Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

Oh the weather outside is frightful....listen, it's just a GREAT excuse for me to not have to come up with an excuse of why we are holed up at home. There is no getting ready, saying the entire time "hurry up, we're going to be late...." which I so despise about my mornings.

Lydia is home sick anyway! She has been in bed all day after tossing her cookies on Daddy's side of the bed. The question is - do I clean it up or has he pissed me off enough this week that I'll leave it because when he goes to bed the room is dark and he would never notice???

OF COURSE I've already cleaned it up.....and I wouldn't do that to him. Well, this week anyway - it is Christmas and I have some elves watching us from all different angles in the house. You know, they do report to Santa.

What a blur....

I feel terrible about not being able to update this! The girls are doing great - and I mean all of them!! Lydia and Raya are FANTASTIC with their baby sisters! Really incredible. They help with them and yell for me if someone is crying. They will go and grab a binky or bottle to try to settle the babies themselves. They try to calm them by talking to them - it's really amazing to watch. I'm not sure if they are getting it from me or if it's instinct but they are both just awesome.

Ciara and Irelyn are angel babies. They have been sleeping for us - only waking up about once a night each. Sometimes twice but it doesn't bother me. Ciara slept a few nights this week for 10 hours straight! When they do wake, I put them in bed with us while I nurse. Yes, I'm still nursing both of them. Yes, it is hard but it's the best thing for them. They are supplemented during the day with formula though. They do well going back and forth so it's working for us. The doctors think that Irelyn has a slight milk allergy and has them on a special formula for that. I was supposed to cut milk out of my diet because she is also getting it from my breast milk. Well, I did for about a week and though I was going to die since I realized everything in this world is made with milk. I was not eating at all!! I want to do what is best for my children but I didn't have that mother's instinct that she was right so I started with my milk and cookies again. She has not any reactions....not that I think she did before. She had a rash on her face and the doctor said it looked like a milk allergy - I thought it was just baby acne. I am pretty sure I was right on that one.

I'm trying to get out to do Christmas shopping - while at the same time trying to decorate - and stay somewhat sane in the house. I decided that my house will someday be organized - along with the basement and garage - and that everything will be just so. But that time is not now and it won't be for many years. I'd rather take this time out of my life to be with these little babies that I spent years and many needles trying to get. My house may not be the cleanest - and things are a little messy and chaotic - but the smiles on those faces make it worth it!!!

Girls

Ciara and Irelyn

Here is two cute pictures of the girls when they had their baths today. They had their Baptism yesterday and were great. We are very fortunate to have such great families and friends that came. Thank you to all of you. Each of you have touched our lives and we are thankful for your support.

Email....

Hello
Yes, I am horrible at updating this lately. Matt bought me a new computer and I really don't have the time to learn how to deal with pictures! I'm slowly getting there. It took two weeks to even set it up.
Since I have a new computer I was hoping that everyone could send me a quick e-mail so that I have your address in my system.
The twins have their 2 month appointment tomorrow so I will fill everyone in with the information then and send along some pictures! OK - someone is crying......

5 Weeks!

I can't believe it's been 5 weeks already! I wish my pregnancy went by as fast as this!

The girls had their 1 month appointment today and I'm happy to report that they are gaining weight and really growing! Ciara weighed 7lbs 11oz and Irelyn weighed 7lbs 12oz. They are the same height at 20 1/4 inches. Because they are preemies, the doctors do not have the percentages for them.

Irelyn looks good - she has her color back. Ciara we are still watching, but seems to be fine.

Lydia and Raya are adapting to being big sisters. Raya is a little over-protective of them where Lydia understands that whoever the person is near them, is not going to steal them. Raya will pull at the baby if someone is holding her and yell "no, MY baby". So cute.

Meningitis.....

Irelyn was admitted to Children't Hospital over the weekend with Meningitis. We're not sure how she contracted the virus but it could have been from anyone around her with a cold. Her immune system was not strong enough to fight it off. Ciara is fine and so are Lydia and Raya although we have to keep a close eye on the baby for signs on it.

Irelyn had a high fever on Saturday and the pediatrician told me to take her to Winchester Hospital. We were seen right away and tests were done including a spinal tap. Within a couple of hours we were rushed to Children's in an ambulance where they were waiting for us. All the staff that came near her had to wear gloves, masks and gowns.

Bacterial meningitis was ruled out yesterday. Today they released her and said it was viral meningitis. A hearing test was done and it came in fine. The doctors think we caught it in the very early stages and were able aggressively treat it.

I have to admit that I didn't even think she was warm, let alone have a fever. Sherri was over my house and kept insisting that she was warm. I just thought it was because she was sleeping and got a little over heated. When I took her temperature, after Sherri's insistence, I realized it was 101 which is dangerous in an infant. Thank God Sherri was here!! Not only did she insist on me taking Irelyn's temperature, she also stayed with the other 3 kids for 6 hours that day while we were in the hospital with the baby!! It was really a blessing that she was here!

