The fall is absolutely my favorite time of year. I remember last year laying in my bed all day on bed rest and I would peer out the window at the beautiful yellow and red leaves on the trees. I wanted so badly to have a normal pregnancy and a normal life at that time. A few weeks ago I was in the hospital for a really rare diagnosis of TSS. It wasn't life threatening or anything, but I was pretty sick. It was so crazy being back in the hospital one year later. Rich and I knew the hospital so well...it is sad how well we knew that place. He took me on "walks" in my wheelchair on the same streets that he took me on last year. The leaves on the trees looked the exact same. It was such a weird deja vu moment. But this time, I had my two sweet babies in my life. They are healthy and perfect and I am forever grateful.
So, do you want an update on my babies? They are soooo dang cute!! Since my last post at 4 months old, they have done so so well! First of all, size and weight wise, Addie is taller than Luke. I'm not quite sure by how much, but I guess an inch or so. At their last doc appointment at 9 months, Addie was in the 75 percentile for height (surprise, surprise!) and Luke was in the 25th for height (which is awesome!! - I'm glad he is well on the charts for height!). Weight wise, my babies are both very skinny. Addie is almost always on the 10th percentile for weight and Luke is usually around the 5th percentile. We will have to see where they are at when they go to their year check up! I am really happy at how well they have both grown over the past year. Is it a touchy subject that Addie is taller than Luke and may be for quite awhile? Kind of - but I am accepting it and grateful that they are both healthy and perfect!!!
Developmentally, both babies are doing great as well!! They both sat up a little bit later...around 7 months. Luke started crawling at 8.5 months and Addie at 9 months. Both babies took their first steps about 2 weeks ago, and Addie decided that she loves it, and started walking! She walks most of the time now! Luke on the other hand is a speed crawler and doesn't really practice walking like Addie does. He will take 3-4 steps and then fall. Then he continues to speed crawl to where he wants to go. They are both social and interactive. They love each other MOST of the time. They love exploring and making messes in the house.
Both babies are getting little attitudes and they throw temper tantrums when they don't get their way or if one twin steals the other twin's toy. They are softies though and love to cuddle still. Luke is obsessed with the toilet and playing in the bathroom. It is ridiculous! We have a bread drawer in the kitchen that is within the babies' reach, so when they get hungry they head over to the drawer, grab full loaves of bread out, and start eating slices of bread. It is so so funny! Both babies love getting into EVERYTHING and I feel like my house is constantly messy and I feel like I am always cleaning up after them. They are interacting so much more now too. They will pass food to each other while in their high chairs and will giggle about it. Every morning they wake up a little before 7 AM, but we don't get them until 7, so they have learned to "talk" to each other in their cribs. When we walk in their room in the morning they are always jumping in their cribs and giggling at each other. It is so cute! They have been stealing each other's toys lately, and they are starting to get mad at each other - as in pulling hair, hitting faces, and such. Ahhh! It doesn't happen too much, but I feel like I have to always be watching them so that they don't hurt each other. They both take two naps a day (at the same time!) and sleep from 7 PM - 7 AM in the night. It is wonderful! I feel like I'm really getting the hang out this twin thing, but before I know it, things will change and get crazy I'm sure!
We had a birthday party yesterday with Rich's family, and the babies LOVED it! I wasn't expecting them to love their birthday so much! They LOVED (especially Luke) when people blew the party blowers in their face. Luke giggled uncontrollably every time and made everyone laugh along with him. Both babies loved the balloons and they LOVED their cake. They dove right in and made such a mess. I loved every moment of it!!
It's kind of crazy to reflect on where we were one year ago. At exactly this time, I was being wheeled into surgery for an emergency csection. I honestly don't think I'd ever been so scared in my life, as everything was happening so fast. Not many people know this, but Luke was REALLY under distress when he was born. He was given an initial APGAR score of ONE when he was born. I didn't see him right away because I was put under for the csection, but Rich was there and didn't get to see him either because they passed him through the window to the NICU so quickly. I am forever grateful for the doctors and nurses who cared for my babies. Thankfully, Luke bounced back very quickly and had a second score of EIGHT which is a miracle. The second APGAR score is the most important and telling score, so we are beyond grateful that he did so well. Both babies are miracles in SO MANY ways. They have honestly defied all odds that were against them. They have done remarkably well this year. I am so proud of them!!
Here's to my babies who I love so very much!! Happy Birthday Luke and Addie!
