This holiday season was totally different but amazing nonetheless. Tonight we will be ringing in the new year with these two lovelies.
Milk coma
Riley
Sloan
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Closing out 2013
My how a year can change things! Last Christmas Matt and I were in NYC for a mini vacation seeing all the holiday decor, eating way too much, and fulfilling my dreams of meeting all my GMA favorites! Note how rested we look in these pics:)
This holiday season was totally different but amazing nonetheless. Tonight we will be ringing in the new year with these two lovelies.
Milk coma
Riley
Sloan
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This holiday season was totally different but amazing nonetheless. Tonight we will be ringing in the new year with these two lovelies.
Milk coma
Riley
Sloan
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, December 29, 2013
One Month Down
I would say time flies but sometimes when you are living your life in 2-3 hours increments and recovering from a c-section and you had TWO babies....somedays it can't go fast enough. We love these girls like crazy but nothing is easy about 2 newborns and trying to fatten them up requires lots of work.
Eating: When we left the NICU we kept the same 3 hour feeding schedule they were on and still continue it today. (With some 4 hour stretches at night. I am reading Babywise right now and hope to stick close to their suggested method.) We used to get so excited if the girls would finish one ounce and now they can polish off 3-4 oz every 3 hours no problem. Riley is our good eater sometimes even taking 5 oz at a time. Sloan has a nickname....Sleepy Sloan because we are constantly having to wake her up to eat and coax her thru at least a few of the feeding throughout the day to stake awake. All that matters is that they are eating and growing! They are still eating breastmilk exclusively but mostly I pump and we do bottle feeding that seems to be the best system for us.....making and being the food for 2 tiny hungry humans is no joke.
Weight: These are not the most accurate weights because we used the scale at my parents house and had my dad weigh before and then hold each of the girls. But I would guess these weights are pretty close Sloan:7 pounds 6 ounces Riley: 7 pounds 2 ounces.
Likes: The girls both seem to like bathtime...they just had their first submerged bath in the infant tub at my parents house and they were so calm during it. Without a doubt their favorite part is getting their hair washed and brushed. Sloan is enamoured with christmas tree lights (too bad now the holidays are over) and Riley is very calm and chill and likes to sit in her rock n play just kind of looking around and figuring out her hands. They love their white noise machine and sleep with it every night and the car ride to CC was pretty painless so maybe these girls will be like their mama and love sleeping in the car.
Dislikes: They HATE to sit in a dirty diaper.....even the slightest bit of wetness can bring big screams. Also, Sloan gets mighty fussy when hungry but since we are keeping them on the same schedule we have to hold her off for 20-30 mins at a time but she usually eats a lot better at that feeding rather than the ones where we have to force her to wakeup.
December was a month full of visitors and helpers thank goodness. Matt's parents were a big help and his mom made me some lactaion cookies that I would happily eat even when not breastfeeding. She did lots of night shifts and we were so grateful for her help while she was here. My mom, sister, and brother all came as well and did lots of night shifts too. I couldn't have survived this first month without family and Matt. I don't know where he gets his energy but he is always game to help even when he was back at work for a few weeks before the holiday. I picked the best life partner, I knew that before these girls were in the picture but since Nov. 27th it has only become more clear. We spent our first family of four Christmas at my parents and it was perfect. My parents kept the girls in their room and gave Matt and I some much needed rest they'll never know how much I appreciate them. (Once again mom I am so sorry for all those times I was such a shit to you.)
Matt and I still marvel at how much our life has changed in a month. How we celebrate a big baby burp or laugh at big baby poops. Newborns are sweet but we are definitely ready for the girls to be more interactive and I couldn't be more ready for them to sleep at least.....dare I say 5-6 hours in a row. That is my new years resolution....teach my kids how to sleep thru the night :) Oh and lose the rest of this baby weight.
Eating: When we left the NICU we kept the same 3 hour feeding schedule they were on and still continue it today. (With some 4 hour stretches at night. I am reading Babywise right now and hope to stick close to their suggested method.) We used to get so excited if the girls would finish one ounce and now they can polish off 3-4 oz every 3 hours no problem. Riley is our good eater sometimes even taking 5 oz at a time. Sloan has a nickname....Sleepy Sloan because we are constantly having to wake her up to eat and coax her thru at least a few of the feeding throughout the day to stake awake. All that matters is that they are eating and growing! They are still eating breastmilk exclusively but mostly I pump and we do bottle feeding that seems to be the best system for us.....making and being the food for 2 tiny hungry humans is no joke.
