The Infertility Overachievers: The Boys

Showing posts with label The Boys. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

26 weeks and a lot of catching up to do.

OMG, I have gone almost two months without posting. I'm pretty sure this is a whole new level of "disappearing".

I'm going to admit, I have no drive to blog these days. It's horrible and I wish I was better but so many more things come before my blog right now. Any yes, I'm talking about these two monkeys...

Notice Holden's new haircut!

Before:

And After:

Ugh, he looks like such a big boy!

Here is a little update about Holden, aka: Holdy-Holds, aka: Tootsy Pooter, aka: Toosie. At 9 months old and 20 lbs now, he is all over the place. He is standing on his own, and cruising between furniture. He tries so hard to get up and go with London and frankly gets pretty annoyed when he can't keep up.

He and London are really starting to play together, its so freaking cute. You have to keep an eye on London though, he tends to get pretty rough forgetting that Holden is still a baby. Holden is one tough cookie though and rarely cries. Not a single tear was shed when London left a big bruise on his forehead by throwing a Gerber Puffs container across the room. Who knew a plastic container could be such a dangerous weapon in the hands of a 3 year old.

London is CRAZY as usual and spends most of his days either playing Angry Birds, begging to play Angry Birds, or playing real life Angry birds with his blocks and toy birds. Combine that with his Plants vs Zombie obsession, and we have a real gamer on our hands. I can only imagine how hard it's going to be to pry him away from his games as a teenager. As you can imagine our little trip to Chuckie Cheese was pure heaven for a gamer like him. Although he still made some time for the Monster Truck, he definitely did NOT appreciate me taking pictures of him while he was in it.

These two monkeys have also kept me extremely busy recently...

Here are the twins at 25 weeks.

Greysen Elizabeth

AND

Harper Elliot

(finally she has a middle name)

I'm 26 weeks now...and in some ways this pregnancy has been my easiest. But in MOST way this has been the most difficult pregnancy EVER!

Here I was last week.

First off the easy parts: NO BED REST!!! (yet!)

While my cervix is measuring short (the main reason I was put on bed rest with Holden), its nothing too drastic and is actually longer than it was last pregnancy. However I think there is an explanation for that. Last pregnancy, I felt great and London and I were trying to keep busy over the summer by almost daily taking trips to the zoo and children's museum. However this pregnancy I can barely walk so needless to say I have been taking it very easy over the last few weeks. I also have not had much preterm labor. By 24 weeks with both boys I had been hospitalized for at least a few days with contractions. Not this time though. Sure I have had some contractions, but nothing some water and laying on my left side can't fix.

The hard parts: I CAN'T FREAKING WALK! I am seriously falling apart. I'm like a 90 year old woman over here. I have Pubic Symphysis Diastasis or in other words my pubic bone/hips feel like they are about to snap in half. Add that to the fact that I get heart burn just from drinking a glass of water. I've also had like 3 or 4 blood vessels in my eyes pop. So I have red eyes and look like I'm stoned half the time. It's pretty aw~~esome~~ful. I already feel like I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and can barely roll over in the middle of the night. But who needs to roll over when you have to sleep sitting up. UGH!!! Okay I'm done whining (for now)!

Anyway, I'm forgetful and exhausted all the time (Okay so maybe I wasn't done whining) which is why I haven't been posting recently but I'm HOPING to get better about it soon. Oh who am I kidding? I'm about to have 4 kids under 4, and 3 under 1. This is only going to get worse over the next 12 months. I'll do the best I can though. Especially in the up coming weeks as I prepare for the girls arrival.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Disappearing Act!

First off I want to apologize for my disappearing act over the last few weeks. As you can all imagine, I've been VERY busy! Something about having a VERY ACTIVE 3 year old, an ADVENTUROUS 8 month old, and being almost 20 weeks pregnant with twins has been keeping me busy.

Holden is all over the place now, he is crawling everywhere and pulling up on anything he can reach. Which of course means he falls about 50 times a day. As many times as that poor kid cracks his head, he has to have a headache by bedtime every night.

Not even the dog is impressed anymore.

