Claire's Sweet Smiles

Claire is such a smiley little girl! She smiles at almost everyone and will even giggle! Here she is at 9 weeks old.

 

 

 

 

David is a Roller!

David hates tummy time! He cries within seconds of putting him down on his belly! So, he decided to take matters into his own hands to avoid having to be on his tummy! Watch :) {10 weeks 6 days old}

I (barely) caught the first roll, Eric and I both witnessed the second, and I managed to get the third time on video.

 

We Need a Little Christmas...

We've really been enjoying the holiday season this year! Over the weekend, we took the kids to the Brooks' Children's Holiday Party. It was fun introducing the twins to Eric's coworkers. Santa made an appearance, and we were considering it a "dry-run" of sorts to determine whether we should take Lucas to have his pro picture taken with Santa. Well, it's a good thing we didn't waste our time standing in line at the mall, because, though Lucas enjoyed talking about Santa and pointing him out any place he could find him, he wanted nothing to do with sitting on his lap. At least we got pictures of David and Claire with the jolly guy for their First Christmas.

On Sunday, we headed over to Peddler's Village to check out the Grand Carousel with Mimi and Papa Filosa. How many times have we been to Peddler's Village? At least 5! And we've driven past countless times on our rides to and from NJ. But, we never knew there was a beautiful carousel and children's museum/obstacle course/maze/amusement area. Lucas rode the carousel 3 times, and definitely would have stayed on longer, if it weren't time to break for lunch! We will definitely be back!

Santa was also at Peddler's Village, but just like the day before, Lucas would only watch from afar with Mimi and Papa.

David and Claire were there too, but they really just hung out in their stroller and watched their big brother have all of the fun! Next year, little ones!

 

Claire is 2 months old!

We are definitely into a groove with this 3 kids under 2 years old thing - and this twin newborn thing we have going on!! The first part of the month, we had help from Mimi Irene and Mimi Joanne (Lucas started calling of his grandmothers Mimi back in October!). Then the kids and I went to NJ for the week leading up to Thanksgiving, with Eric arriving on Wednesday (Auntie Michele was a huge help that week!) And the last two weeks we have spent ALONE with no family help! And we survived! And Eric and I have proven that we CAN raise our family on our own - but, we do LOVE when our family is around to lend extra hands! Our parents have provided such amazing and incredible help over the last two months - we love spending time with them and each one of them loves their grandchildren so much! We are so thankful for the village that surrounds us and supports us!

Ok, onto the twins! David and Claire are growing like weeds! We continue to breastfeed exclusively. When we are on our own during the day, I tend to feed the babies separately more than tandem, as it's easier to manage Lucas and the non-eating twin when I have the ability to walk around and have a free hand while nursing. Multi-tasking at its best!!

David and Claire have also enjoyed tagging along to Lucas' music class! The first couple of weeks, they would sleep through the entire class, but these last couple of classes, they were awake for all or part of the time. We signed up again for the winter session that starts in January. Can't wait! Several of the moms I have met through class have children Lucas' age and are also very pregnant or just had their second child, so that has been fun!

These two are amazing sleepers, and we are very grateful for that! Just after Thanksgiving, it occurred to us that both babies were fussiest in the evening just after their 7/8ish feeding. In looking back to Lucas' journal, this is when we instated an earlier bedtime because the fussiness meant he was tired! So, we did the same with David and Claire - they now go to bed around 8/8:30pm, sleep until 4or5ish when they wake up to eat, then back to bed until 8ish! They have pulled an 8.5 hour stretch several times, but not consistently, yet. I'm still convinced that Claire will sleep until morning if it weren't for her wake-up call, David, who initiates that early morning feeding most of the time. But, I'm not ready to toy with letting her sleep through, yet, since I will probably eat my words and she'd be up right after I get back to bed! The babies still sleep in the same crib at night and we continue to swaddle them at night also. They nap for 1.5/2 hours in the morning about an hour after they wake, and another long one during Lucas' naptime in the afternoon. Naps still take place on the main level of our house in the pack-n-play, bouncy chairs or swing. Both babies are also huge cat nappers throughout the day! I don't remember Lucas sleeping this much at all, but we will take it as long as it lasts!

