Thanksgiving Guest Post: The Best Thing…

For NaBloPoMo, I asked Auntie Kim (and FavAuntie) if they would write a guest blog post for me. I promised them I wouldn't edit or censor - maybe just spell check. Auntie Kimis up first and has the honor of posting on Thanksgiving. And I'm thankful that I don't have to come up with a post for today. Hard to avoid the cheesiness.

The Best Thing...

There were so many great things that happened at Collette and Sebastian’s 1st birthday party. First of all, I really do enjoy any family get together – especially when all my siblings are there. When you add extended family, it only gets better (and louder)!

Seeing the 4 “grandkids” (or nieces and nephews to me) together is always memorable. Our nephew Ben, the oldest of the four kiddos, is always so mesmerized by the smallness of the twins. Watching him interact with them is so cute! Morgan, who is 2 ½ years old, was so good with them on Saturday – she left me very impressed! She was very good at sharing/passing toys (even though they weren’t hers!) to appease Collette and Sebastian. She, too, seems fascinated by them since she is used to being the smallest and getting all the attention!

Another great thing about the birthday party was all the presents!!! I know how much the twins love their toys so to see all of the new, fun stuff they got was awesome. I got some great candids of them and their new toys, the fake fruit/veggies being a definite favorite:

Although the babies did a good job during their party, they definitely were not acting like themselves. They weren’t nearly as talkative or hyper. This was not surprising to me as there typical afternoons don’t include cake, gifts, and 20 guests. They were out of their comfort zone and clearly overwhelmed by all the external stimuli. Nonetheless, they gradually got more comfortable and explored, played, opened (read: watched Mom open) gifts, inhaled cake, etc. Which reminds me, watching them “have their cake and eat it too” was so funny! They seemed a bit confused at first (as cake tastes nothing like their typical asparagus spear or roasted red pepper) but in a good way.

So…I always wonder if the babies know who I am, if they recognize me when I come over, if they know the sound of my voice, etc. Well, something happened at the birthday party that made me realize – yup – they do! In the beginning when Sebastian was being very shy, he kept looking for a familiar face. Nicole was usually busy doing something else so she wasn’t in view. Sebastian found me, crawled over, crawled on my lap and squeezed me tight. At first I thought, “Aww, how cute, he’s hugging me!” But when he wouldn’t let go and kept looking around (as if to say who are all these strange people and what are they doing in my house?) I realized he was holding onto me because he knows me, I’m familiar to him, he felt comfortable with me. I could have cried. But instead I just squeezed him back. And, in my opinion, this was the best thing that happened at the twins’ 1st birthday party.

-Auntie Kim

Thanks Auntie Kim! We love you!!

Way Back Whenesday: Belly Pictures

Cheryl at Twinfatuation hosts Way Back Whenesday! Hop on over to see lots of other fun stories from way back when...

When I was pregnant with the twins, I bought one of those pregnancy record-keeper books called the Belly Book. Among other things, it has pages for you to paste a belly picture every week. With a twin pregnancy, the growth happens pretty fast so you can see changes in just a week. With this pregnancy, I don't think I will see such big differences from week to week so I may just do month to month photos. This weekend I will take my first one. I am already *showing* - I have been for about 1 year. The abdominal separation the twins left me with makes me look perpetually 3 months pregnant. So, stay tuned for some shameless half-nakedness.



In the meantime, here is a picture from WAY back, my last twin belly picture. I was 34 weeks pregnant when this picture was taken and, although I didn't know it at the time, my babies were just a few days away.

November 17th, 2008

I think this will be fun as a comparison shot as I grow with baby #3. I wonder if/when I will get this big!

AWOL

Since I have twins, I have everything in pairs. Including sippy cups. And because I am slightly neurotic, I can only use matching ones together. Because God forbid Sebastian be drinking from the Take 'N Toss cup and Collette from the Nuby - the horror! Well, Houston, we have a problem. A sippy cup (a Munchkin brand one) has gone AWOL. Which means I can't use its pair. Grrr.