Irelyn is home now and we will monitor her. I'll probably be psychotic now about people and kids being around the twins who have colds. I don't want to repeat the process of being in the hospital! My heart broke with her little arm with an IV in it! And she hated being touched after a while.....which I'm hoping she will forget about.

Ciara came to the hospital after Irelyn was on anti-biotics for a day and stayed with her. It was just easier for me to have them together.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and sent e-mails etc. It really is appreciated knowing how much support we have!!!

Picture Day

Here is a picture of Ciara with Mom's cell phone so you can see how small she really is. You can't tell when you just see their pictures.

I hope everyone can open this link. Nothing is edited but it shows what the girls look like. These shots were taken today - the girls are 13 days old. Irelyn is on the left and Ciara is on the right.

www.mirasolophotography.com/simpsonbabies/

It made me cry but I'm totally hormonal. Thanks to Diana Mirasolo for taking their pictures.

Well worth the wait.....

And I will say, also the mini-van. These two little girls are so precious to me that I can't even begin to describe how I feel!!! They are truly magical and add such a precious light to my eyes! Ciara is my little peanut with a loud cry! She has a tendency to wake more often than her counterpart. Irelyn is laid back and sleeps a lot. They are not identical but even for me it's hard to tell who is who sometimes. In pictures it is a lot easier - Ciara has a sweetheart shaped faced and Irelyn's face is more round. But if someone is to hand me just one of them, I sometimes get them mixed up!! Not to worry, I did leave on Irelyn's foot tag from the hospital with her "Baby B" on it.

Lydia and Raya are being absolutely perfect with them. They both have a huge interest in caring for them and holding them. We are not seeing the huge meltdowns that we anticipated.

Sleep is tough but that is the life of a newborn. They generally feed about 1/2 hour apart which works for me. I need an arm free in case a 2 1/2 year old comes running towards me to jump on my lap!! At night I am trying to take on their care myself, but Matt is a trouper in getting up whenever I need him, even if it's to change a diaper while I finish nursing the other one.

We are enjoying Ciara and Irelyn tremendously! There is nothing in this world like a newborn baby to cuddle with! I am so proud of myself for carrying them as long as I did - 36 weeks and 3 days. They never had to go to the special care nursery or the NICU. They stayed with us in our room! That was so great!

Introducing.....

Baby A recieved her name....

Ciara Aurelia

"The Twins"

Irelyn Jade Simpson (on the left) and Ciara Aurelia Simpson (on the right)

The girls are getting their check-ups and approval by the NICU. Hopefully Mommy receives the ok and the twins will be getting ready for their journey home later this afternoon.

Big hugs and kisses are waiting for you when you get there!

We love you!

xoxo

Two Peas in a Pod

Saw the girls last night - beautiful!
Mom is doing great - up and walking around. The babies are doing great too - a little bit of jaundice but nothing a little sun won't heal! Baby A's name is still undecided.

I got a few more pics while I was there yesterday and they are definately "2 peas in a pod!"

The Twins

The twins are absolutely beautiful and perfect!
Little fingers and little toes - pink rosey cheeks and little button noses!

Mom is doing great - Dad is a proud papa!

Baby Girl (twin A) didnt get her name yet ...

Baby Girl (twin B) is "Irelyn Jade Simpson"

They are both so beautiful, I am such a proud Auntie!

I got a few pictures but not many as my hands were full :)
Mommy and Daddy have them on their camera so I am sure they will be posted soon.

We're in the PINK!!!!

2 healthy beautiful baby girls entered our world this morning!

Mom is doing great, really tired from the anesthesia - and of course Dad is excited (and her sister WHOOHOO!).

Twin A:
Time: 6:50am
Weight: 5 pounds 14 ounces
Lenght: 17 inches

Twin B:
Time: 6:51am
Weight: 6 pounds
Lenght: 18 1/4 inches

No names yet!!!!

Along with the phonecall that I got this morning, here is an email -

Subject: My water.....
My water broke at 3:48 this morning. Raya started crying for me and I sat up. There is no mistaking that for pee as I originally feared. We are waiting for Mom to get here to go to the hospital.

I am 36 weeks and 3 days. It is awesome that I made it this far!! I believe the babies have to go to the NICU for a mandatory 1 day stay for observation but should be able to come home with us next Tuesday.

So as I find out information, I'll update to keep everyone in the loop!

CONGRATS MOMMY AND DADDY!

Still waiting.........

Still nothing........

Nope ~ not yet!

