September 28, 2008, at 6:27 pm | I was so happy that my dad was able to visit again on his way home from working overseas. He witnessed the girls’ rapid growth first-hand! At their pediatrician’s appointment last week, Rebecca weighed in at 7 lbs 3 oz, and Susanna was at 6 lbs 13 oz. Our little porkers are gaining about an ounce a day! Jim made the comment the other day that he hopes our girls don’t display the same voracious appetites when they grow up. Can you imagine ten-year-olds screaming themselves red in the face as they demand breakfast only seconds after awakening out of a deep sleep? And eating their cereal so fast that they get it all over their little cheeks, and then falling asleep with their faces in the cereal bowls? Good thing it’s adorable now!
Here are a few pictures from the weekend. I love to watch the girls sleep, especially when they snuggle up close to each other, as they often do. And sometimes they fall asleep in mirror-image positions, as you can see here (Susanna on left, Rebecca on right):
 
I think this next picture is so precious! My dad was holding Rebecca for me while I was getting some chores done around the house, and when I came back downstairs, they were both snoozing away! I think both grandpa and granddaughter were very happy with this arrangement!
 
September 25, 2008, at 9:48 pm |
September 22, 2008, at 8:23 pm | We survived our first family road trip! We braved the unknown and drove to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this weekend for Jim’s cousin’s daughter’s wedding. It’s about a 7-hour drive each way, and the girls traveled like champs. Like most babies, they enjoy riding in the car, but we weren’t sure whether that enjoyment could translate into seven hours of silence. Thankfully, we only had one instance where I had to climb into the back seat to see if I could hold pacifiers in their protesting mouths (while also attempting to not put myself to sleep; this was taking place near 11:00 p.m. on our drive down. I kept dozing off, only to be promptly awoken by indignant screams when my sleepy fingers let the pacifiers slip from their lips).
The girls even attended a portion of the wedding reception, although we had not planned their attendance in advance. We started out with Jim watching the girls at our friends’ home while I went to the wedding, and he did beautifully for his first time solo-babysitting. I made frequent phone calls to check on his progress, and only once did he sound mildly harried and commented that “this two-on-one thing is hard!†(I must interject here that Jim has always been very good at valuing the work I do with the girls, so this was not a new revelation for him!) Part of the way through the reception, the mother-of-the-bride encouraged me to invite Jim to bring the girls. So Jim tucked them into their car seats and came across town. I felt like we practically needed our own receiving line to handle all the friends and family who crowded around to meet the girls! I just hope we didn’t divert too much attention from the lovely bride. It was a wonderful wedding, and we’re so thankful that we could be a part of celebrating Joel and Holly’s blessed union!
I didn’t get any pictures of the girls at the wedding (oops!), but here are a few photos of a family birthday party we went to on Saturday night:
Jim’s Aunt Peg was more than happy to cuddle with Susanna
Uncle Tom and Aunt Peg introduced the twins to Chloe and Lauren, their six-year-old granddaughters who are two-thirds of a triplet trio. (The third triplet, Josh, was off using a foam sword in an intense jousting match, so he was too busy for silly social engagements!)
Here are Susanna (on the left) and Rebecca sporting their new hooded outfits, given to them by their Aunt Julie:
 
