Would you say a quick prayer for my dad?  His surgery went well, but his pain tolerance is not very high.  And he is struggling to stay ahead of the pain.  He gets nauseated and his blood pressure drops, making him dizzy.  Today he was having trouble just functioning, much less doing the necessary therapy.  He was originally supposed to go home tomorrow, but it’s looking now more like Tuesday at the earliest. 

None of this is unusual with a double knee replacement, but it’s hard for my mom to watch.  And it’s really hard on him.  So if you would say a quick prayer for his pain relief and quick recovery, I’d appreciate it.  Thanks!

Yesterday was a turning point day for my dad.  He finally had double knee replacement surgery.  He is 58 years old.  He has needed new knees for at least the last 5 years.  His knees have been bad for more like 20. 

Every doctor that my dad has seen about his knees told him that it was “just” arthritis and that they recommended waiting until a person is 60 before doing a knee replacement.  This recommendation is based on the length of time the artificial joints will generally last (10-15 years).  This recommendation, however, does not adequately account for the level of pain a person is in.

My dad has, for years, just about lived on OTC pain medications.  He limps around instead of walks.  He cannot walk up or down stairs without supporting nearly his full weight on the railings.  He finally had to buy a cane.  He did all the “necessary” prerequisite treatments that his orthopedic doctors required: cortisone shots in the knees, a gel made of rooster combs (I’m not kidding) shot into the knees, anti-inflammatory drugs.  And he just suffered through.

It was hard for us to watch, and it was hard not to be annoyed at all these doctors who didn’t seem to listen to my dad’s complaints with appropriate concern.  And, had I been at the hospital, I would have had to fight the “I-told-you-so” reaction when his doctor hinted to my mom after the surgery that the x-rays had not given an adequate indication of how bad his knees really were.   But now, finally, after all the time and pain and waiting, he has new knees.  And we are very glad.

We are glad that even though he’s got a long, painful recovery ahead of him, one day soon he’ll be able to walk the entire mall again.  He’ll be able to golf all he wants to without having to sit for the rest of the day because of the pain.  He’ll be able to get down on the floor to play with his grandkids.  He’ll be able to walk up and down stairs and pivot to open doors.  He’ll be able to sleep through the night without pain.  He’ll get to live like a 58 year old man, instead of an 85 year old one.

Yes, we are very, very glad

By this time, last month, my babies were 3 hours old.  It’s too bad I only vaguely remember most of the intervening days!  Oh well…that’s what pictures are for, right?

And speaking of pictures, here’s a pretty recent pic of the two little cuties that I get to snuggle with and feed and stay up with all night and be burped on by and generally love on. 

I was going to do Marla’s procrastination list, but it turns out I’ve led a very boring life.  I need to do more stuff.

We’ve had some rougher nights recently, but we’re hanging in there.  The Little Miss, it appears, is a night owl of sorts.  Crazy girl…  Also, the Little Man is almost sleeping through the night sometimes.  It weirds me out when he doesn’t wake up to eat when I guessed he would.  Gotta love those middle-of-the-night-new-mom panic attacks!

Okay, someone is starting to fuss…gotta run!

Happy Thursday!

Today was our first day without any help.  Just me and the twins.  Thankfully, they went pretty easy on me.  I won’t expect it to always be so good. 

And as I started to write this post about 8 hours ago, and I’m just now getting to finish it, I will be brief!

So, after one day, here’s what I’ve learned:

• Good nights make for good days.
• I shouldn’t expect to get much done other than what the twins require for a while.
• My to-do list for any given day should only have 1-2 things on it.  More than that, and I’ll just be setting myself up for feeling overwhelmed!
• Taking naps is much easier when there’s no one else here.  Both of our mothers kept saying I should nap, but I couldn’t seem to do it.  Today, I just laid down and slept, too, when it was nap time.  Lovely!
• Laundry is going to be my highest priority in household chores.  I washed half our sheet savers in yesterday’s load.  I washed every single sheet saver (again) today, along with other stuff.  Sheesh!

That’s the important stuff…hope you all have a marvelous week!

Thankfully, we had a much better night last night.  And thanks for all the encouragement. 

Also, thankfully, my milk supply is fine.  They both seem to be getting enough (at least for now!), but there’s not much extra.  We have been bottle feeding them at bedtime with what I have pumped which buys me a break (and I pump what we feed them the next night), and last night we did a bottle in the middle of the night as well.  That helped a lot! I just can’t seem to pump enough to be more than one bottle (each) ahead of them.  Oh well.

Also, we are learning how to tandem feed during the day.  That is extremely nice because it buys me more time between feedings.  And when they go for 4 hours between feedings at night (like they did last night), they’ll only go 2-3 hours during the day between feedings.  So I enjoy all the time I can get!