London has been going CRAZY recently. He is officially out of preschool for the summer so he is BORED if we don't go somewhere and do something every single day. As you can imagine I am exhausted and don't feel like dragging both kids out in the blazing South Carolina heat every day. So I have had to get pretty creative recently.

Yes my kid is using tape to pretend he is a mummy!

SO WHAT! It kept him busy for nearly an hour. Totally worth the $1 I wasted on scotch tape.

The twins are doing well! We are still in shock that it's twin girls. I am refusing to get rid of my boy clothes yet, for fear that one or both of them will sprout something at the 20 week ultrasound. I have however started buying some pink stuff. It's so surreal. This has been the wildest ride of my life. I have started feeling them ALOT over the last few weeks too. Although I can't really feel the difference between being pregnant with one vs two yet. Here is a horrible belly picture from 18 weeks.

I guess that is my update for now! Holden just woke up from his nap so my free time is OVER! :)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

What's new with you?

So yes, we have established that I am pregnant...with twins. But in case you have forgotten, I have two other kids too and it's been a while since I gave an update about them.

First there is the ever adventurous (that is the nice was of saying wild and crazy) London.

These days he is enjoying....

Showing off his Easter eggs while making a very awkward smile.

And wearing tiny hats

in his defense it was his St Patrick's Day Parade at school.

See I told you it have been a while since I uploaded pictures of the boys.

Then there is Baby Holden, who is not such a baby anymore.

He is now 6 months old and has learned how to do this...

and this...

Needless to say it is VERY busy around our house.

Holden has also started sleeping better at night. THANK GOODNESS!

Right now he is only waking up ONCE in the middle of the night.

He must know Mommy is EXHAUSTED from gestating his siblings and desperately in need of sleep.

On the pregnancy front: I am finally starting to feel better. I'm still exhausted, but it is manageable now. And the nausea has definitely subsided too. Eating is not pure torture anymore, which considering I have to do it every 90 mins or so, is definitely a good thing.

Besides all of that, life is pretty much business as usual around here.

What's new with you?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

More Kids?

I have 2 kids now. My uterus has barely gone back to size and I am already thinking of more kids.

Fact: I am a fertile infertile.

We can't get pregnant without some serious medical intervention but apparently IVF works for us. We have done it twice and now have two amazing and beautiful boys to show for it.

I'm going to be honest, as usual, and when we decided to have Holden, I was petrified of how hard having two kids was going to be. Now that I have him, I know the answer. Amazingly Hard! Difficult! Some days the only thing that can solve my craziness is a big glass (okay, BOTTLE) of wine. I need to drink 20 oz of coffee every morning, wipe my butt while talking to one child and holding the other, and sleeping every night glued to TWO baby monitors. My life is a pure chaos. Yet for some reason I can not stop thinking about having baby number 3...and possibly 4.

You know how people always say tattoos are addictive? Is it possible that kids are also? Did I just compare kids to tattoos?

I LOVE my boys, but it is no secret that I want a girl next. I don't want a girl for the cute clothes and hair bows. I want a girl so that someone will call me when I'm old and grey(er than I currently am). Boys get married and leave their mama's. Girls get married and call for advice, well some of them do. I wouldn't trade my boys for the WORLD. Even though I got a few "I'm sorry" comments when we found out Holden was another boy, we were honestly THRILLED! London got a brother close in age, and I got to reuse all of his ADORABLE baby stuff. Just kidding that wasn't the only reason we were happy, but it definitely didn't hurt.

So here I am already contemplating having baby number 3. No time soon of course, but I'm not afraid anymore. The change from one to two kids petrified me. However thus far it hasn't been so hard. I could handle three and if the third is not a girl (which would be fine) I am more than HAPPY to adopt a little girl down the road. One of my best friends Elizabeth warned me that it will get a whole lot harder when Holden starts crawling. I believe her that, but I live in the now! Right now I want another baby...maybe even two.

After the next baby even if she is a girl, I want to keep my options open. I may want another child.

I am the 4th of five children

However I am NOT willing to do another fresh IVF cycle. We have 5 frosties and if none of them create a baby, then we will adopt number 3 and call it a day...er...life.