I know everyone is checking this consistently to see if anything is going on. I wish I could say that. I have an ultrasound this morning to check their biophysical profile - which to me is a fancy term for their weight and their vitals. I also have an appointment with a doctor.
I have made the goal of 35 weeks! There is a good chance that after they are born, they will return home with me when I leave. They may have to stay an extra day or two.
My hope is that I give birth soon so that I do not miss Lydia's birthday (on Friday the 5th). I also would like to be around for her 1st day back to pre-school.
Thanks for all the great comments and emails! :-)

With the girls...

Here is a picture from my sitting at Mirasolo Photography. Diana said I could share it with you guys. It was quite difficult that day to get the girls to cooperate. But that's life with 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old girls!!!

Almost.....

So we went to the hospital last night after I had contractions for 14 hours. Yes, 14 hours. I was stubborn and knew I wasn't in labor but my sister made me call the doctor who had me come in. I was having contractions about 4-6 minutes apart but nothing else was going on. No dilating or softening (ew gross I know), no other symptoms of labor. The doctor gave me a shot of the drug that stops or slows your contractions and sent us home. They said if I was to return, they will not stop them contractions again and they would just deliver them. It seemed to me that they wanted to deliver them last night.
Today I'm continuing to have the contractions but I was able to get some more drugs to slow them down or not make them so intense. I'm just buying time. I was hoping to get to Wednesday because I will be 35 weeks then. Each day inside of me is better than a day in the NICU although they have been subjected to my trashy mouth a lot more than usual lately. I need a good nights rest and then Matt and I can decide what to do from here. I'm pretty sure they will be here by weeks end by the way my contractions are so consistent.
I'll update this more when I know what is going on.

Ninnie's Birthday

For my mother's birthday, she wanted to take her grandchildren to the beach. The girls had a great time! Every person on the beach had a comment for me - including a car full of teenagers who were the most polite and asked if it was twins before saying anything else. I literally can not go anywhere without people commenting on my size. I asked Peter if I really looked that big? I mean, I think I'm big but not like this enormous spectacle you just have to stare at. And he said "yeah, sorry Jo, you're that big". And I wonder why there is just no maternity shirt out there that covers my belly!! LOL I thought I would bravely share another bathing suit picture!

OK - you asked for them!!

Everyone has been dying to see this monstrous belly of mine - so I let Matt take a couple of pictures! Lydia was laughing when she put a ball under her shirt to look like Mommy.

Enjoy!

Almost 34 weeks!!!!

Ok, so I am 33 weeks 5 days today. I'm almost at 34 weeks. I had another ultrasound today - one of the twins again has low/normal fluid but they are not concerned. They measured the babies for me (this ultrasound wasn't for this, but I asked) and they are in the 75th and 50th percentile for this week. Which is great.
I am having a lot of the Braxton Hicks contractions and just a few major contractions in the last few days!! The major contractions only being enough to annoy me to tears and makes nothing change. The smaller ones come probably every 15 minutes. Really - just give me the shot to stop them and we can move on.
Matt had to take all the metal coat hangers out of the house because I threatened to sterilize one and use it to break my water! I'm just done. Cooked. They have overstayed their welcome in Mommy's womb. I'm entirely too big for any clothing that is in my closet. Including Matt's. I wore the white outfit again today and will only use my carnival mirror to look at myself. People stare at me when I go in to places. I am tired and just can't function. My belly is like having an outer body experience. It's that big. I feel like I could disconnect it at the love handles that have grown on me and hand it to someone to take over. Don't I wish.

Does everyone remember this picture? It looks like a smiley face. It was an ultrasound taken during my IVF cycle. It is a picture of my eggs basically otherwise we'd be here for an hour as I explained it. I knew it was an omen at the time and now looking back, it truly was. OK - who is being reincarnated in my womb to torture me? LOL

I measured how big??!!!!!!

I had a routine appointment today - nothing out of the ordinary. Except when the doctor measure my stomach, it measured at 43 weeks!! OK for those of you who don't know this, full term is 40 weeks. I have another 5 weeks to go until my scheduled C-section so imagine the size of me then!
I also had an ultrasound today and both babies look really good. Baby "A" whose fluid level was low/normal is back to being normal which is great. They are literally on top of one another. Their heads are side by side and real low. I am waiting for the day to be in bathroom and a hand comes out to help me wipe! LOL

I'VE MADE IT!

