We tried...

...and we failed!

We have been feeding Kyle and Emily between 11:00 and 11:30 at night and they have been sleeping until 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. Last night they were hungry about 10:00, so we feed them and decided to see how long they would sleep. They both woke up around 4:00 this morning....but they did go right back to sleep after they ate and slept until around 8:00, played for a little bit and went back to sleep again.

Back to the 11:00ish feeding it is.... maybe we'll try again in another couple weeks!

TV, TV, TV

Kyle and Emily LOVE to look at the TV. We try not to let them watch TV (they get enough screen time with Skype). Whenever there is a TV on that they can see, they are captivated by it. And now they are also captivated by the TV when it is off.

Yesterday afternoon they were laying in our bed to eat and were more interested in watching the off TV than they were in their bottles.

This morning they were both facing away from the TV and rolled themselves into this position.
Silly babies....

Potty Training at 4 1/2 months...

Emily was making her "push" face yesterday, so Brent decided he was going to start potty training her. It didn't really work. She stopped pushing and was trying to figure out what was going on.... plus, she was more interested in trying to stand on the toilet than sit. Silly daddy....

It finally happened...

....Brent was fired about eight months ago, and we haven't had to touch our savings in those eight months. Somehow God had provided enough money where most months, we still have been able to money into our savings. Well... this week, I had to transfer some money into our checking so that we will be able to pay our car insurance (we pay every six months). Then on Tuesday Brent's car started making really loud noises - he thought it car was finally dying. Thankfully, it just needs new brakes! Even though new brakes are cheap compared to a new car, it still cost money - which as of right now means more money from our savings. :(

Update: Thankfully God provided a friend who was able to fix Brent's brakes for cheap and a wonderful step-dad who bought the parts and sent them out with Kara.

A Year Ago...

. . .

It's amazing how much has changed in the past year. A year ago today when we found out that we had finally gotten pregnant, who would have thought how much life would change in that year. Here are a few of the "highlights"...

• Keyla am 20 lbs lighter than she was a year ago today
• Brent is not currently serving as a pastor
• Brent is looking for a new ministry to serve at
• Our house is for sale
• Keyla is "unemployed"
• We know way too much about pre-term labor and "false alarms"
• WE HAVE TWO BEAUTIFUL BABIES
• We know way too much about the NICU and how it works
• Keyla (and the babies) goes days at a time without leaving the house (and she doesn't care
• It's quite the event to leave the house

.... and the list could go on :)

20 Weeks Old

Rolly Polies, Push Ups, and Cereal

Over the past week or so, Kyle and Emily have really began to master the skill of rolling over!

Most of the time Kyle can go from his belly to back and back to belly without a whole lot of effort. He also can spin himself in circles when he is on his back. Kyle also loves to do baby push ups and pick his head up when he is on his belly. Once in a while he manages to get his knees up to so that he is on his hands and knees, but doesn't know what to do once he gets there.

It takes Emily a little bit more effort, but she can also go from her belly to her back and her back to her belly. Most of the time Emily does not like to be on her belly, but she is also getting good at baby push ups and loves to look around when she is happy on her belly.

They both have gotten to that point though where it is a bad idea to leave them laying on anything they can roll off of without close supervision.

At their baby well visits last week, their doctor had suggested to start weaning them from their swaddles because it is dangerous to swaddle them once they are rolling. Most of the time they are now being swaddled with one arm out. If they fall asleep without the sleep sack on, we have been leaving both arms out and they seem to be doing okay with that. They are enjoying the freedom of having one arm out when falling sleep - this means they have the ability to play with their pacifiers. It sometimes takes a little longer to get them to sleep, but the plan is to start weaning from the pacifiers soon too!

Kyle and Emily are also enjoying to eat from a spoon. We started with apples (as I wrote before) and they seemed to do okay with that. Lots of people kept telling me how much their babies' loved cereal, so I ended up buying some. Kyle and Emily love it! We have only been offering the cereal or apples to them if they finish their bottles, as milk is still their number one source for nutrition. Today when they had their cereal, more of it ended up in their bellies than on their bids! They seem to really be getting the hang of eating off of the spoon!

