happy six months sweet linc

You are such a happy little baby.  You rarely ever get fussy unless you’re hungry, and then we better all watch out!  I love getting to hang out with you during the days, and I know I am one of the luckiest people in the world to get to spend my days taking care of you.  This past week something tragic happened and several mamas and daddies lost their little ones.  I am having such a hard time dealing with the sadness I feel over it all, and so many times in the past week I have just sat and held you and your sister and just wept.  I weep because of how sad I am at the thought of even the possibility of losing you.  I weep out of happiness because I can hardly believe how blessed I am to have you in my life.  I weep out of sympathy for those families and for the loss they are dealing with.  I hope I never have to figure out how to function without you in my life, baby boy.  You and your sissy are daddy and I’s greatest joys.  We love you more than words can describe.  Thank you for being our boy.

– from mama’s letter to you

What you weigh – 11 lbs. 1 oz.

What you eat – You are still exclusively nursing.  Not much has change since last month.  Your schedule is still fluctuating from day to day and we still aren’t very consistent, but we don’t care.  You are such a good little eater.

How you sleep –  You are sleeping really well these days.  You take 4 naps a day, each one about 45 minutes to an hour on average.  Some naps you cry a little bit before going to sleep, but if I put you down at just the right time, you can usually fall right asleep without crying.    You finally got to stop being swaddled for naps about a week ago, but you still get swaddled for bedtime.  During naps you sleep on your tummy, and I think you really love it.  You’ve started sleeping better than ever since we started it.

What you wear – You are in 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes.

Diaper – Still wearing Bum Genius Freetime on the smallest setting.  Still loving them!

Favorite activities – Being lifted up in the air on your tummy, talking, eating, reaching for things, taking your bath, cuddling with mama, sitting in your highchair playing with kitchen utensils, playing with your new light up toy camera

Least favorite activities – being laid down on your changing table when you’re hungry, waiting to eat.  That’s pretty much it!  You are a happy little babyJ

Big moments in your sixth month of life – Visited Great Grandma Barbara’s and Grandpa George’s just for fun – helped Grandpa make peanut brittle, visited your great great great Aunt Jean and Uncle Ollie, first trip to Duncan for your first Christmas celebration, started grabbing your feet, rolled from your back to your tummy

twin life:)

we’d rather do this than look at the camera:)

happy 5 months, linc

every single time I put you down for bed whether for naps or bedtime I get overwhelmed with emotion.  I just love the feeling of your little body against mine, your head against my chest, and I don’t ever want you to stop doing that.  And I don’t ever want to forget what it feels like.  But I know you will stop doing it.  I know my days are numbered.  And I’ve never felt so torn between two things before – wanting you to grow and learn and change….and wanting you to stay my little baby boy forever.

– from mama’s letter to you

What you weigh – 10 lbs. 7 oz.

What you eat – You are still exclusively nursing.  You eat about every 3-3.5 hours, usually for about 10-15 minutes each time.  You are such a good eater – you’ll pretty much eat anything we give you, whether it’s prune juice, vitamins or milk.  And usually if I would let you, you would stay on and nurse all day long.  At night, you only eat one time around 11:30 or midnight, and then not again until7:30.

How you sleep –  You are sleeping really well these days.  You take 4 naps a day, each one about 45 minutes to an hour on average.  Some naps you cry a little bit before going to sleep, but if I put you down at just the right time, you can usually fall right asleep without crying.    At night you are sleeping great!  We put you down around 9 or 9:30 and you sleep until about 6:30 with a dream feed around 11:30 that you don’t even wake up for.  We’re so thankful the sleep training we did is finally paying off!

What you wear – You are fully in 0-3 months clothes, and you are starting to wear 3-6 months in some things like onesies.

Diaper – You are now wearing BumGenius Freetime All in One diapers.  You wear them on the smallest setting, except sometimes we leave a snap open in the middle.  They fit you perfectly, and we love them!