This last picture needs a bit of an explanation, I’m afraid! Jim spent Saturday afternoon doing what Jim does best – having fun with motorized vehicles! He and his buddies went to an ATV park and attempted to coat themselves, and their vehicles, with as much dirt as possible. They went so far as to attempt to ford a river of mud with a Polaris Ranger, only to get stuck halfway through. Fortunately, much to their delight, they were able to employ their trusty Ranger accessories and winch themselves to freedom. A good time was had by all! (And yes, Jim showered shortly after this picture was taken, although his mud-caked jeans are still sitting in our garage as I try to devise a plan to salvage them!).
September 16, 2008, at 10:13 pm | Yesterday, my mother-in-law and I took the girls back to the hospital where they were born. Approaching the hospital campus, I was reminded of the day Jim and I drove to the hospital, expecting to be there for an hour or two at most for an ultrasound, and ended up staying over 10 weeks. Thankfully, this visit indeed lasted only a few hours! We had an appointment there for what’s called a Cystic Fibrosis “sweat test” for Susanna. Blood tests had determined that she was a carrier for CF, and although it was extremely unlikely that she had the disorder itself, the blood tests couldn’t rule out the possibility, so more testing was needed.
The sweat test sounds like a medieval torture device, or at least an exacting physical fitness routine. I had visions of them locking Susanna in a sauna-like box and cranking up the heat. Fortunately, the test is very mild and non-traumatic (although Susanna might disagree with me, if her loud protests were any indication!). They simply wrap a bracelet around each upper arm that holds a disc with medicine that causes the skin to sweat. Electrodes are also secured around the arm that use a mild electrical current to push the medicine into the skin. This only takes a few minutes, and the technician assured me it wasn’t painful. Those bracelets are then removed, and a device that resembles a wristwatch is wrapped around the upper arm. On the face of the watch is a thin, coiled tube with a puddle of blue food coloring at the center. As the skin sweats, the liquid is absorbed by the watch, turned blue by the dye, and advances through the tube. After half an hour or so, ideally enough liquid is collected that the technician can then test the sample for the presence of sodium and chloride, two substances that are found in abnormally high quantities in people who have CF. However, my little Susanna didn’t sweat enough for the tech to be able to test the sample. Evidently, children under seven pounds are usually unable to produce sufficient quantities of sweat, but we weren’t informed about that when we made our appointment. So, in a few weeks, back to the hospital we will go. In the meantime, please pray that Susanna becomes a sweaty mess so we don’t have to repeat this process yet again!
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go visit the maternity ward while we were at the hospital. When I approached the nurses’ station, they didn’t recognize me at first, because they weren’t used to seeing me upright and out of bed! I had the pleasure of introducing the girls to the dear nurses who took care of me this summer. It was such a joy to show them the fruit of my labor, which was the fruit of their labors!
September 13, 2008, at 3:07 pm | Have you seen those Tide-to-Go commercials where someone sports a “talking†stain on their shirt (You can check out the YouTube version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgtfC5LBAW4)? I feel like I’m constantly checking myself for such mesmerizing stains – not only because my shoulders now function as full-time burp cloths, but because the girls often appear captivated by something unseen to my adult eye. They will so intensely fix their gaze on my forehead, for example, or on my shirtsleeve, that they are unable to pay attention to anything else. I try desperately to get them to make eye contact, but they would much rather memorize the contours of my right ear. Perhaps they will grow up to be brilliant artists, gifted with the ability to render the human form in precise detail due to their early years of study. Or maybe they’ll be Ear, Nose and Throat specialists. Or maybe they’ll just be lousy at eye contact. But I can now certainly understand the tendency to stare, because I am happiest when I am gazing at my daughters and appreciating every inch of their perfect little bodies. So whether the girls are staring into my eyes or at my eyebrows, as long as they’re letting me stare back, I’m a happy camper!
September 11, 2008, at 4:51 pm |
September 9, 2008, at 4:23 pm | My mother-in-law threw a wonderful baby shower for us yesterday. It was such a treat to be able to celebrate Rebecca and Susanna with so many friends. This shower had been scheduled to take place quite a few months back, but got postponed when the girls decided they wanted to be present to open their presents!
 
 
 
Multiple people at the shower exclaimed how tiny the girls are, which is such a crazy idea to Jim and I. The girls seem humongous in our eyes! We can’t believe how much sturdier they feel, compared to just a few weeks ago. They have very strong neck muscles, and like to pick their heads up and take in the scenery with wide-eyed stares. Yet I suspect they’re a long way from leaving the bobble-head stage of life, as they are still unable to return their heads to the original positions without letting gravity do the bulk of the work (that is, they often end up smashing their poor little foreheads!).
September 8, 2008, at 9:23 pm |
September 4, 2008, at 5:46 pm | Today is our due date! It’s hard to believe that we have nearly six-week-old twins now. We’ve been having weekly weight checks, and the girls are now weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs (Susanna) and 6 lbs 7 oz (Rebecca). That’s an 11-oz and 12-oz gain, respectively, in only one week! Jim and I had thought the girls were looking a little chunkier, and now we know why – they’re gaining over an ounce every day. It’s such an exhilarating feeling to have healthy, almost-chubby babies! I also had my postpartum check-up today and got to visit with all the girls in the office. I miss working with them. They were such a big part of my daily life for so long! I’m happy that I finally got a picture of the girls with my doctor. Things were a little too hectic to get that picture six weeks ago!
Here is Dr. S with a not-so-happy Rebecca. We didn’t attempt another photo with Susanna, as she was sleeping peacefully and I was loathe to wake her before the car ride home. As it was, Rebecca provided enough vocal accompaniment!
Rebecca nuzzled right into Alyson’s shoulder
Rebecca was quite happy in Marci’s arms
Marci and Elise showed off the girls
September 3, 2008, at 9:49 pm |
Reality finally hit today. A wonderful reality. I was sitting on the couch with one sleeping girl slung over each shoulder, watching a TV special about a family with twins who were born at 24 weeks. As I saw the tiny bodies of the twins on TV, encased in their sterile isolettes and laced with tubing, it hit me: those could have been our girls. Those almost were our girls. The Lord spared our family from a trial beyond our imagination by keeping me pregnant long past the point that I went into labor. If I had delivered when my preterm labor began, it’s very possible that Jim and I would still have an empty house and would be visiting our girls in the hospital, if the Lord had seen fit to preserve both their lives. Of course, none of this is news to me. But something about seeing those little babies on TV fight for their lives while I had two warm, sticky faces nuzzled under my chin…
I praise God for His unbelievable mercy toward us. He provided us with the new life of salvation by giving Jim and I faith in the work of His beloved Son on the cross, and he delivered unto us the lives of our precious daughters. He spared not His only son, and He spared our only daughters. We don’t deserve either gift. May the Lord renew within me gratitude for His abundant grace.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. You see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:1-2, 6,8).
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]. |
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