Happy 2nd Birthday Rebekah

Yes, she IS royalty in this house. The crown is a present from her older brother. He was very excited to give it to her, as he made it for her on Monday at therapy. He also saw it fit to be the one in charge of keeping it on her head...at all times!
We can't believe our little girl is two years old...technically yesterday...but since we are doing her cake tonight, she got her crown and a post on the blog. She has been practicing her "blowing out the candles" technique over the past few weeks by attempting to blow out our Advent candles each night. We'll see how she does tonight!
In a house FULL of boys, this little girl has managed to live up to her "pretty little thing that no one will mess with" reputation. She is all girly on the outside, but inside she's a fierce bear that when riled, will strike out quite un-girly like...and smile when she's all done.
Having a birthday not only around Christmas time, but just before the New Year is proving to be difficult for us. There really isn't a good time to do any kind of party the way we do for her brothers, so instead we are celebrating with those who dare to venture out tonight to come to our house and bring in the New Year. We couldn't think of a better way to start off 2009 than by celebrating our little girl!

Happy Birthday Rekekah! We love you!

Who? and How?

Who's that girl?






How is he doing that?

Happy 6th Birthday Ethan!

It's hard to believe that 6 years have come and gone since we brought our first born home. We couldn't have imagined the journey that tiny little baby would have taken us on. In some ways it feels like only yesterday, Mike and I we were sitting on our couch staring at his little body, wondering what he would be like, sound like, look like as he got older. Now, as we see, (and hear) what he has become, we couldn't be prouder or more excited about what is yet to be. In other ways, we feel like he's been part of our lives for so much longer...how did we live before him? :)

Happy Birthday Ethan. I know it's a little late here in "blog land". Mommy was a little behind at party planning, and getting it all together to celebrate for you. At least you got to enjoy a cake and the company of the people who love you, on your birthday.

We love you big guy!

Santa...Meet the Ouellettes

Believe it or not...it only took 7 pictures to get this one. Even Santa was impressed. Thank goodness for that John Deere wagon...Joshua didn't have to touch Santa at all! Of course Eli decided it was a great time to yak up his previous meal...but Santa was a good sport! The Elf said we had the best prop, (the wagon) she's ever had in a photograph. We weren't thinking of it as a prop so much as a way to keep some of our kiddos contained with minimal screaming!

Merry Christmas!

One Of Those Days

Some days, this is exactly how I feel. I just didn't think the world needed to see my belly. Ethan's belly is looks soo much better.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a time of quiet reflection...an annual reminder that God has, again, been ever so faithful. The solid and simple things of life are brought into clear focus."

- Charles Swindoll

Got It!

Here's the other cutie pie! Just love those smiles. Tell me...do you think they have the same smile? Do you know who is who? :0)

The Fab Five

Yes, it's been awhile since I've given updates on our kiddos...but you try getting near the computer for any length of time with the brood I have!! I'm lucky to use the bathroom during the day! :)

Having said that, I actually have some moments here and there, so bear with me as I try to get the info. out there.

ETHAN - We couldn't have given this child a more suitable name. It means strong...and this kiddo is certainly that. He has had a rough go of it lately, but still remains our lovable Ethan.

He had his GI appt. last week, and we are happy to report he is again thriving. He weighs in at 34 lbs which keeps him at the 1st% for weight. His height is 40.67" (or 3ft. 4.67in.) which also keeps him in the 1st%. As Dr. Hofley put it..."he's back on his own curve again!" She looks at the overall more than the little gains and since his BMI is in the 22nd% she is happy.

We have had setbacks though in other areas of his life...mainly the therapeutic ones. Due to many insurance snafus, he hasn't had regular OT since June, nor has he had HIPPO since August. It is showing, and is difficult for everyone in the house right now. It is amazing though how forgiving a soon-to-be 6 year old can be. Every night when I go in to tuck him in, I kiss him and tell him I love him...and he ALWAYS says it back to me. Even on the roughest days. We hope to start up his schooling again as we took the summer and most of the fall off due to the arrival of the dynamic duo, and both he and I are anxious to get things back onto a more predictable schedule. The unpredictability of our days is getting to me as well! I will do more posts on Ethan another time. I do have 4 other children to talk about!