Favorite activities – Being lifted up in the air on your tummy, talking, eating, reaching for things, taking your bath

Least favorite activities – being laid down on your changing table when you’re hungry, waiting to eat

Big moments in your fifth month of life – first Thanksgiving, slept through the night for the first time, first trip to Tulsa to stay the night at Uncle Jamie’s and Aunt Kristin’s, first time to Harrah to stay at Grandma’s, started reaching for things

happy 4, baby Linc

There are so many things I love about you at this age.  I love when you stick your bottom lip out right before you get really really mad.  I love how you get so excited and talk louder and louder during play time.  You love to entertain yourself!  I love the arch of your back when I unswaddle you and you stretch out.  I love how most mornings I go to get you out of bed and you’re laying there awake and quiet just looking around.  I love when you stop nursing and just look up at me with your big blue eyes.  I love your chubby little feet.  I love how your eyebrows have just come in over the last couple of weeks – they’re just like your daddy’sJ  I love when you sleep on my shoulder or just lay on my shoulder and look around.

– from mama’s letter to you

What you weigh – 9 lbs. 8 oz.

What you eat – nursing full time! Right now you are still eating every 3 hours during the day.  At the end of this month Dr. Sigler finally gave us permission to let you sleep until you wake up at night, and the first time we let you, you slept almost 10 hours!  I fed you at about 7:30, we put you in your crib about 9, and you slept until 4:30 am!  We couldn’t believe it.  You did that several nights in a row, and then we noticed you weren’t gaining weight any more.  So, we started giving you a dream feed around 10:30.  For some reason you just don’t sleep quite as well or as long the more we wake you up to eat, so as of this week we’ve been waking you up to eat around 2 or 3, and we’re hoping your weight gain will be okay.  You also have been in a growth spurt this past week, so I’ve been feeding you in between your three hour feedings.  Sometimes we struggle with your eating because you still like to fall asleep a bit too much during feedings, but I’m hoping that you’ll get better and better as the weeks go by.

How you sleep – Your sleeping habits are kind of like a roller coaster.  One week you sleep great and the next I feel like we have so much progress we need to make.  Overall, you just don’t need as much sleep as your sister.  I think if I would let you, you would try to stay up all day long and never take a nap!  Your daddy and I have to spend a lot of time soothing you before we put you down and you usually have to still spend a few minutes crying before you fall asleep.  You rarely sleep longer than about 30-45 minutes before waking up again, and only when we give you your pacifier will you go back to sleep. The good news is that we often get extra mama and Lincoln time while sissy is sleeping (shhh, don’t give us awayJ).  You sleep great at night though.  After getting permission from the doctor for you to sleep until you wake up, you slept almost 10 hours the first night!  Now at the end of the month, you go to bed around 9, I wake you up at 3 to eat and then you sleep until about 7.  While your daddy and I are still super sleep deprived because of work and pumping, it has helped a little bit that you’re only getting up once during the night now.  I know we are pretty lucky!

What you wear – You are fully in 0-3 months clothes!   I finally cleaned out your closet the other day and made myself take out your newborn clothes.  It was a very bittersweet moment for me.  It makes me so happy to see you getting bigger, but sometimes it scares me how fast you are growing.  I want you to stay my little baby boy forever!

Diaper – You are still wearing the Bum Genius newborn size with the hemp inserts, but you are getting very near being too big for them.  On a couple of occasions the Velcro has busted open!  Any day now you’re going to have to start wearing the bigger size.  Another bittersweet milestone for mama and daddyJ

Favorite activities – laying on your playmat, being held, going places, tummy time, rolling over, eating

Least favorite activities – waiting to eat, sleeping, being weighed

Big moments in your fourth month of life – you started laughing, you started lifting your head super high for a long time during tummy time, first trip to church, started holding hands and linking arms with Vivi, first solo outing with Daddy (to Whole Foods)

happy two months, baby boy

{a few weeks late}

One thing I’ll always remember about this time in your life is how many incidents we had changing your diaper.  You went through a phase where almost every single time we opened your diaper, you would spray us.  You even got your sister in the face a couple of times!  This went on for about a week, and no matter how good mama and daddy thought they were getting at preventing it, you would still find a way, ha!