However, the more concerning thing about the sippy cup's desertion is that I know, wherever it's hiding, it's got a little bit of milk left in there. And that milk is now spoiling and curdling and I can only imagine how foul it will be once I find it. This mom gig is not all it's cracked up to be...



I'll have party pictures up tomorrow - Thanks Auntie Kim :)

Will History Repeat Itself?

This seems to the question on many a commenter's mind as of late: Will it be twins, again? Of course, I won't know for sure until we see an ultrasound but all signs point to NO! Thank the sweet Lord. Strangely, many of my MOT friends have secret fantasies about having another set. I think they are crazy. I mean, don't get me wrong - if I find out its twins, I'll love them just as I would one baby. But there is not even one little piece of me that wishes it were twins. I'm really looking forward to a "normal" singleton pregnancy. And hopefully one baby won't take the same toll on my body that two did.

So, how do I know it's not twins? Well for those of you who don't know, we have used IVF for both pregnancies, this last one a single FET. We know there is just one embie in there - if it does end up being twins, they will definitely be identical. And run the risk of sharing a placenta and/or sac, both higher risk situations than my fraternal twin pregnancy. Also, the hormone levels (HCG, to be exact) does not indicate twins. Just hints at a very healthy, singleton pregnancy. Of course, I will sleep sounder once we see the nugget on the screen and see the heartbeat. Hopefully that will happen sometime next week.

In the meantime, thank you all for your well wishes. We are so thrilled to be adding another baby to our family.



PS - we are due July 25th! Now I have to wrap my brain around the concept of being pregnant for the whole 40 weeks. Hrm...

O.N.E. = O.M.G.

I couldn't even post yesterday there was so much going on. Sebastian and Collette turned one!! I can't even believe it. I won't say all those cliche things about how fast they are growing up or how it felt like just yesterday we were holding them in the hospital. Mostly because I don't find those things to be true. It has been an amazing year, to be sure, but at the same time it has been a lot of work - the kind that certainly feels like 12 months.

Very first picture of Sebastian

Very first picture of Collette

I wasn't sure if I would get really emotional on their birthday. Leading up to it, I was sure I wouldn't. I didn't get choked up at the thought or start to reminisce about their newborn days. But, at a MOT meeting, someone was passing on a twin breast feeding pillow. The same one that I had. The one I had given to another MOT. And she gave to another. And now that MOT was the one with it tonight, already passing it on to the next lucky mommy. And I had to blink back the tears. It was like seeing a little piece of our history that seemed so far away but there it was, staring me in the face. We have come so far since then; it feels like remembering something you saw in a movie, not something you actually lived.

And then yesterday (their birthday), it was Billy's turn to "sleep in" while I got the babies up. As usual, they stood up in their cribs as soon as they heard the door open, all smiles and squinty eyes. I started to sing "Happy Birthday" to them but couldn't finish it, I was so overwhelmed. With excitement. With joy. With pride. My babies had made it to one year and we were all happy and healthy and enjoying life as it is. What more could a mom ask for?

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the party, having the party, cleaning up the mess from the party and recovering from the party. I know it's no excuse (especially during NaBloPoMo!!) but blogging was just not part of my recovery plan. My house is still a disaster from the amazing generosity of friends and family. We will have to give away some old toys that will be replaced by all the awesome new stuff we got. Of course, with another nugget on the way, I am nervous to get rid of anything because for all I know, it could be #3's favorite. But, my toy/stroller/clothes hoarding is a topic for another post.

So, we made it. 1 year. 12 months. 365 days. 525,600 minutes. In that time we have learned:

To drink
To nap
To sleep through the night
To eat
To babble
To splash
To roll
To crawl
To stand
To clap
To play
To laugh
To love

And a million more. I can't even imagine how amazing this next year will be. Happy First Birthday Sebastian! Happy First Birthday Collette!