Weight: These are not the most accurate weights because we used the scale at my parents house and had my dad weigh before and then hold each of the girls. But I would guess these weights are pretty close Sloan:7 pounds 6 ounces Riley: 7 pounds 2 ounces.
Likes: The girls both seem to like bathtime...they just had their first submerged bath in the infant tub at my parents house and they were so calm during it. Without a doubt their favorite part is getting their hair washed and brushed. Sloan is enamoured with christmas tree lights (too bad now the holidays are over) and Riley is very calm and chill and likes to sit in her rock n play just kind of looking around and figuring out her hands. They love their white noise machine and sleep with it every night and the car ride to CC was pretty painless so maybe these girls will be like their mama and love sleeping in the car.
Dislikes: They HATE to sit in a dirty diaper.....even the slightest bit of wetness can bring big screams. Also, Sloan gets mighty fussy when hungry but since we are keeping them on the same schedule we have to hold her off for 20-30 mins at a time but she usually eats a lot better at that feeding rather than the ones where we have to force her to wakeup.
December was a month full of visitors and helpers thank goodness. Matt's parents were a big help and his mom made me some lactaion cookies that I would happily eat even when not breastfeeding. She did lots of night shifts and we were so grateful for her help while she was here. My mom, sister, and brother all came as well and did lots of night shifts too. I couldn't have survived this first month without family and Matt. I don't know where he gets his energy but he is always game to help even when he was back at work for a few weeks before the holiday. I picked the best life partner, I knew that before these girls were in the picture but since Nov. 27th it has only become more clear. We spent our first family of four Christmas at my parents and it was perfect. My parents kept the girls in their room and gave Matt and I some much needed rest they'll never know how much I appreciate them. (Once again mom I am so sorry for all those times I was such a shit to you.)
Matt and I still marvel at how much our life has changed in a month. How we celebrate a big baby burp or laugh at big baby poops. Newborns are sweet but we are definitely ready for the girls to be more interactive and I couldn't be more ready for them to sleep at least.....dare I say 5-6 hours in a row. That is my new years resolution....teach my kids how to sleep thru the night :) Oh and lose the rest of this baby weight.
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| Bebo and his girls |
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| 1st Christmas Day |
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| 4 generations |
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| Riley on the left and Sloan on the right (I feel like I will see this look a lot in my lifetime esp during teen years.) |
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Taking pictures of 1 month old twinks is not an easy task. I feel like I should say my girls are much cuter than these pictures depict but they were already annoyed with their mom taking pictures of them by this point. |
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Hello old friends....
After 10 months of abstaining from booze and raw food we were reunited this week. We have been spending the week in Corpus Christi with my family and I have gotten to have a few glasses of wine and Matt and I's CC fave water street oysters. A cold dos xx and oysters....yum. We took the girls to dinner as well and they were little angels sleeping the whole time.
Tomorrow night we are going out just the two of us. Grandparents are the best!
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Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
3 weeks old
I'm a little late but last week the girls were 3 weeks old and they change and grow every day. Here are a few cute videos of them being more awake and interactive.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Sloan 3 week weight
Today Sloan had to go back to the doctor alone since she wasn't quite back at birth weight last Wednesday at the 2 week old mark. She weighed 6.5 pounds last week and today she tipped the scales at 6 pounds 15 ounces! Which is great news because it means we are doing something right! :)
Just taking one baby for an outing felt like such a picnic.... I know just having one baby isn't easy but after you've been out numbered man on man coverage feels way more doable.
Just one car seat in back felt like we were missing something.
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Just taking one baby for an outing felt like such a picnic.... I know just having one baby isn't easy but after you've been out numbered man on man coverage feels way more doable.
Just one car seat in back felt like we were missing something.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Little things
When you live your life in 3 hour increments you have to celebrate the small little victories of each day.
Yesterday we got the girls out for a walk in the neighborhood. The weather was gorgeous.
Also, my big girls are moving on up in bottle size less than a week ago we celebrated them finishing a 35ml bottle now they are almost finishing 3 ounces in one feeding!!!