Today I hit the milestone my doctor was hoping for - I am 32 weeks!! I'm not sure of the any critical diagnosis that we avoided for the twins in getting this far but I do know each day is a blessing!
Last week I had an ultrasound and the twins were both measuring at around 3 1/2 pounds each. HOLY CRAP I have 7 pounds of baby in there! They do not measure their length though. I feel like their feet are in my rib cage and I know both heads are in my wa-hoo. My next appointment is tomorrow.
On the whole mini-van note, thanks for everyone's emails in helping me cope with the inevitable. I took an Odyssey for the day yesterday and literally found myself driving with my hand over my eyes to avoid seeing people. LOL Although Lydia loved the "magic doors", I am still caught up on the image. Yes, it's great for kids and I will have all the options I want (except no one makes one with a heated steering wheel - yes, I am that spoiled), it's still a mini-van. How did it drive? The dealer asked. Are you kidding?? I used to drive a pimped out Caddy and took corners at 50, how do you think? Doesn't handle like that.
Anyway, thanks for the support although I know you are all hysterically laughing at me behind my back. It's the auto industry's fault. There should be something to accommodate me besides that. Someone send me to Japan so I could design something.

DON'T WEAR WHITE!!!

I was cooking this evening when my parents were over. Yeah, I know I don't cook, but it was for myself and I was hungry. Anyway, Peter thought I looked so huge in what I was wearing he wanted to take a picture. I guess I have a carnival mirror in my room because I DID NOT realize I looked like that!!! See, in Jodi's world - mirrors make images look smaller than they appear. Apparently so........

It's kind of like the girl who you see that you look and say "eww....she thinks she looks good in that???!!!!??? I want her mirror!!!!" LOL

I had yet another doctors appointment today - I now go twice a week. Everything looks the same. I had a fetal fibro-nectin test which indicates if you will go in to labor within the next 2 weeks. The test came back negative which is great. My next appointment is Thursday in Boston for an ultrasound. They will measure the little ones and approximate a weight.

Change of schedule!!!

The doctor's office just called to change my scheduled C-section! I am on the wait list for September 8th or 10th! Matt's birthday is the 10th so that would be really cool!! I will be 37 weeks on the 10th so I'm not sure if that is going to happen! I can't even imagine how big I would be at that point. I am 30 weeks now.

Matt and I had my first cousins wedding this weekend so I wanted to post a picture! I made it up until past midnight but then Raya decided to wake at 4:30 that morning for the day! Murphy's law! I have to make up some sleep this week. I am exhuasted to say the least.

Matt and I also went car shopping yesterday. There is a lot of criteria in thinking of a vehicle - has to fit in my garage, hold my double stroller etc. I still don't know what to do because I'm too full of myself to drive a (gulp) "van". LOL At least I admit it.

EEWWW

Yes I am brave for posting this horrendous picture of myself in a bathing suit for the world to see! I wanted to show everyone that when you want "just one more" you could end up with two and how that warps your figure! LOL

I know my babies are total blessings! Believe me, I remember every shot and doctors appointments to get to where I am. I am just a miserable pregnant person!

This is at 28 weeks pregnant. For everyone that asks, my due date is actually October 1st but we have a scheduled C-section on September 19th.

I think my landscaper (yes, my landscaper) said it to me best today. I was (surprise) in a bathing suit with the kids at the pool and was speaking with him. He said "Seriously Jodi, you defy gravity!!". Thanks Frank. And we wonder why he is still single.

Week 29

Thursday, July 17th: Today I had an ultrasound to check on the fluid level on the babies. It is thankfully the same. One has normal fluid and the other with normal/low fluid. The doctors will continue to monitor them weekly. The babies are very active in there and their heart rates are both 141. The doctor measured me and I am measuring at 37 weeks. Which does seem really big but I was measured at 36 weeks, 3 weeks ago. Matt is funny and thinks this is the biggest I've ever been pregnant. I think my belly was bigger at the end of my pregnancy with Raya. Still trying to motivate myself to put up some pictures. I'll try.

Week 28

I had my 28 week ultrasound yesterday and it was discovered that one of the twins has low/normal fluid. It's not alarming, but something the doctors will now monitor weekly. The babies weighed 3lbs and 3.2lbs. They are doing great.
At my regular appointment today Nada (my DR) told us that from now on we should keep our hospital bag in the car when going to appointments!! That is pretty scary! I still have not had the beta shots for their lungs as we are trying to hold out as long as possible for them. Nada feels that I will only make it another 4 weeks! I was hoping for more! The beta shots will come if I am hospitalized again with contractions or if the fluid level gets lower. The longer we can wait on those shots, the better the outcome for the babies.

Week 28

I have made it to my doctor's goal of being 28 weeks! We are quite thrilled but now set new goals for me! I'd love to make it to 32 weeks - my doctor says my goals should be set in 2 week increments. Whatever, every day is a blessing.
The contractions have subsided for now. It reminds me of why people opt for c-sections! OUCH.
Lydia is having a lot of fun feeling my tummy and asking what the babies are doing inside of me. She asks if they are sleeping or playing. She wants them to come out August 1st she told me. Raya just says "no baby". We won't be leaving her alone with the twins!! LOL
I have my 28 week ultrasound appointment on Thursday to measure the babies!