The boys are hilarious!

We've officially survived the boys' first two weeks of life.  Hurray for us!  In all seriousness, it's gone a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.  That's due, in large part, to the fact that my saint of a mother has been with us for the entire time and Scott's been off work since the boys arrived.  I don't know what I would have done without both of them!  They have been 100% amazing - grocery shopping, cleaning the house, changing/watching the boys, etc.  AND they let me nap during the day, which makes the (sort of) crazy nights much more bearable. 

The boys are absolutely hilarious.  Here is a list of some of the funny things that have happened since we got them home:

-  The boys were born with very distinct and different personalities.  Tait, the first born, is very, very calm.  Like hardly-ever-makes-a-peep calm.  His brother, Deuce, is very, very vocal.  ("Vocal" being code for gets mad as a rattlesnake and screams his head off whenever he wants anything).  Both boys are as sweet as can be - it's just crazy how different they are!!!  Nature vs nurture makes more and more sense every day . . .

-  The boys sleep together.  It is the sweetest thing you've ever seen.  They cuddle up as close as possible and keep each other calm.  I'm sure I should be separating them and that I'm dooming them to a life of co-dependency, but they are just so sweet together that I can't bear to separate them.  If they want to share a bed until they are teenagers, that's fine with me.  Here's a picture of them sleeping:

-  When they are sleeping together, Deuce will often start screaming bloody murder when something's wrong (he's hungry, has a dirty diaper, is laying on a pacifier, or just generally wants to be held).  When he does, he screams directly into his brother's ear.  Tait doesn't seem to mind - he lays perfectly still and sleeps right on through, no matter how loud Deuce gets.  Here's a picture of Deuce getting totally wound up.  Have to love this face!!!

-  Tait gets back at Deuce for all that yelling though.  Even when Tait's not hungry, he likes to lay next to Deuce and suck on Deuce's head!  I routinely pick Deuce up and find a patch of matted, wet hair on the back of his head.  I guess sucking his brother's head is comforting to Tait.  I don't have a picture of this yet but will try to get one.  It's hilarious!

-  The boys have been really, really good.  I am nursing them and it takes me about an hour to get both of them fed and changed every time they eat, which is every 3 to 4 hours.  This means that I actually get a decent amount of sleep at night - especially because I am one of those very, very fortunate people who can fall immediately to sleep.  That said, I am still getting only about 5 hours of sleep a night, which keeps me a little sleepy.  A few days ago, Scott and my mom watched the boys while I took a mid-afternoon nap.  When it was time for the boys to eat, Scott came and woke me up.  Semi-awake and clearly delirious, I told him that I was finished feeding one of the boys and he could bring me the next one.  I then patted the pillow I was hugging as if it was one of my sons and kissed its "head."  I very clearly thought I had been nursing that pillow.  Ha! 

In other news, we had the boys' two-week weigh-in doctor appointment this past Thursday.  The goal was for both boys to be back at their birth weight.  Tait was 6.2 lbs at birth; Deuce was 6.3 lbs.  At the hospital, the boys lost down to 5.9 and 5.8 lbs respectively.  They were 5.11 lbs when we left the hospital.  I was pretty anxious about the weigh-in appointment - I was nervous they might not be getting enough to eat as I am not supplementing with formula and relying exclusively on breast milk.  Fortunately, the boys were doing GREAT!!!  Tait weighed in at 6.8 lbs and Deuce weighed in at a whopping 6.11 lbs!!  And they are even bigger now - they have these hilarious, round pot bellies!  I am clearly producing enough milk for now.  Hurray!! 

Here are some more pictures of the boys from the past two weeks:

Tait:

Deuce:

Gigi and Scotty holding the boys:

Bye for now!

The best day ever.

It's been forever since the last post.  I know, my fault entirely.  But, to be fair, it's been a very insane week and a half.  The most insane of my life.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  I'll try to get updates out more quickly henceforth.  For now, I'll start with telling you about July 12, 2012, otherwise known as the very best day of my life! 