These are the first bottles we have tried. What do all you moms use? The girls seem to like these pretty well.
Here is a sweet pic of my Riley with her Texas Tech burp cloth.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Yesterday we got the girls out for a walk in the neighborhood. The weather was gorgeous.
Also, my big girls are moving on up in bottle size less than a week ago we celebrated them finishing a 35ml bottle now they are almost finishing 3 ounces in one feeding!!!
These are the first bottles we have tried. What do all you moms use? The girls seem to like these pretty well.
Here is a sweet pic of my Riley with her Texas Tech burp cloth.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Weekend with twinks
The weather here in Austin has actual been wintery which is so unlike Texas... Usually we are enjoying 60 and 70 degree weather right now. So we have been staying in door with the girls a lot! This Saturday we ventured out to run a few errands. It's way different leaving the house now and takes lots of prep work. We went to Five Guys burgers and then to REI. The girls were great until the car ride home then they let us know we had pushed it way too close to feeding time.
Eating out with the girls and grandma Judy
Baby's first sun...
Sloan lounging with dad by the pool.
Twin dad life ain't easy. Sundays used to be days Matt worked in the mornings to get ahead for the week and I would lay around and then do the grocery shopping. We would watch our shows and maybe even nap. I am pretty sure we can kiss those kind of Sundays goodbye for the time being. Now we stay in our pj's half the day because we don't have time to change.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Eating out with the girls and grandma Judy
Baby's first sun...
Sloan lounging with dad by the pool.
Twin dad life ain't easy. Sundays used to be days Matt worked in the mornings to get ahead for the week and I would lay around and then do the grocery shopping. We would watch our shows and maybe even nap. I am pretty sure we can kiss those kind of Sundays goodbye for the time being. Now we stay in our pj's half the day because we don't have time to change.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, December 13, 2013
Big Bacak News
Since the girls came earlier than planned Matt and I missed out on hosting our first Thanksgiving and also watching my baby brother propose to his girlfriend/ now fiancé! I was so sad to miss all the festivities but God has other plans for us. My mom said the house looked great and everyone had a great time. My brother worked so hard for months on this proposal and it even included the newest addition to the family "Benny" a little French bulldog. My soon to be sister in law got a new dog, a ring/ fiancé, and soon to be in laws all in one day! Congrats Cullin and Lauren.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Birth Story and a Thanksgiving to remember
The past 2 weeks have been such a whirlwind. I have been writing this post in my foggy sleep deprived head but am finally getting time to actually document it.
Timeline: Monday November 25th- I was up in the middle of the night sick with a stomach bug and having contractions too, so I called the on call doc and headed in to the hospital. After checking me out and giving me IV fluids I was diagnosed with a stomach bug and the dehydration caused the contractions no preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension.
Tuesday November 26th- finally felt a little better but noticed my swelling was much much worse.
Wednesday November 27th- routine doctors appointment at 11am. Matt and I always had a system since my doctor while great at delivering babies being on time is not his strong suit. So I would go at the scheduled appointment time and call Matt to tell him how behind they were. For some reason this day Matt came on time just so he could wait with me....Fate! When he saw my feet and legs he was shocked at how much more swelling I had even more than that morning when he saw me. When we got called back at 11:15 (the shortest wait time ever for us) the nurse took one look at me and said I think those babies need to come out today. Sure enough after my urine tested positive for protein a tell tell sign of PIH (Pregnancy induced hypertension) and my blood pressure kept rising they took it 3 times, she called in the doc and he said "Yep they need to come out today." I was in shock....I was miserable at this point and wanted them out but hearing someone say definitively they were coming out scared me. I couldn't even go home or back to the car.....we were sent straight upstairs. I was in pre-op by Noon and in surgery at 2:35pm. It was nuts.....I was stuck 6 times for an IV and they finally called the PIC team in. (guy who puts in central lines) Then once in the operating room I was stuck 5 times for a spinal only for the CRNA to have to call in the attending doctor who finally got the needle in. It wasn't all that painful I think because I was still in such shock and I was on a lot of magnesium at this point so I felt so strange. Finally after forever it felt like they brought Matt back and at 3:23pm and 3:24pm we met our daughters. Sloan Marion McGowan was born first, she was always baby A and weighed in at 6 pounds 7 ounces 18 inches long. Riley Aileen McGowan was born a minute later weighing in at 5 pounds 7 ounces and 18 inches long as well. It was such a surreal feeling to have these 2 girls who I had talked to for 36 weeks in my belly out in the world where now I can't protect them from everything anymore.