Schedules and Sleep... or lack of...

For several weeks we were in a pretty good routine. From 6:30 am or so until mid-night, Kyle and Emily would eat about every three hours. After the eat, they would play until they got whinny, and then go down for a nap and sleep until it was time to eat again.

Over the weekend nap time started to get shorter and by Tuesday they were only taking 20 minute naps at a time - which I would be fine with, except they were still soooo tried and didn't want to do anything but be cuddled and whine. Yesterday was a little better, so hopefully they are getting back on track.

Last night we decided to feed them at 11:30pm instead of mid-night and see if they would still sleep until 6:30am. They didn't really wake up for their bottle, but both of them chugged them right down and they slept until 6:30, and then went back to sleep until 9:30 and ate well again! They stayed awake until 11:30 and both went to sleep quickly when I put them in their crib, so hopefully they will sleep until 12:30.

This is what I would like to aim for schedule wise...

6:30 am - Bottle and go right back to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed

9:30 am - Bottle and baby food (if they finish their bottles), followed by some play time

11:30 am - Nap

12:30 pm - Bottle, followed by play time

2:30 pm - Nap

3:30 pm - Bottle, followed by some play time

5:30 pm - Nap

6:30 pm - Bottle, followed by some play time

8:30 pm - Bed

10:00 pm - Bottle and right back to sleep

But I am very aware that Kyle and Emily can't tell time and I will feed them when they are hungry (even if it's not time to eat). Also, if it's time to eat and they are still sleeping, I am going to let them sleep until they wake up.

Even though it's frustrating that Kyle and Emily are having issues sticking to their schedules, it amazes me that when one of them gets off, they both get off. It's crazy! If Kyle wakes up hungry after only two hours, Emily is hungry too. Or if Emily has only been awake for a half an hour and is ready for another nap, Kyle is too. I know they are individuals and we need to treat them that way, but it just amazes me how in sync they are with each other - and very thankful that God made them this way! Even though it's no fun to have to crying babies at the same time, it does make my life so much easier when they are doing the same thing at the same time!

Update: They woke up at 12:15 and ate and went back to sleep at 1:30.....

19 Weeks Old

Emily Giggles

Just cause my kids are cute...

Apples

So, I bought baby food a couple days ago because I was at the store... and even though I was thinking we would wait, I gave in and gave the babies some today.

I bought apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes.

Today I gave Kyle and Emily apples.

Kyle went first. His first spoon full came right back out and he made a pretty funny face. The second spoon full he kept it all in and then opened his mouth for more. He seemed to enjoy it.

Emily went second. Apparently Kyle forgot to tell her how to swallow when eating from a spoon. She seemed to like the apples, but I don't think any of it actually stayed in her mouth. She as trying to blow raspberries while trying to eat.

Some Emily Laughs

18 Weeks Old

Kyle Loves to Laugh!

Four Month Well Baby Visit

We went to the doctor today for Emily and Kyle's four month well baby visit and shots! Their weights were a lot more than last Friday... not sure if it was because they had full bellies or if they have really gained that much weight...

Emily measured at 22 inches and weighed 9lbs 12oz. The doctor was less concerned about her "stiffness" and the doctor at the Child Development Watch, but told us to keep doing the exercises they recommended and to make sure she gets plenty of tummy time - which she normally hates, but it's good for her!

Kyle measured at 24 1/2 inches and weighed 12lbs 10oz. The doctor was more concerned about the flat spot on his head than the doctor at the Child Development Watch and would like him to see a physical therapist to work on his head control and to get him to spot favoring the one side.

The doctor also said we could start with baby food and/or cereal if we wanted to. I think we are going to still wait another couple weeks, but we will in the next couple months.

A Year Ago...