JOSHUA - My "Trying Three Year Old". I know that moms out there will agree with me...2 year olds are NOTHING compared to 3 year olds. OH MY GOODNESS! This child will be excellent at any profession that involves a strong will, and a charming personality. He is the reason for my gray hairs right now, and I am eternally sorry to my parents for my third year of life! Wow, what a trip!

He had his GI checkup as well, and is continuing to thrive quite nicely. Unlike his brother though, he is gaining in leaps and bounds. He weighs in at 27 lbs which places him in the 5th%. His height is still in the 1st% at 34.76 " (2 ft. 10 3/4 in.) Unlike his brother his BMI is at a whopping 55%! Needless to say, his visits with the GI may soon be a thing of the past. Dr. Hofley has placed both boys on a 3 month checkup instead of every 6 weeks, so we will see how things go.

We have also had some surprising, (not-so-surprising) news about Joshua. I may have mentioned back in the spring that he was receiving Early Intervention for a speech delay and that he was continuing on with HIPPO after he became 3 years old to help him along. Well, we had him further evaluated by Easter Seals for Sensory Integration Dysfunction, and he now needs to have at least an hour of OT a week like his brother. Because of the very same insurance snafus mentioned above, Joshua hasn't had his regular HIPPO therapy since August, and it is showing with him as well. He had been making excellent progress, and now has regressed a bit. We're looking forward to January 1st when our insurance starts all over again! In the meantime we've been doing research and filling out more applications to see about getting some financial assistance to help out when this happens again next year! The good news is that his Pediatric Neurologist feels that with therapy, Joshua will be able to catch up and learn what is needed to lead a typical child's life. (whatever that is! :)

REBEKAH - Ahh, little Miss Rebekah...she is everything a little girl should be...and Mike and I are glad she is in the middle of all these boys. Not that she will need the protection from them, but that it will hopefully keep her from becoming tooooo girly! I was a tom boy myself...and didn't have any brothers...so we'll just have to wait and see.

She will be 2 years old next month, so I don't have any updates on her right now. Besides, she is the healthiest one in the house...in both her general health and her development, so there wouldn't be much to write about in those regards. However, she is my daughter, and we never have a shortage of the many things that are Rebekah.

Precocious doesn't begin to describe my little darling...(as you can see from the picture on the right). She is full of "it" and she knows it. She will not only keep her brothers in line, she will out do them in any thing they try. Most people say to us..."oh the poor little thing, stuck in the middle of all those boys!" I say, "oh those poor boys...on either end of THAT little girl!" The stories we have to tell, and she hasn't even hit her second birthday. I'm not afraid to tell you that I'm a little apprehensive about her turning 3...yipes!

CALEB AND ELIJAH - Mike and I still find ourselves staring at them in awe of their presence. We even joked about having twins when we first got married. We agreed we wanted a big family, but by that we meant 3 maybe 4 children. We then said that we would decide to have the 4th child only to find out that we were instead having twins...who knew we'd be right?? Very bizarre. In any case, it still catches me whenever I say that I am the mother of 5 children. In fact, I had a good friend remind me the other day, that I am actually the mother of 6...with my Michaela up in heaven. It is amazing how God blesses us...

In any case...these two are now 2 months old. My how time goes by when you are so very sleep deprived. I have never, in my 33 years of life...including my college years...have experienced such sleep deprivation. It is amazing that I'm able to type this out and have it sound (mostly) coherent! Thank goodness for spellcheck!

As for the boys, they had their two month checkup and are growing quite nicely. Caleb is 9 lbs. 3.5 ozs. and Elijah is 9 lbs. 12 ozs. They are even on the charts, with Caleb in the 5th% and Elijah in the 10th%! WOW! Developmentally they are right on track, and unless you know they were born prematurely, you wouldn't know it looking at them. We were very happy with their checkup. It's so great to hear that all of these sleepless nights, and non-stop breast feeding days are paying off. I try not to think about future sleepless nights and the solid food filled days...just one sleepless night at a time!

What a Smile!

Isn't that beautiful? It only took 9 pictures too! Now, if I can just get his brother to cooperate...

Happy Halloween

Snuggly Twins

Just too cute, aren't they?

Two Babies...One Mommy

So, how does one mommy carry two crying, needy babies??

With the help of a Moby of course!!