Once I got to see them and they were all cleaned off they quickly headed to the nursery with their dad for baths and some other checks. I was sewn up and headed to post-op where I got to meet them for the first time. I wish I wasn't on so many meds and I could remember this part more clearly. I can only tell you my memory from pictures. That is the one thing I regret is that for the first 24 hours of their life I was so dazed that I can't remember every detail. (Hence this blog....and why I need to document everything else. Since sleep deprivation has already done a number on my brain.)
November 27th, 2013 changed Matt and I forever. We became our own family of four in a matter of minutes and in the flash of a second we went from Matt and Andrea to Dad and Mom.
Timeline: Monday November 25th- I was up in the middle of the night sick with a stomach bug and having contractions too, so I called the on call doc and headed in to the hospital. After checking me out and giving me IV fluids I was diagnosed with a stomach bug and the dehydration caused the contractions no preeclampsia or pregnancy induced hypertension.
Tuesday November 26th- finally felt a little better but noticed my swelling was much much worse.
Wednesday November 27th- routine doctors appointment at 11am. Matt and I always had a system since my doctor while great at delivering babies being on time is not his strong suit. So I would go at the scheduled appointment time and call Matt to tell him how behind they were. For some reason this day Matt came on time just so he could wait with me....Fate! When he saw my feet and legs he was shocked at how much more swelling I had even more than that morning when he saw me. When we got called back at 11:15 (the shortest wait time ever for us) the nurse took one look at me and said I think those babies need to come out today. Sure enough after my urine tested positive for protein a tell tell sign of PIH (Pregnancy induced hypertension) and my blood pressure kept rising they took it 3 times, she called in the doc and he said "Yep they need to come out today." I was in shock....I was miserable at this point and wanted them out but hearing someone say definitively they were coming out scared me. I couldn't even go home or back to the car.....we were sent straight upstairs. I was in pre-op by Noon and in surgery at 2:35pm. It was nuts.....I was stuck 6 times for an IV and they finally called the PIC team in. (guy who puts in central lines) Then once in the operating room I was stuck 5 times for a spinal only for the CRNA to have to call in the attending doctor who finally got the needle in. It wasn't all that painful I think because I was still in such shock and I was on a lot of magnesium at this point so I felt so strange. Finally after forever it felt like they brought Matt back and at 3:23pm and 3:24pm we met our daughters. Sloan Marion McGowan was born first, she was always baby A and weighed in at 6 pounds 7 ounces 18 inches long. Riley Aileen McGowan was born a minute later weighing in at 5 pounds 7 ounces and 18 inches long as well. It was such a surreal feeling to have these 2 girls who I had talked to for 36 weeks in my belly out in the world where now I can't protect them from everything anymore.
Once I got to see them and they were all cleaned off they quickly headed to the nursery with their dad for baths and some other checks. I was sewn up and headed to post-op where I got to meet them for the first time. I wish I wasn't on so many meds and I could remember this part more clearly. I can only tell you my memory from pictures. That is the one thing I regret is that for the first 24 hours of their life I was so dazed that I can't remember every detail. (Hence this blog....and why I need to document everything else. Since sleep deprivation has already done a number on my brain.)
November 27th, 2013 changed Matt and I forever. We became our own family of four in a matter of minutes and in the flash of a second we went from Matt and Andrea to Dad and Mom.
Proud Daddy
Proud Uncle Bubba
Home! 6 days in the NICU but home safe
So glad to be free of the hospital and home with these girls.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
A quick update
I promise to get around to writing these girls birth story and a post on our first week home with the girls. For now though I'll just leave you with this cuteness.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Twins have arrived !!!
I am knee deep in diapers and lack of sleep but they are here and perfect.
Sloan Marion McGowan
Born 11-27-13
6 pounds 7 ounces
Riley Aileen McGowan
Born 11-27-13
5 pounds 7 ounces
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sloan Marion McGowan
Born 11-27-13
6 pounds 7 ounces
Riley Aileen McGowan
Born 11-27-13
5 pounds 7 ounces
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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