I am also not willing to carry a 4th child. I love being pregnant, okay I actually hate it. I give up wine, gain 30 lbs, and spend 4 months on bedrest while stressing about keeping my baby in until 37 weeks. It's a cruel joke because I have never needed a glass of wine more than when I was stressing about preterm labor. Above and beyond all that...I'm not very good at pregnancy. My body just doesn't like it. So why push it? Child number four WILL be adopted. And I am ecstatic about that idea, especially after seeing my IRL friend Lora meet her new daughter thanks to the miracle of international adoption.

You should have seen Mikes eyes the other night when I said I possibly wanted 4 children. Since day one, over 11 years ago, we both said we wanted 3 children. He listened and told me he would be very willing to discuss it again after baby number 3. He didn't say yes...but he definitely didn't say no. :)

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Where Do I Even Start?

OK OK....lets start here.

Merry Christmas!!

Our Christmas looked alot like this...

and yes that is an accurate depiction of what I look like these days.

My dieting and weight loss posts will be coming soon. HAHA!

On Christmas Eve morning, I woke up feeling "off". I went upstairs to find London in his bed COVERED in throw up. Poor guy apparently puked at some point during the night but he is such a sound sleeper it didn't even wake him up. He slept right through it.

Within about an hour, I was puking too. My ENTIRE family was here from out of town (all 15 of them). My Mom was trying to cook and I was trying not to throw up by laying in bed all morning. London laid on the floor ALL DAY watching TV. Not whining or anything just laying on the floor not moving. Poor guy, he ate absolutely nothing all day, and I had to force him to drink something late in the day. He went to bed early with a brief smile when he was reminded Santa was coming.

Christmas morning we were MUCH better. I felt like a million bucks and was ready to chow down on some traditional Christmas monkey bread and breakfast casserole. London however, woke up with a 102 fever. I have no idea where the fever came from but with a dose of Tylenol, 30 minutes later he was screaming "NEXT PRESENT" while ripping open of his gifts.

By Christmas night, Mike had fallen as the next victim of the Christmas Stomach Flu. And a few hours later a few of my nieces and nephews were sick as well. By December 26th it claimed its smallest victim, Holden had it. It was a miserable few days for us, but we managed to smile for a few pictures between the puking.

The Loot Christmas Morning

(Not all of it was for my boys, my nieces and nephews were there too)

London slowly getting started as he starts to feel better.

Fever was gone and London was back in full force now!

His new Angry birds taking a little trip on Thomas the Train.

Holden showing off his new Christmas shirt.

London playing with his brand new Ipod Touch that Aunt Lori got him

What Mom!! Can't you see I'm trying to play Angry Birds?

The whole tired family Christmas Morning.

(London couldn't be bothered to stop playing Angry Birds to take a family photo)

Holden testing out the new bouncer and Sophie that Santa brought him.

Whats next? Oh yes that's right!!

Happy New Year!!!

Our New Years started out like this....

And yet another accurate depiction of how I look right now.

On Friday the day before New Years Eve, I came down with a little case of Vertigo that kept me in bed most of the day. And with 2 kids, that is definitely no fun and virtually impossible. No clue what it was, an inner ear infection maybe? But thankfully it went away on it's own by New Years Eve.

We spent 5 days including New Years Eve up in North Carolina with my inlaws. It was fabulous to see them again and to have a little break from the kids. Yes the kids were with us, but no one was willing to put Holden down, and London managed to forced everyone into playing numerous games of Angry Birds.

Holden posing with his TiTi

He is not even 3 yet and already refusing to take pictures with me.

Look at that face you would think I was torturing him.

Of course there were more presents!

Another exhausted family photo

Baby Holden was being completely spoiled by everyone.

I don't think he got put down more than twice all week.

Ok well I think I have managed to catch back up...for now.

I have a few posts planned for this week so hopefully I won't be such a stranger over the next few weeks.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Still Here!!

Wow, this ha been one of my longest blogless stints to date. I'd like to rush back here and tell you its because I have been super busy, but sadly that would be a lie. Thins have been somewhat boring recently, I mean can it really be boring while taking care of the two hoodlums?

Super London

His trusty sidekick (and arch nemesis)

Baby Wonder

Christmas is almost here! While I have managed to find the time to find the time to finish almost all of my Christmas shopping, I have yet to send out any Christmas Cards. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! Although sadly, it is not all that unusual for me.