Three little sperm met three little eggs and made three little babies; two of which we know as Kyle and Emily.

I often think of that third baby... I wonder what it would have been like to have triplets. Was the third baby a boy or a girl? Who would he/she look like? What would his/her personality be like? How long I would I have been able to carry triplets? Would I have had even more doctor's appointments when I was pregnant? How many diapers would we use with triplets? (We use between 15 and 20 a day with twins!) How many bottles would we need? (We use 12 with twins!) Would have I been able to supply enough breastmilk for three? Do Kyle and Emily know they are missing a sibling?

I hope that one day I get to meet our other child in heaven. I know God had a reason for only giving him/her to us for a few short weeks in my belly, but he/she was still one of my babies - a life that God had put inside of me for a short while.

Four Months Old!

Child Development Watch

The state of Delaware has a program for per-term babies to watch their development and growth. They see the NICU doctors and physical therapist and whatever other doctors are needed. It's a free program the state runs and often they can detect problems/developmental issues before parents and pediatricians can. Because Emily and Kyle had no significant issues at birth, they didn't need to be seen at CDW until they were 4 months old.

Emily is 9 lbs 4 oz and is 21 1/4 inches long, her head is 39.2 cm in circumference. She is in the 25th percentile for the adjusted age for her head circumference, but is below the 5th percentile for her weigh and height. Emily has good range of motion in her arms and legs and very good head control. She is going almost everything a normal 4 month old should be doing (which means she is doing everything she should be doing for her adjusted age of 3 months). There were two concerns with Emily. The first is that her one foot tends to bend in. When she was born, both of her legs bent in (as if she had been breached) because of how Kyle was sitting her on her in my belly. There has been great improvement, but they said we need to help her by having her put weight on her foot while holding it in the correct position. They are pretty sure the problem will correct its self without having to use braces. The other concern with Emily is how stiff she is. She can move, she just likes to be all tense. When shes on her belly, she tends to pick up her legs and butt instead of her upper body as a result of this. They gave us some exercises to do with her to help and told us to hold her butt down when she is on her belly to help build the muscles to pull her head and shoulders up.

Kyle is 12 lbs 3 oz (he had his diaper on when the cardiologist weighed him) and measured at 24 1/8 inches long, his head circumference is 42.0 cm. Kyle is in the 50th percentile for his weight for his adjusted age and is in the 5th percentile for his actual age. For his height, Kyle is off the charts for his adjusted age and in the 75th percentile for his actual age. His head circumference is in the 75th percentile for his adjusted age and in the 50th for her actual age. So, Kyle is long and skinny with a big head! His is doing everything that he should be doing for her actual age. The only concern with Kyle is that he has a flat spot on his head, but it's really not that bad and will get better and he starts sitting up and moving around more.

Over all, both my babies are happy and healthy and right where they are supposed to be developmentally. We go back again in three months to get all checked out again.

The New Toy is a Little Big....

Kyle's Appointment with the Cardiologist

Kyle had his follow up appointment with the cardiologist today. They did an EKG and Echo on him. He did very good laying still while the looked at his heart and such - mommy was very proud of him! He now weighs 12 lbs and 4 oz, and is 24 1/2 inches tall! He's getting to be such a big boy. The doctor said that he hole is about the same size, maybe a little bit smaller - it's hard to tell exactly because he moves around during the echo. But all is well and he wants him to follow up in a year!

We also got new toys for the babies.... I will post pictures later. They currently are sleeping :)

17 Weeks Old

Seven States

On Wednesday morning we had people looking at our house... so we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Brent needed to be at work about the same time I could go back home, so we went and dropped his car off at Primo's and then went to the Cracker Barrel right across the Delaware Memorial Bridge in New Jersey...making New Jersey the seventh state the babies have been too.

1. Delaware
2. Pennsylvania
3. Maryland
4. Kentucky
5. Indiana
6. Michigan
7. New Jersey

In August we will add Illinois to that list!