February 2015

We went to the pediatrician this morning. The boys are 13 days old today and we did their 2-week checkup.

That entails mainly looking at their growth, and they are doing well. Leo is now 8 pounds 2 ounces, Adrian 7 pounds 9 ounces. That means Leo gained 15 ounces, almost a pound, and Adrian 4 ounces, since they were born. We're very happy about that since it means our feeding schedule is working for them.

Speaking of a schedule -- slowly but surely we're getting into some sort of rythm. They sleep pretty well from midnight until 3 pm in the afternoon. Of course, they wake up every three hours but those stretches of sleep are pretty solid and that's when we have a chance to take a nap as well. From 6.00 pm to midnight is "witching hour", very similar to what we had with Nora, and while we are having dinner they often get a little fussy and we bring one or both of them downstairs.

Leo and Adrian are 9 days old today which means that they've slept more nights at home then in the hospital. Well, "nights" is a big word for stretches of sleep no more than two hours.

We are still trying to figure out our routines and schedules but we're getting a bit of a handle on things. One lessons we learned from Nora is to write down when they wake up and eat (which is typically at the same time).

Leo and Adrian are one week old now. Time flies!

On Friday we went to the pediatrician who measured their weights and did a general checkup. Adrian was 6 lbs 15 ounces, Leo was 7 lbs 1 ounce. Everything was fine and we don't have to come back until they are 2 weeks old. Quite a difference with Nora where we had to go to the pediatrician every other day.

Slowly we are settling in a bit of a routine. The boys are like clock work: they wake up every three hours to eat. We want them to be on the same schedule, so if is up we'll wake the other one also -- it's the only way to stay sane with twins.

Last night we had two periods of 3,5 hours between feedings, which was nice. Sometimes one of the boys doesn't fall asleep right away so they need some cuddling. I wrote this article with Leo on my lap who seems to be asleep now.

It's been cold and snowy weather the whole week of Leo and Adrian's life. Yesterday there was a big snowstorm again.

At 7.30 pm, just as we were preparing Sasha's birthday dinner, the power went off in our neighborhood. I was outside shoveling the snow when I saw three bright flashes in the sky. Most likely some electrical transformers exploded somewhere.

We have plenty of emergency lights and our dinner was ready, but the cold weather is scary without power since our heating is electric. The temperature dropped 3 degrees Fahrenheit in 45 minutes and I had visions about having to heat the house with the fireplace and having everybody sleep downstairs.

After a while one of our neighbors stopped by and offered us to stay at their place since they still had power, which was very kind.

Thankfully things were resolved in 45 minutes. Nora said: "papa was geschrokken!". Spot-on.

It was very special to see Nora meet her brothers.

She understood the pregnancy pretty well, and we've read several books together about getting siblings.

We try to keep things as normal as possible for her. But today at 11.30 am I realized I forgot to give her breakfast and I felt terrible.

She loves the little ones and likes to watch their faces close-by. With my help, she held Leo for a little bit when he was downstairs with me, and she lied in the crib with each of them, staring at them and smiling.

We came home from the hospital yesterday and we spent the first night together as a family of five.

Going home was stressful, and so was figuring out all the small details for the first time. In the car we worried when the boys were crying. "Why are they crying?!". Then when they stopped crying we were also worried. "Why are they not crying?!". Haha.

But in the evening we had time for a sit-down dinner together which was really nice.

Through the night the boys woke up several times and we're all getting used to us. One lesson we still remember from Nora: sleep when the babies sleep -- so we took our first nap at 9.00 pm.

This is our last day in the hospital. The pediatrician came by this morning and the boys are doing well. Their weight was stable Tuesday night, and last night they even gained a bit of weight. Adrian has some jaundice but he is doing much better than yesterday.

Yesterday was a hectic day -- I had to go to Sibley early in the morning and traffic is just crazy. Today it took ame 45 minutes to get to the hospital. Leo and Adrian were born on a Sunday and Monday was President's Day followed by a low-traffic snow day, so we've been pretty lucky with traffic until now.

I went to sleep at 11.00 pm and fell asleep at once. Then I woke up at 5.00 am but told myself this would be the last full night in a loooong time so I went back to sleep.

Guus & Leo.

Guus & Adrian.

Adrian.

Leo.

We made every effort to have Nora's birthday as special for her as possible. Getting two little brothers is going to be an adjustment and birthdays are important.

I woke her up at 8.10 am by taking her in my arms and she quickly start to move around and opened her eyes. "Zeg Nora, wie is er eigenlijk jarig vandaag?", I asked. "Nora!" she said and she smiled wide. We saw a video message from Sasha which she liked a lot, and then we went downstairs. There were balloons and decorations and we opened several presents. A balance bike from us and several books from Opa and Oma. Lelya Snezha arrived and had a lovely baby stroller for her. I left for the hospital.

In the afternoon her friend Eli came to visit and our friends Lori, Ginny, Judy and Lelya Snezha threw her a nice party. We are very grateful for that.

When I got home she told me that she had a nice birthday, but "Ik ben nu niet meer jarig" -- the day for her ended after her nap, haha. Then we went shopping together, which was nice.

Three days old now.

It's been an amazing first day with our boys. On the one of the coldest days in a long term, we drove to Georgetown Memorial Hospital. Leo was born first, and then Adrian. It is clear that they are fraternal twins, and not identical -- their faces are distinct!

Sasha is doing very well and walked around a little bit already. I am extremely proud of her -- two big baby boys. Like our doctor said: "she carried more than 6 kilograms of baby!"

Nora is at home with Lelya Snezha and had dinner with Ginny last night. I came home at 8.00 pm and put her in bed. She had skipped her nap so was cranky but we watched videos and photo's of the babies and she liked that.

I didn't sleep very well -- too excited! But we're all feeling great.

We are very thankful for all the help we've received and for all the nice messages from everyone.

The moment I'm writing this, the boys are asleep. They ate around 1.00 pm and after some fussing they drifted off. I put them together in a bassinet and they seem to like that. Their heads are touching each other, just like in the womb for the past few months.

During the pregnancy we noticed a big difference between "Baby A" (Leo) and "Baby B" (Adrian). Leo was very active and made big movements -- Adrian very peaceful and rarely moved. When we went for the ultrasound checkup, Adrian's part always took longer because he moved much less. And now they are sleeping together I can see the exact same thing. Adrian is blissfully asleep and hardly moves, but Leo moves all the time. He seems to be dreaming too -- his eyelids are fluttering.

Sleeping together.

Changing a diaper.

Adrian.

Leo.

Sleeping.

Adrian opening his eyes.