I had purchased the Moby wrap when I had Rebekah and remembered that there were directions on how to wrap it and carry twins. At the time, I was using it just to carry Rebekah around and never considered that I would be using it to carry my own twins!

Tired?

As you can only imagine...the answer is YES! It's funny how it's one of the first questions that people ask following the question of how the twins are doing..."are you getting any sleep?". How does one answer that?

As any new parent, (whether it's your first, second, or fifth child), can attest to, being tired is just a matter of course when you have a new baby in the home. Never did I imagine just HOW tired parents of twins would be. If either one of us stops for longer than 5 minutes, we will be asleep. I have never been like this. I used to be amazed at how Mike could fall asleep so easily. Just sit down, close your eyes, and before you know it...sound asleep. For me, it's always been a process...tough to wind down long enough to actually get any restful sleep. Now, no problem! If my body is at rest for any amount of time, I'm asleep.

Yes, we are getting some sleep...usually a 3 hour stretch at some point at night, followed by another 2 to 2 1/2 hour stretch after the 3 am feeding...obviously it's not enough, but it's amazing how psyched we are when we wake up to find we have been out for 3 hours!!

It's only a matter of time before we find ourselves having longer stretches of sleep. This period in our lives is really a very short one...but it has become even more obvious to us just how much sleep we were getting when we thought that wasn't enough. Besides, it's all worth it when we look down at those two little miracles to see this...

Aren't they sweet? A little brotherly love from Big Brother Caleb, to his Little Brother Elijah.

more pictures

here are a few more pix.

i have more to convert so give me a few.
let me kow how they load - kinda big.
later
.mike

little update

ok!



mike here.



it has been a crazy first 4 days for caled and elijah. after a sucessful extraction and a few hours with us they had to head on up to the nicu due to some respiratory issues. nothing out of the ordinary just 36 week premi (is that how you spell it) issue. after that cleared up they started with the blood sugar isuue, the body temp, now it's jaundice and weight gain. it's funny how one is resolved and the next pops up.



they are doing well though the IV's have been removed and the glucose tests have stopped. now it is weight gain and jaundice. which looks like it is moving in the right direction as of late. so that is where we stand right now.



michelle is doing well. after a tought night the boys are back on track with eating and michelle is feeling better. jeez i though we were tired with 3! holy cow! me thinks i have coffe for blood.



i am going to try and post a few pics.



more updates as time permits!



oh and thanks to everyone who has baby sat, visiterd called, prayers and even some of that irish canadian luck!



we could not have done/do it without all your help!



onto some pix!

Just a thought...

Sometimes we get sooo caught up in a I-didn't-accomplish-anything-today frame of mind, that we don't take into account the everyday accomplishments. Sometimes a part of motherhood, is just making it through the day, ending it with a much needed "good night I love you" to your children as you whisk them off to bed so you can enjoy an hour of peace and quiet.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Kind of helps those of us Type A personalities keep it all in perspective! :)

Just a few pictures of the boys...

...horsing around...

...pirating the house...

...and in general "driving" me crazy! (see the slippers haha)

More Twin Updates

Since I'm seeing all of these doctors so often, I'm able to have constant updates on their growth and my progress toward "Double D Day"!

The specialist, Dr. Johnson, is a perinatologist and he deals with high risk pregnancy's. Since there was a slight concern regarding the weight difference between the twins, (a 1/2 lb.), the docs decided it was in our best interest for Dr. Johnson to take a look at things. His ultrasound room is really cool...from the comfy recliner bed, to the 30" HD screen on the wall so that I could really see everything they were seeing.

Twin A is VERY low in the uterus but vertex (head down) and weighs in at around 4 lb. 5 oz. He has a head of hair, (yes we could really see it), and likes to have his feet wrapped up around the head of his brother. Twin B is quite the opposite and is VERY high in the uterus, still breech with his head and body almost transverse but not quite. He weighs in at 4 lb. 13 oz, also has a head of hair and likes to kneel on his brother's head. They refused to look at the "camera", so we couldn't get any good pictures to show you...stubborn little guys. It's safe to say they have already run out of room! AND, they are only going to continue to get bigger. That's right...I have 9 lbs. 2 ozs. of baby in there already and they are only going to get bigger. Let's recap the size of my other kiddos...shall we? Ethan: 7lb. 1 oz...3 days early; Joshua 6 lb. 11oz...2 weeks early; Rebekah 7lb. 4oz...2 weeks early!!! I'm not quite sure where I'm going to put these babies!

