 10.

The girls at 23 weeks 6 days

Had another ultrasound today and the girls are growing well. They are both around 1 1/2 pounds now. The ultrasound tech I had today said that based on the size of the membrane they are probably fraternal twins. The last tech said it was 50/50 - I guess we'll find out when they get here, although whatever they are they'll probably look alike at first. I heard you should paint one of their toenails to tell them apart.

There are a couple of good shots of the faces. Although their eyes are still closed, they are now able to make some facial expressions.

I have another ultrasound in 3 weeks. They are doing them pretty frequently so they can keep track of how they are growing compared to each other. They are within 2 oz. of each other right now, so they are doing fine.

Dogs and Birds

My mom pointed out to me that I have not put a picture of our boys on the blog yet. I have pictures of Simon and Bailey in random places but not any good ones I could locate, so I took one today to post. You can tell that Bailey is less enthusiastic in front of the camera. But he's good for close-up shots, of which we have several, but I took another one today.

Simon has a problem with his right eye - if you click on the picture, you might be able to tell that his third eyelid is covering part of his eye. But he'll be fine - it will get better in a month or so - of course, we found this out a few vet visits and few hundred dollars later. It was worth it though to know we are doing the right thing. At least our kids will have insurance.

We've had 2 bird families on our back porch this summer. This is the last family that was started there. The babies stay in the nest for about 2 weeks. These flew the coop last week. I don't know what kind of birds they are, maybe sparrows, but I think they are the same kind as our first bird family. The other day there were a lot of birds just hanging out there, scoping out the place. Maybe we'll have a new family move in soon.

Why yes, it's a girl... two actually

I am noticeably pregnant now, probably much more so than if I were carrying a "singleton." It's near the end of the 22nd week. I'd rather be noticeably pregnant than people just wondering if I'm just gaining weight.

I'm standing in front of our new baby chest - well, new to us. Found it at this secondhand/antique shop called Circa on Friday. My parents and brother were in town from the 4th through Friday, which was nice - first time Russ had been to C'ville. We did a little shopping while they were here to find a dresser for the babies' room without much luck. I found this one after they left, and it's pretty solid. They don't make things like they used to. I like the colors too.

I recently got the first comments from a stranger on the babies, and I'm sure there are more to come. It was odd - just a random guy I saw walking across the street while I was on my way to my gym, ACAC, after work. He stopped me before I could cross the street, pointed at my belly and said "You're having a girl!" I think this was a few days after we found out the sexes...

me: Actually it's two girls.
random guy: I can tell because you're carrying it up high. Two, huh... they gonna cut you open?
me: Well, that's not really the plan, but I guess if they have to.
random guy: These your first? You know, all you'll have is girls from now on. That's gonna be a lot of work though - but if you've got an old man at home that's a lotta work too.
me: Yeah, I guess it will be a lot of work. I've gotta go but that's pretty perceptive of you knowing I'm having a girl.

He seemed satisfied with himself, being perceptive and all. And I had a good story about the crazy man I saw on my walk over to ACAC. At least he didn't try to touch my belly - I hear that's coming next.