We got to the hospital at 6:30am.  Surgery was scheduled for 8:30am.  Things ran a little behind, mainly because they had a serious amount of trouble getting an IV set up in my arm before I got my epidural.  The nurses at Mobile Infirmary mauled my arms and hands trying to get the thing set up.  Seriously, they blew out three veins before the fourth attempt worked (looking like a heroin addict is ok, right??).  Once the IV was finally in, I got an epidural.  I had really feared the epidural - not because of the shot itself, but because I thought it would feel really weird and awful to lose sensation in my lower body and not be able to move my legs.  But, when it happened in real life, the epidural was super easy and didn't bother me at all. 

Things got a little crazy after the epidural.  I was wheeled into the operating room and found nearly 20 people when I got there.  I had no idea there would be so many people!  There were two separate teams - one for each baby.  The teams included separate OB/GYNs, pediatricians, neonatologists, and an army of nurses.  It made me a little nervous - were they anticipating some problem they hadn't told me about or was this normal protocol??

As they were getting me prepped, one of the nurses asked how big the babies were.  I told her that the babies were 4 lbs, 11 ounces at 34 weeks but that they hadn't been measured since then.  She then guessed that the babies would be between 5 and 5.5 pounds, but she said she wasn't sure if they'd be that big because I "didn't look like I was carrying ten pounds of baby."  I told her we'd find out for sure soon enough. 

Scott stood right by my side throughout the surgery.  At one point, I asked him whether they were getting ready to start.  He looked at me with big eyes and said - "you're cut open; they already started."  Wow.  Here we go!

About two minutes later, I heard Helen, my wonderful OB/GYN, say "Baby A was coming out."  Seconds later, she announced that Baby A was a boy.  A boy!!!!!  I was thrilled.  I heard him scream once.  It was the greatest sound I'd ever heard.  Then Helen held that sweet baby boy up in the air so I could see him over the curtain that kept me from watching the surgery.  He was perfection!  Here's a picture of him from his very first moment outside the womb (and I apologize in advance - this is a little gory):

Less than a minute later, Helen announced that Baby B was here and he was also a boy.  We were right!!  It was two boys!!!!  Helen held him over the curtain so I could see him and he was perfect, just like his brother.  Here's a picture of him being born (again, I apologize for the gore):

After the boys were born, they were taken to separate corners of the operating room to be checked out.  I was being stitched up, so Scott went to check on the boys.  He went and took some pictures.  Then he reported back to me that Baby A was very quiet but super alert, with big, wide eyes and a head full of hair.  Baby B had less hair than his brother and he was screaming his head off.  Scott also reported that Baby A weighed 6 lbs, 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.  Baby B was 6 lbs, 3 ounces and 19 inches long.  Wow!!!!  More than 12 pounds of baby!  I couldn't believe they were so big!  Here are pictures of both boys while they were being examined after they were born:

Baby A:

Baby B:

After the doctors finished examining the boys and found everything to be A-OK, they gave the boys to Scott and I got my first good look at them.  They were absolutely beautiful!!!!

After the surgery was over, I was wheeled to a recovery room where I finally got to hold my beautiful boys.  Here are some pictures from that very special time:

We named Baby A after my dad - James Tait Driscoll.  He's going by Tait.  We named Baby B after Scott's dad - William Joseph Driscoll, III.  He's going by Deuce (b/c he was the second one out - we liked Deuce better than Tripp or Trey . . . ). 

Tait:

Deuce:

Both boys in their preferred sleeping positions (Tait is on the left; Deuce is on the right).  This has to be the sweetest thing in the entire world. 

So, that's it.  The very best day of my life.  I love these boys more than I imagined was possible.   I can't believe that they weren't in my life just two weeks ago - it seems like they've always been here. We are so blessed and excited that they are finally here!

More to come soon.  :)

This is it. Don't get scared now.

So this is really it - the twins will be here tomorrow morning!!!! 