Anyway, even though they are still about 1/2 lb. different, they are both growing well and staying on their own curve...so at this time no worries with regards to their health. The biggest dilemma right now, is delivery. If they stay the way they are by the the time I have my next ultrasound at 36 weeks, I will have to schedule a c-section for 39 weeks. If I go into labor before then, (please, please, please), then they will do one more ultrasound to determine again where the babies are, and if they aren't BOTH vertex, then they will do a c-section. Only if both babies are vertex will they allow me to do a VBAC. Again, completely out of my hands...not something this type A personality can deal well with...but I know that there is a plan and God will make sure that things turn out the way they are supposed to. (Ask me again tomorrow and I may not be as optimistic and faith filled, but I can blame it on the hormones which are raging out of control on an hourly basis...just ask my poor husband!)

The other fun thing I get to do are non-stress tests, NST's, twice a week!! Every Tuesday night and Friday afternoon I have to get hooked up to the monitors so they can evaluate how my placenta is holding up to the nutrient exchange and demand from the babies. It's not too bad, as I get to lay back and relax for an hour, it's just trying to find that hour where I could get away to do it. As long as the test results are "reactive", we know that my placenta is holding together well. Reactive means, the babies are moving at least 2 times every 20 minutes, and with that movement their heartbeats go up about 15 beats and hold for at least 20 seconds, before coming back down to a resting beat. If the test is "non-reactive", then they will repeat the test the next day, and if the results are the same, then they would determine whether the babies need to be delivered ASAP to keep them healthy.

Who knew there was so much to think about with twins? Just when I thought I had gestation and delivery down pat, my body decides to throw in this interesting twist, you know, to keep me guessing. One thing I know for sure, Mike and I are getting more an more excited to meet these little guys. We can't wait to lay them side-by-side, stare into their little faces, smile and say hi!

Just a Quote

"Children are comforted when they're held in their parents' arms. Hugs help sparkle up a day."

-Gary Smalley and John Trent

Twin Update

No startling news...just an update.

I have to visit the docs every week now, and at every appt. undergo a non-stress test. For those of you who don't know what that is...I basically sit upright in a bed or chair for anywhere from 20 -45 minutes with two heartbeat monitors as well as another device that monitors contractions, attached to my belly. For me, it's actually quite relaxing as I have to sit still and relax for a set period of time. For the twins, they take the invasion of there ever decreasing space personally and bring forth an onslaught of punches, kicks and movements unlike those they do on a regular basis. So much to the point that one of them ended up with the hiccups towards the end.

Mike and I were in stitches, (which kind of ruins the whole "non-stress test" part of the test) because you can actually hear them beating on the monitors along with their heartbeats and hiccups. It really felt great to hear them and laugh over the fact that we really do have two little incredibly active, healthy babies in there.

The results of the test basically told us that I'm experiencing numerous braxton-hicks, and that the babies are dealing with that tightening just fine. Due to the lack of space, I have to be monitored to make sure that both babies can handle what my body is about to do to them when I go into labor. Sometimes one baby won't be able to deal with the contractions due to placement in the womb. Which is why we meet with the perinatologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock next Wednesday. He will do a more specialized ultrasound to determine size, placement and my ability to deliver them...which still remains undecided.

We've been able to discuss, quite openly with the midwives what our wishes are, knowing ultimately we will do what is necessary to help these babies come into the world safely. It is more a matter of trusting the will of God, as well as the experience of our incredible midwives.

The ultimate goal...aside from getting week to week, we'd like to make it to September 2nd as that will put me at 35 weeks. At that point, any signs of labor will be allowed to progress how is seen fit at that time. The average delivery for twins is 36.3 weeks...which would be around the weekend of September 12-14. I am currently 32.3 weeks, but measuring at exactly 38 weeks...about 6 weeks ahead. Most twins measure about a month ahead, so we're growing well. Having said that, I've only gained 35 lbs., but both the docs and the midwives are happy with that weight gain as the babies, so far, have achieved their appropriate weight gains for their gestational age. So, we will continue to eat, rest and prepare as best we can. Please pray for our little guys, as well as the rest of our kiddos because things are about to change like we've never imagined...and we can't wait!