– from Mama’s letter to you

Weight – 7 lbs 5 ounces
Eating – nursing exclusively!
Sleeping– Naps have been a little hard for you lately.  You will be so tired, but you just don’t want to be laid down to go to sleep!  If we can get your paci to stay in your mouth, you’re usually fine, but it’s kind of tricky.  During the night, you usually will go a four hour stretch without eating, and the rest 3 hour stretches.  That’s all we let you do right now because we’re trying to get you to gain weight still, but the other night we accidentally slept through the alarm and you went 5 hours!
Clothes – I’ve started dressing you everyday now, and you are so cute in all your little clothes.  The Gap up to 7lbs size fits you pretty well, but it’s starting to be too short!  I think we’ll probably start wearing 0-3 month stuff in the next couple of weeks.
Diaper – Still wearing newborn Bum Genius, and they’re still a little loose around your legs…but otherwise they fit you really well.
Favorite activities –laying on your activity mat, laying on mama or daddy’s chest, eating, baths just as of the last week (before that you hated them)
Least favorite activities – laying down for naps, getting lotion rubbed on you
Big moments in your second month of life – you almost rolled over!!, focused your eyes and followed an object, met your grandpa Hal for the first time, started holding your head up much better, stayed home without mama and daddy for the first time

hey everyone! it's me, Lincoln

Hey everyone!

I was such a big boy today!  Mama was holding up Vivi’s baby doll in front of me, and I focused my eyes on it and followed it back and forth, back and forth.  It was the first time I’ve done that!

I don’t really see what the big deal is, but Mama got so excited and started kissing me all over.

I guess today is kind of a special day because it’s been 8 weeks since I was born.  8 whole weeks!  I weighed in today at 7 lbs and 7 ounces, which means I’ve gained 2 lbs and 9 ounces, plus an extra chin.

Look how much I’ve changed since my first day of life.

the story of lincoln and vivian's arrival. part 1.

I’m not sure where to even begin in writing the story of Lincoln and Vivian’s birth.  It will most likely not be eloquent or orderly, rather it’ll be a compilation of everything I can remember from the most intense few weeks of my life.

Most everyone knows how long Jon and I waited for a baby and everything we went through to get pregnant.  It was such a long journey, and when we finally got pregnant, I thought the crazy part was over.  I expected to have an uneventful pregnancy and the birth I had always imagined, coming out with a perfect little baby in the end.  When we found out we were having twins, those expectations didn’t really change.  Despite the predictions of so many about preterm labor, I truly believed I’d carry the twins until they were full term.  At one point, maybe around week 25 or so, my doctor mentioned that he would want to induce me at 37 weeks if I hadn’t gone into labor by then.  Fully believing that these babies would stay inside me even longer than that I immediately began worrying about the idea of induction and researching the validity of such an idea, so that I could intelligently convince him otherwise.

As I expected, I did have a rather uneventful pregnancy.  Aside from a short scare about possibly having gestational diabetes (which I didn’t), every check-up went smoothly and every ultrasound was like a dream.  Until I was 30 weeks along.

It was May 23rd,  the last day of school for my students, and I was giving final exams and hugs all day.  School was buzzing with the excitement of summer, and knowing I wasn’t coming back I was saying extra goodbyes, accompanied by a few tears, and finishing packing up my classroom.  It was a crazy, busy, exciting and emotional day.

A couple of weeks before, my doctor had told me to schedule an ultrasound for the 23rd.  He wanted it done that week and the only day ultrasounds are done in his office is Wednesday, so there was no alternative.  Knowing it was my last day of school, I was stressed out because I didn’t want to miss saying bye to my kids.  After finding out it would be possible to move it to the next week, I debated forever about whether to do that or not.  Eventually (and with the input from Jon and my mom) I decided that seeing my babies was more important than being there for the end of my 2nd hour testing period, and I could just say goodbye to those students that morning before leaving.