Oh...here is a little fun fact, I finally jumped on the bandwagon...ya know if the band wagon hadn't passed by say 4 years ago...and I'm reading the Twilight books. I've watched all the movies, mainly using them as an excuse to get out of the house and sneak some wine into the movie theater. I've not some great tips on that if anyone is interested.
Baby Bottle Cooler Bag with ice packs + Mini Bottles + Red Solo Cup = Getting drunk in the movie theater while drooling over Taylor Lautner. Win-Win, right? I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS ONLY 15 DURING FILMING!!!

Anyway, back to reading...I borrowed my sister nook to try it out and decided to get the first Twilight book. By the next day I had finished and moved on to New Moon. Well here I am a few days later the proud owner of a new nook and engrossed in the Twilight Saga. I just started Eclipse. I'm really looking forward to Breaking Dawn because I have already seen the movie (Part One) and I'm eager to see how this whole "saga" ends. Yep, I'm a dork! Whatev's

Monday, November 14, 2011

Another Week Gone By

Ahhhh, week 3 as a mother of two has gone remarkably well actually. Everyone is finally starting to feel better.

Holden still has a cold, but THANKFULLY it didn't turn into anything worse. Just a case of the "seasonal snots"

London is working on week number 4 with a cold, but THANKFULLY his ear infection is gone.

And I enjoyed my first glass of much deserved wine, and THANKFULLY it didn't give me a hang over :) I heard it really sneaks up on you after not drinking for almost a full year.

Mommy Fail of the week?

London fell down the stairs. It.Was.Horrible.

Allow me to set the stage. We have 10 ft ceilings in our house, so as you can imagine our stair case is very tall and steep.

We were walking up the stairs with Holden in one hand and London's hand in the other. Once we reached the top I let go of London's hand to open the baby gate. Keep in mind the kid is almost 3 is completely capable of holding on to the rail and navigating stairs. Well I walked through the baby gate and London tried to follow but he tripped. He was sent falling head over feet down the stairs. I leaned over quickly to grab him but I just barely missed him. He did about 4 full flips before he hit the ground and all I could do was stand paralyzed watching his little body flipping with his head banging on the wall with each rotation. Allow me to repeat...It.Was.Horrible. I of course screamed, in my terrified voice, for Mike who quickly came running and rushed passed me on the way to the bottom.

THANKFULLY London was fine, and escaped the whole ordeal without a scratch, mark, or bruise. He only cried for a minute, and only because he was understandably scared. He is such a tough little guy, I however am not. I was a wreck. A few snuggles and a couple games of Angry Birds later we had both fully recovered.

I'm just not sure my nerves can handle two adventurous little boys.

Maybe Holden will be the calm reserved one. :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Murphy's Law of Parenting.

I'm sure everyone here has heard of Murphy's Law before. I've even blogged about it a time or two.

Well today Murphy struck again.

Let me give all of you a little back story.

When London came to visit me in the hospital, I noticed that he had the toddler funk. Ya know runny nose, coughing, and generally just feeling crappy. I didn't worry too much about it because it's pretty common for toddlers to get it especially when the weather changes.

Within about 2 days, every one who had come in contact with London also had it. Mike and I were sick and so was my sister who had been up at the hospital during London's visit.

Crappity Crap Crap CRAP!

I watched Holden very closely and said a bajillion prayers that he wouldn't get sick. The last thing I needed was to end up back in the hospital with a sick 4 day old.

Thankfully he didn't get it...well at least not then.

London got a little better for a few days and then this past weekend. BAM! He was really really sick. Running a fever, snotty nose, crusty eyes, and coughing so much he could barely even sleep. Then he started complaining on Saturday that his ear was hurting.

Crappity Crap Crap CRAP!

Oh and did I mention that same day Holden woke up with a nose FULL of snot. He was up every hour the night before and you could tell he just felt like...well, crap. If he wasn't eating he wanted to be held, and when he was being held he would occasionally just cry out for a few seconds in his sleep. Poor guy, only 16 days old and he was already sick.

Today we took a little family trip to the Dr.