Other more fun things about them…

• Erin doesn’t have great control of her eyes yet, but she has a plethora of facial expressions (our drama queen in the making, I guess).  And sometimes she’ll go cross-eyed while making a funny face.  Maybe she’s more a clown in the making…
• Alex is already losing his hair.  At three weeks, he has a receding hairline…poor little guy!
• They were lying together on the large boppy I use for tandem feedings the other day when Alex flung his arm into Erin’s space.  She didn’t flinch at all, but since his hand was right there, she started sucking on it for him.  Such a giver, huh?

Okay, gotta run…happy New Year to everyone!!

At least that’s how it feels this week.  

Last week, we seemed to have found a tentative rhythm.  The babies were eating every 4 hours at night for a few days in a row.  Which means I was getting at least 2 hours of sleep between every feeding.  And getting some pumping in.   Of course, they were eating every 3 hours during the day, but that was totally do-able with sleep and Eric’s help all day.

But for the last two nights, feedings have been getting closer and closer together.  Last night, after the 3:00 feeding, I crawled into bed at 4:30.  Erin had me back up at 5:45.  *sigh*  I need a lot more sleep than the 4 hours I’m getting between 10 pm and 7 am.  And I can’t pump much when they eat every 2-3 hours.  So I can’t seem to get and stay more than a bottle each ahead of them.  It’s frustrating. 

Anyone have some advice about pumping while breastfeeding twins?

Basic Update:

• They are two weeks old today. 
• I’m feeling really good these days.  I still lack my old stamina, but I have recovered nicely from the surgery.
• Eric is home this week “on vacation” – I’m not sure this is exactly relaxing, but I’m sure glad he’s here!
• They are very fussy today for the first time (at least the first time for both at once and without a clear reason). 
• We gave them their first real baths last night, both of us kneeling by the tub with a baby.  Right at the very end, Alex let go and sprayed Erin in the face with pee.  Poor Erin. (And yes, Mommy laughed )
• We had a rough night on Saturday night, but last night went really well.  They wore themselves out crying during the bath, I guess.  That might be a good enough reason to bathe them every night.

And now on to pictures!

I think this one looks professional…it’s one of my favorites!

Here are a couple of Alex:

And Erin:

And us!

I actually had a chance to read some of your posts (or at least skim them quickly) this morning…glad to see you’re all still alive and well!

We, too, are alive and well.  I’m exceedingly tired.  And all I’m getting done is feeding babies.  But I figure that’s important.  And as long as that’s getting done, it’s still a good day!  (and my mom is still here doing all the rest of the stuff! )

We had our one-week appointment yesterday.  I really like the pediatrician.  Karen takes Jason to him, and I’m definitely a fan as well.  But as for the news:

• Alex weighs 5 lbs., 12 oz. now.  Erin is 5 lbs., 10 oz.  They both are 18.5 inches long (they shrunk!).
• The doctor was very pleased with their health.  He said we could stop supplementing their feedings now.  And that I did not have to wake them from a sound sleep just because it was exactly 3 hours from the last time they’d eaten.  That made me very happy!
• He gave us lots of good perspective on what is normal for boys and girls and for babies in general.  He actually offers information, rather than answering only the questions I’d thought of to ask.  It’s very, very nice!

So it was a good trip.  And I actually got out of the house.  And we made it to the office 10 minutes early and without anyone being in tears (including me!).  Lovely!

And that’s the news.  I have to go shower while I have a chance…have a happy Tuesday!

I realize that it’s Friday and, for obvious reasons, I’m way behind on all the stuff going on in your lives.  Hopefully I’ll have the mental energy to actually read posts some day soon.  But no promises…

All is well here.  We’re home, and we’re tired.   But we are home.  It was so nice to sleep in MY bed and take a shower in MY bathroom and sit with OUR babies and look at OUR Christmas tree.  And my mom is here for a few days helping out with organizing, cleaning, cooking, and of course, baby stuff.  I am so very lucky to have her. It’s definitely a good idea to outnumber the babies, especially when they gang up on you at 3 a.m.!

The babies seem to be doing well.  We were discharged yesterday with instructions to supplement their feedings, just to make sure they’re getting enough.  And since I was allowed to leave (with them), I am happy to oblige.  We were totally ready to come home!

Of course, we will keep updating the pictures on our website (http://babies.elhogue.com), so feel free to check them out regularly.  And I’ll just enjoy looking at the live versions! 

Happy Friday!

You all are in for a double treat today. Not only do you get to hear about the new babies, but you get to hear it in the words of Eric!

Both babies were surgically removed from Shannah at 7:52am and 7:54am respectively. The first born, Alexander Leon, weighs 6lbs 0oz and was 18.75 inches (He may be taller by now.) Number two, as opposed to Frau Farbisna, is Erin Elizabeth. She weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long.

Babies and mother are all recovering from their adventure and I’m starting to revive thanks to my infusion of Starbucks.

There will be pictures eventually. Check out elhogue.com for the widest selection.

–Eric