Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girls!

A video of the girls first year (click link): Adelyn and Kailyn's First Birthday Video

Yesterday it happened. I knew it was coming. I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to stay in denial. But, it happened anyway. My baby girls turned one.

I can hardly believe an entire year has gone by. May 31, 2011 I went in for a routine NST (non stress test) and never left the hospital. I had a gut feeling that morning that something was going to happen that day. I know I was more than ready to be d.o.n.e. with being pregnant. Still, when it came down to actually hearing the words 'we need to deliver these babies TODAY' I got incredibly nervous. There were so many thoughts running through my head. I was incredibly anxious (which did not help the blood pressure issue). There was a flurry of activity with people coming in and out and getting ready for surgery. And, then, suddenly I was in an operating room, getting poked in the back and laid down. I felt the push and tug as the doctors were pulling the girls out. I heard them. They cried. I cried. Then they showed me these two babies. With hair. Lots of hair. And it was dark. It's a good thing I was the only pregnant person in the room or I would have sworn they got my babies mixed up with someone else.

That was an entire year ago already. Seriously, where did the time go? I know that is such a cliche thing to say but dang it it's true! It is so hard for my brain to wrap itself around the fact they have turned one. I'm not sure why this particular birthday is so hard for me to accept. I think it is because they have taken one of the last HUGE steps out of babydom. This is also the first time any of my kids has reached their first birthday without me being pregnant. There aren't any more first birthdays to look forward to or dream about and maybe that is hard pill for me to swallow even though I know with 100% certainty I am done birthing babies!

A year ago it was impossible for us to know what kind of little person these girls would turn into. Watching their personalities unfold this year has been one of the most exciting things to see. Watching them experience the world together has been a true joy. One year ago we were able to tell them apart based solely on their skin tone. Adelyn was beet read and Kailyn was very pale due to the acute TTTS they experienced during delivery. Now, at a year most people struggle to tell them apart. I, however, think they have incredibly distinct looks but it sounds like I'm the only one who thinks that! Watching them and seeing their personalities really makes it easy to tell them apart (most of the time).

Adelyn is my monkey. My go getter. My destructor. My cuddle bug. My ham. Kailyn is my sweet little charmer. My little smiler. My 'brains of the operation' child. My observer. Adelyn is always making noise, always has her mouth open "saying" something, tasting something, exploring something. Kailyn loves to sit back and take everything in, she loves to pal around with Elliot (she thinks he's the greatest thing EVER), she loves to give coy little smiles & act like she's playing it cool. She's a charmer. Adelyn is a huge drama queen. She has the girly shriek perfected. She has the 'throw myself on the floor, kick & scream' tantrum perfected. She's a master of mischief & never misses an opportunity to get into something she isn't supposed to. Kailyn, while being the sweet one, also manages to be her sister's biggest bully. She loves to chew on Adelyn which, in turn, makes Adelyn throw one of her huge tantrums. Kailyn also loves to cause mischief. She loves to climb in diaper boxes, check out the cupboards, open the potato/onion drawer. She's my little analyst. She observes everything - nothing gets past her. She checks everything out - first feeling it with her hands & then sometimes her mouth. She loves watching the outdoors although spending too much actual time outside requires a dose of benadryl.

The twin bus has been a crazy ride but a year after they were born I can honestly say that I love it. I would take another set of twins in a heartbeat (I used to think people were crazy for saying that.). I cannot wait to see what the next year holds for us and to see them become extraordinary little girls!

A Lesson in Sharing

The girls had a lesson in sharing the other day while eating a snack. I'm sure there are many, many, many more lessons like this one to come in the future but I happened to capture a few moments from this particular day. They love bowls and they love those little baby puffs. So, I put the two of them together and they were in heaven for awhile. Then they got greedy. Kailyn was grabbing 4, 5, 6 puffs at a time and effectively emptying the bowl. Adelyn would freak out, scream and then grab as many as she could the next time I filled the bowl. Then they would stare each other down while they ate. Then they started flipping the bowl and trying to crawl away with it. It was pretty hilarious until I remembered I would be cleaning little crushed puffs out of my carpets. Suddenly it was not cute anymore. Not at all.

Sick Buggle

 My sad, sad, sick little buggle. Miss Adelyn was diagnosed with a double ear infection on Monday. The doctor also said her left ear was perforated. Yikes! I had no idea she had that going on until she woke up with a little fever on Monday afternoon. I would have waited until Tuesday to take her in but after talking to our doctor (not the one she saw Monday night) I decided to have the husband take her in. So, she started on an antibiotic and some ear drops to fix her up. She was her normal silly,  
hamball self Tuesday
morning but by that afternoon I could tell she was feeling really awful. All she wanted was for Mommy to hold her and rock her except for sometimes she didn't but she did. She just didn't know what she wanted and I just didn't know how to make her feel all better. I knew her fever was up but not exceptionally high. I debated whether to treat it or not but since she was so obviously uncomfortable I did. Her little cough also started to get worse. Needless to say Tuesday night was a pretty restless night for my poor baby.

Wednesday morning she woke up jabbering away in her bed just like any other day except that when I went to pick her up she felt like she was on fire. I quickly grabbed a thermometer and plugged it in her ear. 103.2. Yikes! I took it under the arm with the same results. Yikes again! To be honest I don't think any of my kids has ever entered into the 103 territory and only once before have I seen 102. Yes, I know, I've been lucky but it was still kind of scary for me to see. She passed out on me as soon as I sat in the rocking chair. Poor baby was so upset when I had to wake the big kids up to get to pre-school. She actually got to ride in the baby carrier instead of the stroller this morning which she enjoyed. Anything to be closer to Mommy I guess (Mommy didn't mind). I checked her temp again around 10:30 (4 hours after a dose of Tylenol) & sure enough she was up at 103 again.

I got a call from Dr. B (a shout out to her coming soon) while I was loading the kids up after pre-school. She asked about Adelyn & decided she should be seen. To be honest I was glad she made the decision easy. I had been debating & couldn't decide if I was over-reacting or not. So, the kids had lunch in the van while I ran home to get more bottles before we headed in for what turned out to be an eventful doctor visit.

The nurse and I tried to get a rectal temp on Adelyn until she sprayed red poo (red from the antibiotic she's on - don't worry it's normal I guess). We opted for underarm instead which showed a fever that was only slightly elevated. That would explain the fact that she was being a hamball again. Her ears looked ok for being on the meds for 1.5 days but the issue came when Dr. B listened to her. Not too long after I was on my way down to x-ray with the girls. Fortunately we go to the world's best doctor and her & her nurse kept an eye on Elliot & Hadley while I was gone. Having a chest xray done on an infant is a special kind of torture. It took two nurses and me to get her in it and then she gave me those eyes. Oh the eyes. Those sad, sad, 'why are you doing this to me?!?' eyes. Break my heart a little more baby....  Kailyn was freaking out because her sister was freaking out. Luckily it went pretty quick and Adelyn was fine once I was holding her although she had a pretty firm grip on my shirt after that.

X-ray showed that she definitely has something going on in there :( Dr. B also told me that she's pretty confident the fevers and this chest business are a separate issue from the ear infections. Fortunately the meds she was already on don't have to be changed & we don't have to add in anything else. I hope my sweet little buggle starts feeling better soon. I miss my little hamball!

Here's a comparison of the difference in the twins tonight. One is a very happy, energetic baby. The other....is not. And please don't judge the mess in the background. I was too busy rocking a baby to pick anything up!

My happy, funny, crazy little Kailyn.

My sad, sick, exhausted little Adelyn. Big brother was trying to get in on this picture. He has a crazy love affair with cameras.