The Diagnosis: London has his very first a ear infection and Holden has a pretty nasty cold that we are watching to make sure it doesn't turn into anything else.

Ugh! I've been a mom of two for like two freaking weeks now and I'm already having to juggle two sick babies. I guess I better get used to it though.

After leaving the Dr we made a stop off at the pharmacy to pick up London's prescription and while we were there I picked up a little medicine for mommy too.

With 2 sick kids...I deserve it!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Life with Holden

Things have been going really well over the last two weeks. Wow, I can hardly believe it has been two weeks already. Man, that sleep deprivation really makes time fly!

In this post I am going to list alot of stats that I'm sure none of you care about. It's mainly for me, so it will probably be boring or the rest of you. I love the fact that I can look back at posts from when London was little and see how Holden compares. :) I'll add a few cute pictures at the bottom for anyone who makes it through all of this.

Over the first week we went to ALOT of Dr's appointments. Poor Baby Holden was jaundice and had to go back 5 times in the first 7 days of life to have blood drawn to check his Bilirubin levels checked. Poor guys his heals look like pin cushions. I felt so bad for him.

Fun fact for all of you, my husband thought we were talking about some guy named Billy Rubin every time I would talk about Holden's levels. HAHA!

Holden's levels stayed elevated for the first few days but never got high enough for him to have to sit under the special light or blanket. It was 10 (whatever the unit of measurement is I have no idea) on day 2, 14 the next day, and by day 6 it was 18. Thankfully by day 8 it was down to 14.

See I told you this was going to be boring. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Thankfully the little guy has been steadily gaining weight. He started out at 7lbs 2oz at birth and was down to 6lbs10oz when we left the hospital. By day 8 though he had gained a fair amount and was weighing in at 7lbs 6 oz. His Dr was very impressed with this so apparently we are doing something right.

Breastfeeding is a little more difficult this time than it was with London. Holden is a really good eater, but something is just off. London was a natural so I'm not quite sure what to do to fix our little problem. Here it is almost 2 weeks since he was born and it still hurts to nurse him. He seems to be latching well, but I think he is biting me. I can promise we will not be making it to a my initial goal of 6 months if he keeps that up. My poor nipples are bruised and it's painful every time he nurses. Nothing unbearable, just not comfortable AT ALL. I still cuss every time he latches hahaha! Hopefully I can find a LLL meeting to attend soon, or possibly call the lactation consultant back and see if she has any suggestions. Something has got to give.

Holden has established a pretty good schedule for himself. I've got my fingers crossed that he keeps it up. Right now, he sleeps most of the day, waking for about 30 mins here and there. Then around 6pm he wakes up for about two and a half hours. He is very content and just chills on the couch next to us in his boppy. About 8:30 is his bed time, so I nurse him and put him in bed..on his back. London was a tummy sleeper so I'm happy Holden seems to be content on his back or side. Through out the night he only wakes about every 4 hours, just long enough to eat and get his diaper changed. He is a really good baby (THUS FAR!! Quick, knock on wood!)

London is actually adjusting very well to being a big brother. He hasn't really been acting out YET, however he doesn't really acknowledge him very much either. He asks about him alot but doesn't want to hold him or even help feed, diaper, bathe, or entertain him. He is however enjoying all of Holden's stuff. His swing and carseat make for some really fun times as far as London is concerned. :) Right now he just sleeps alot, which I guess is pretty boring for a 2 year old.

Oh the best part, London is obsessed with Holden's umbilical stump. It still has not fallen off yet, and it really bothers London that he has an "ouchie." I keep telling him that it doesn't hurt, but he doesn't believe me. So every time I change Holden's diaper, London runs over and says "Is it gone yet?" and then freaks out when I put alcohol on it. "Don't touch it Mommy!!" HAHA! It's actually pretty cute :)

Ok that is enough documenting for today. Here are a few pictures for those of you who actually read all of that!

First thing in the AM

One of the only times we've got London to "hold" him.

Smiling

Nap Time!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween

So unless you have been living under a rock (aka: just had your second child) you probably celebrated Halloween last night.

We took the boys (OMG, that is so fun to say) out trick or treating, and let me just tell you London had a BLAST! Holden...ameh, not so much :)

Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Getting ready to go trick or treating.