Hard to believe today was my last tandem workout.  I've frankly gotten used to saying "we're" going for a swim.  And, on the days when I didn't feel like working out, I would give "us" a pep talk ("C'mon twinkles, let's go drag ourselves through the pool for a while.").  It's going to be interesting going back to "me" and "I."  But I honestly can't wait to be pulling just my own weight through the pool and over the roads -  I will never take running/swimming for one for granted again.  :)


Here's a picture of me headed out for my last tandem workout (1.5 mile swim this morning, the day before the twins will be here - I would have gone tomorrow morning also but I have to be at the hospital at 6:30, so I won't have time.  Speaking of which, I wonder if the twins will be as foolish & psychotically competitive as their mother??):

And here's a couple of final pictures of my belly.  It's enormous.  But, looking at it, I still sort of can't believe there are TWO babies in there.  I guess I'll believe it tomorrow morning.  :)

Speaking of my belly, I'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to The Spoiled Mama company.  I have used their Bump Gloss (oil) and Tummy Butter (lotion) since I found out I was pregnant and, amazingly, I didn't get a single stretch mark over the course of this pregnancy (and I hope I didn't just jinx myself into getting one tonight!).  I didn't even think that was possible if you carried twins full term.  Especially if genetics aren't on your side (sorry mom - but this is the one thing I am glad I didn't inherit from you).  The Bump Gloss and Tummy Butter were pretty expensive but they worked!!  And they were less expensive (and less painful) than laser surgery would be . . .

Last night, Scott and I went to our last pre-baby date night.  We ended up going to Ruth's Chris and really blowing it out (steaks, twice baked potatoes, and dessert - if you are going to do it, might as well go all out . . . ).  It was excellent.  Forgot to get a picture though (sorry!).

Here are my final stats: 43 pound weight gain.  Yikes.  That means I did, officially, pass Scott.  Which is sort of his fault (to counterbalance all the carbs I was making him eat (if I was going down, he was going down with me!), he started running 10 miles a day in the horrific Mobile summer heat/humidity).  I am hoping for a 20-pound weight loss tomorrow.  We'll see.  At its largest circumference, my waist is 42 inches, which is hilarious.  Here's hoping it goes back to its normal size quickly (by my birthday in October would be nice . . . )

Alright, that's it.  Next post, we'll have some babies!!!  Wish us luck. :)

36 Weeks

So this is it. This time next week, we'll have two babies.  Crazy!  Although it feels like I've been pregnant forever, and although I've bitched non-stop for the last week (or, er, three weeks), it now seems like everything is moving really fast and I can't believe it's almost over.  For the next week, I'm going to try really hard to take my sister-in-law Jen's advice and take advantage of there not being anyone needing me 24/7!  Too bad part of that won't be sleeping - I can't sleep at all anymore (and all the fools suggesting you should get plenty of sleep in the weeks leading up to delivery have, quite clearly, never been pregnant - you are literally awake all night at the end - and I mean ALL NIGHT).

Other than sitting around waiting, I've been wasting time exercising (still swimming and doing the elliptical) and watching TV.  The Olympic Trials (diving/gymnastics/swimming/track) were on TV last week and I don't think I missed a single event.  Excellent!  Now that they are over, the Tour is on and that will keep me occupied until the Olympics start later this month.  I'm pulling for Bradley Wiggins this year.  But that's really only because Andy Schleck is out (injured), Cadel Evans drives me nuts (I think it's his voice, which I know is ridiculous), and Wiggins is on the same team as the Manx Missile, who I love!!! 

Nothing else really to report this week.  Assuming I don't go into labor before July 12, Scott and I are going to have a "Last Supper" next Tuesday night.  Not sure yet if we're going to go out for dinner or cook steaks here.  I'm leaning towards staying in, but mainly because I'd like to have a glass of wine with dinner without anyone staring at me like I'm the devil (one of the things I like least about living in the Bible Belt . . . these idiots think nothing about scarfing down chemical-laden fast food but God forbid you have one glass of wine with dinner . . . ). 

A big topic of conversation at our house this week has been the babies' genders.  Truthfully, neither Scott nor I care what the babies are - we'll take healthy!!  That said, we've talked about it a lot (we've had to come up w/ six names, after all).  Scott and I have been all over the map on this for the last nine months - sometimes sure it was two girls, sometimes sure it was two boys, and sometimes sure it was one of each.  I think we're both now pretty firmly in the two boys camp.  But I don't think either of us would be surprised if it was one of each.  The only really big surprise would be two girls.  I guess that's because everyone that sees me tells me I look like I'm carrying boys (whatever that means?) and the ultrasound tech has always been very careful about telling us not to look when she was anywhere near the babies' groins.  But they could really be anything.  I think the only person who cares is my mom - she REALLY wants a girl (probably because I didn't fill that void as a child - I was the biggest tomboy EVER . . . ).