Happy Birthday Auntie Kim!!

Yes, this is a busy month for the Soto household. Four birthdays (if you count Sebastian AND Collette), plus Thanksgiving - its exhausting. Anyway, today, the day before my babies were born, is my sister Kim's birthday! Last year I gave her a pretty awesome (belated) birthday so I won't even try to top it this year. Except maybe the news that she will be an auntie again is pretty close.



Happy birthday to you Auntie Kim!! I can only hope to repay all the help you have given us this past year. I don't think I could have done it without you.

Wordless Wednesday: Bring It On!

Easiest blog post ever :) For more (mostly) wordless fun, check out Wordless Wednesday!

Fight For Preemies!

The blogosphere is taking today to bring awareness to premature birth and all that comes with it. As a mom to preemies, I am joining to share a bit of what it was what like to have preemies and why it's important an issue.

Up until 34 weeks and 2 days, I had a picture perfect twin pregnancy. I had appropriate weight gain, mild symptoms, no high blood pressure, no swelling, no gestational diabetes. My babies were growing and developing well inside me. All was good in the world. And then I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. They admitted me to the hospital and shortly discovered that my kidneys and liver were under a lot of stress and very close to failing. 2 days later, at 34 weeks, 4 days, I had an emergency c-section and delivered two healthy, yet premature, babies. One boy and one girl, as you already know.


All in all, our experience was not so scary our harrowing. Both Sebastian and Collette could breathe on their own and regulate their own body temperature. They didn't need light therapy for jaundice. But they were small. And lazy. They just weren't ready to be born. So, dubbed "feeders and growers" they stayed in the NICU for almost 2 weeks, learning how to eat without dozing off. They came home and did great but their prematurity and time in the NICU taught us to deal with parenting in a way we wouldn't have done otherwise. It impacted my ability to breastfeed, it still makes me nervous about eating enough and affects how we look at (and worry about) milestones.


Additionally, I have still not recovered from that fact that my body betrayed me. I truly thought I would be one of those moms who made it to 37 or 38 weeks. I was walking around, working, driving - I had no signs that I would have this happen to me. And worse yet, no one knows what exactly causes preeclampsia - although there are many theories out there. They know the risk factors (multiple pregnancy being one of them) but they can't tell you why it happens. And sadly, this disease causes a lot of premature births, as the only "cure" is delivery. I hope that the research they are doing will help shed some light on this disease but for now, the best medicine is regular prenatal care. You never know when your blood pressure will spike, as mine did, or when protein will show up in your urine, like mine did. That OB visit probably saved my life, and my babies' lives - just one example of how vital prenatal care is.

Please visit the March of Dimes to learn more about the wonderful work they do!

Makes My Monday

Join in Makes My Monday at Twinfatuation!

Well, I had some very good news making my Monday but I can't share it with you because I can't find the cord that connects the camera to my computer. I know, I know. I really should not have a blog as, clearly, technology and I do not mix. But my forgetfulness will only be getting worse :) Thank you for putting up with me.

In other exciting, week-starting news, Collette climbed an entire flight of stairs (I was spotting her after she did the first 3 steps on her own while I was putting Sebastian in his crib - oops!) and she took three baby steps today!! Go Colie!! These are the kinds of things even good parents don't get on film so I don't feel so bad about not having proof. But believe me, it happened and I was as excited as a first time mom should be. Hope that she does a repeat performance for Daddy when he comes back on Thursday.

In Da Klub

A few months back, when it was so hot I couldn't stay inside my house or go outside, I joined a very well air conditioned indoor play space. Another twin momma friend of mine joined, too, and now we kind of make a thing of it, doing a play date there at least once a week. It's been especially great as the kids get bigger and more mobile, need more room to roam.

Over the weekend, the weather was awful and I decided it was time for Daddy to experience a day in the life of a SAHM - so we all went to the Klubhouse. And took some pictures. For your viewing pleasure :)