Its been gently snowing the past 4 days {something we really haven’t seen so consistently most of the season}. Almost as if Winter wants us to remember how it has gracefully comforted us all Season long as we awaited the arrival of our twin boys.

Truly, the word I would use to describe the past few weeks is “savor”. These sweet boys have melted my heart and made a spot for themselves within.

Together we spend our busy mornings feeding, changing, etc. But there are sweet moments all throughout: when I hold each one alone or even the two of them together, and savor their sweetness, cuddling and rocking.

I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be right now than with these two precious bundles.

Life is simple right now…and very sweet.

At lunch we enjoy their Dad and I get some hugely appreciated help for an hour or so. Sometimes it’s a chance to hop in the shower or we sit and feed the babies together. (It’s all about choosing these days: the 1st couple weeks I chose sleep every time they were, the 2nd couple weeks I chose breakfast…today I got a half hour nap, breakfast, and a shower without help…breakthrough!)

Afternoon is a fun-filled, busiest-of- times, when the big kiddos are home from school. We take turns holding, kissing, feeding, burping, changing, singing, laughing, and dancing with the babies while doing homework, reading, and preparing dinner.

Lately I’ve been asked most:

● Are you getting any sleep?
We’ll happily admit that we’ve never been so tired, and that it has been all worth it. Thanks to other twin moms, we were counseled to keep the boys on the same schedule. So when one wakes in the night, we wake the other and feed them together. Fabulous advice. Right now we are up twice in the night on average…

● How are you healing?
So far, better than expected. I was wondering how long it would take for my belly to resemble some sort of normalcy and have been pleasantly surprised. Other typical pregnancy-healing aspects have been greatly aided by the placenta pills our midwife’s assistant, Nat made for me. {Yes, dehydrated into pills from the boys’ placentas}. And I can’t recommend them enough…wish I’d had them made with the other births! Helped my healing and energy level immensely. As to be expected from the 3 months on bedrest: my muscle-tone loss has definitely been the biggest setback in recovery, but getting better and, again -so worth it.

● How are the babies?
The boys are doing well. They are really good babies, eating, growing, and lots of fun.

personalities
baby A – I’m calling him “the douce” for now as he is so very sweet. Just as in my belly, he is so calm and relaxed. Very patient with his younger brother…and older siblings’affections. Really the only thing that makes him cry is hunger…and occasionally his carseat. He is easy to smile (the explorer calls it his “turtle smile”), has the sweetest, softest coo and enjoys conversations with the paintings hung throughout the house.

baby B – “the joker” (he makes everyone laugh) is also very sweet, determined, and a bit on the noisy side ;). He is always making funny grunt noises. And he has the funniest expressions that get us giggling uncontrollably. He is also very patient with his big love-giving siblings. He and his brother sleep together in a hanging cradle abive the foot of our bed. Often we find he has scooted next to his brother. This morning we found him lying in a diagonal across the bed…clearly looking for his twin who was already awake and eating. 😉 I love laying them next to each other. They will comfort each other when one is sad, hold hands, and make noises like they are having an important conversation.

growth and development:
As with many newborns, they had lost weight while waiting for my milk to come in. By the end of the 2nd week they were back up to their birth weights. The 3rd week surprised us when the joker passed the douce in weight by a couple ounces…then last week, the douce was again 2 ounces ahead: both 8 pounds.

The douce’s hair is looking more strawberry like his sister’s did at this time, while the blonde keeps peaking out from under the joker’s dark hair.

We’ve impatiently waited for their eyes to lose the blur. This happened the end of the 3rd week for the douce and about 5 days later for the joker. The kiddos, Carl, and I feel like we’ve seen more of their personalities the more they see and it’s been pure joy.

They can both roll over…mostly accidental. Its just happened a couple times for the douce, but the joker does it several times a day {it all began an hour after he was born while the midwives were trying to weigh and measure him. ;)}. Not even a week in, I thought I’d try tandem nursing them with my brestfriend nursing pillow. They were each on their respective sides. I was helping the douce latch when off rolled the joker…thank goodness onto the bed, too early I realized!

● How is your family?
Other than Spring-time sickness, that has been so prevalent lately, we are doing good. The older kiddos took turns with various things and it wasn’t easy recovering, caring for twins and sick siblings. When I caught strep along with my 4th case of mastitus last week, I teased them that they weren’t allowed to be sick anymore. Every time they went outside, they must have hats and coats…I even threatened to send them to school sick, lol. Surprisingly, we’ve made it a whole week without anyone staying home from school.

The big kiddos are a huge help and can do so much. At night I’ll hear them throw in a load of laundry as they get ready for bed and do other small but amazing things which is definitely comforting.

I remind myself every day what a team effort is required and I’m ever so grateful for our brave kiddos willing to do hard things and take on such responsibility. And Carl…he’s been amazing. Always looking for ways to help and do more (at his office late right now trying to get the twins insurance coverage since obamacare somehow caused Humana to reject their coverage on our existing policy…stay well sweet boys!)

Are these overwhelming feelings of gratitude simply typical for families with twins or families doing hard things? If so, happy to join each if you…its a good journey! xo ~ katrina