So, that morning, I left school in a rush and headed to the hospital, suddenly so happy that I had kept my appointment and wondering how I could have even considered postponing it.  Jon met me there and we got to see our babies and ooh and aah over how perfect they were.  It was an epically smooth appointment just like all the others.  As part of the ultrasound, the tech was supposed to measure my cervix at the end.  After doing so, she told us that Dr. K wanted to check the measurements before we left, which had never been the procedure before.  So we waited.

About 10 minutes later, Dr. K’s nurse, Trish, walked in.  The moment I saw her face I knew something was not right.  She told us that the measurements showed that my cervix had shortened considerably and that I was to go home immediately, get into bed and not get out until the next morning at which point they wanted me to come back so Dr. K could check me himself.  I just sat there, dazed, for a few seconds.  At first I was just trying to process what she had just said.  Next, the fear hit.  How bad off was I?  Were the twins in danger of coming soon?  And last, all the crucial things I still needed to do to wrap things up at school flitted through my brain – finish giving final exams, grade final exams, pack up my files and such from my classroom, input and finalize grades etc.

After a few seconds of just staring at her, I explained that it was my last day of my job and that I really needed to go back.  With some persuasion on my part, she agreed that I could go back as long as I promised to stay glued to a chair and not get up and go home as soon as possible.  So that’s what I did.  Thus began my 2 weeks and 4 days of at-home bedrest.

To be continued…

twin lesson #1

Twin lesson learned today:  do not place babies on changing table together if baby boy is laying south of baby girl.  Must look into getting one of these.

august 3

This past Friday was my due date.  As in the predicted day that we would meet these two

Instead we celebrated 6.5 weeks of having Linc and Viv in our lives.  And we have so much to celebrate.

The way the whole having the babies thing went down was nothing like I would have planned it.  I never would have wished to be on bedrest for weeks or for our precious babies to spend 17 days in the NICU, but alas, God always has a plan.  And while those weeks were the most challenging of my life, they made us all stronger.  They made us appreciate everything even more.

Even though I wouldn’t have planned it that way, I feel pretty darn lucky that we got an extra 6 weeks to get to know the coolest babies on the block.   I hate to brag, but we got to experience 6 weeks more life with them than most people do, which is pretty awesome.

Happy due date Linc and Viv!

Daddy and mama love you.

guess what…

I weigh seven pounds today!

7 weeks and one day old

one week old

happy one month, baby boy

“…one of the cutest things you do is sneeze.  Whenever you sneeze, your arms flail back and forth and it is the cutest thing in the whole world.  I really must catch it on video because if I ever forget how funny it is I would be so sad…”

– from mama’s letter to you

What you weigh – about 6 pounds 2 ounces

What you’re eating– about 60 ml every three hours

How you’re sleeping– overall you’re a good sleeper, but the discomfort you’ve been having is making it a little harder for you.  You love to sleep on mama and daddy though.

What you’re wearing – confession – most days you can be found hanging out in just your diaper.  I dress you up if we’re having company, but otherwise I love to snuggle you skin to skin too much to put clothes on you during the day.  When I do dress you, you are fitting just perfectly into the up to 7 lbs. size at Gap.  Preemie stuff is getting to be too short for you.  You are fitting just perfectly into the newborn Bum Genius cloth diaper.

What you like to do – make fish face, sleep on mama’s chest, sleep in the Moby wrap, eat, stretch

Big moments in your first month of life – being born (ha!), eating all your meals by mouth, graduating from the NICU, coming home, meeting your big sister, Olive, your first visit to Dr. Stanford and a good report, your first (for fun) outing to downtown OKC, first meetings with lots of family and friends

Nicknames – mama calls you “buddy boy.”  daddy calls you “fish” or “budrow.”  Not sure where some of those came from, but we’ll try to contain ourselves:)

fish face