Claire: She is still in size 1 diapers, but will be moving up to 2s as soon as we finish the current pack. Claire is also still in 3 month clothes, and will be for another month, at least, if I had to guess. She is definitely still our little sleeping beauty, but she is so alert when she is awake - looking around the room, observing her hanging toys, flashing big smiles at Daddy and Lucas (I get them once in a while too, but she is definitely a Daddy's girl), and cooing. For such a big sleeper, she can be the harder of the two to put back down - nothing her paci and a little rocking can't fix, though. She has a love/hate relationship with her paci - loves it so much that sometimes she can't keep the thing in her mouth and sucks so hard that it flies out! Then the screaming ensues! She sounds like a kitty cat when she cries and her wail is oh-so dramatic and loud! Claire also has the cutest stretch when she wakes up from a good sleep - she arches her back, sticks her little butt out, tilts her head backwards, puts her arms, with fists in both hands, up over her head and purses her lips. It's so adorable and almost exactly how Lucas arose from sleep as well. Her eyelashes have started to come in, and the hair on top of her head is growing in fuzzy - looks like she may have light brown hair like Lucas. Oh, and her chubby cheeks are finally making an appearance, as well! And Claire has these huge blue eyes - wonder if they will remain blue? She also has these dramatic, porcelain doll-shaped lips that are just gorgeous! What a pretty little girl she is!

We are so blessed! These two are such sweet and good babies! This twin thing really could be so much more difficult if we had babies that cried a lot or didn't sleep well. I'm sure we will have tough phases which will make things much more difficult with two. (I remember 'the four-month wakeful', nap training, teething, and rolling, in particular, were difficult phases with Lucas.) But we will take those phases as they come and just roll with it - because, they are just that - phases!

Claire, you are such a wonderful addition who complete our family in so many ways! We love you!!

David is 2 months old!

We are definitely into a groove with this 3 kids under 2 years old thing - and this twin newborn thing we have going on!! The first part of the month, we had help from Mimi Irene and Mimi Joanne (Lucas started calling of his grandmothers Mimi back in October!). Then the kids and I went to NJ for the week leading up to Thanksgiving, with Eric arriving on Wednesday (Auntie Michele was a huge help that week!) And the last two weeks we have spent ALONE with no family help! And we survived! And Eric and I have proven that we CAN raise our family on our own - but, we do LOVE when our family is around to lend extra hands! Our parents have provided such amazing and incredible help over the last two months - we love spending time with them and each one of them loves their grandchildren so much! We are so thankful for the village that surrounds us and supports us!

Ok, onto the twins! David and Claire are growing like weeds! We continue to breastfeed exclusively. When we are on our own during the day, I tend to feed the babies separately more than tandem, as it's easier to manage Lucas and the non-eating twin when I have the ability to walk around and have a free hand while nursing. Multi-tasking at its best!!

David and Claire have also enjoyed tagging along to Lucas' music class! The first couple of weeks, they would sleep through the entire class, but these last couple of classes, they were awake for all or part of the time. We signed up again for the winter session that starts in January. Can't wait! Several of the moms I have met through class have children Lucas' age and are also very pregnant or just had their second child, so that has been fun!

These two are amazing sleepers, and we are very grateful for that! Just after Thanksgiving, it occurred to us that both babies were fussiest in the evening just after their 7/8ish feeding. In looking back to Lucas' journal, this is when we instated an earlier bedtime because the fussiness meant he was tired! So, we did the same with David and Claire - they now go to bed around 8/8:30pm, sleep until 4or5ish when they wake up to eat, then back to bed until 8ish! They have pulled an 8.5 hour stretch several times, but not consistently, yet. I'm still convinced that Claire will sleep until morning if it weren't for her wake-up call, David, who initiates that early morning feeding most of the time. But, I'm not ready to toy with letting her sleep through, yet, since I will probably eat my words and she'd be up right after I get back to bed! The babies still sleep in the same crib at night and we continue to swaddle them at night also. They nap for 1.5/2 hours in the morning about an hour after they wake, and another long one during Lucas' naptime in the afternoon. Naps still take place on the main level of our house in the pack-n-play, bouncy chairs or swing. Both babies are also huge cat nappers throughout the day! I don't remember Lucas sleeping this much at all, but we will take it as long as it lasts!

David: This little guy is no longer so little - what a chunker! He is SO heavy!! David wears size 2 diapers and, though, he is mainly in 3 month clothes, we've already had to retire some 3 month PJs. 6 month clothes are not far off, and he already wears several in that size already. What can I say - he loves to eat! His cheeks are huge and we think he hoards food in them like a chipmunk. I could gnosh on them all day long! David also has these adorably pouty lips! His hair is still full and dark, but he's been losing some of it, which is still growing back dark, though. It is really thin and whispy, and he sports some crazy 'dos! He started smiling while we were in NJ over Thanksgiving and loves to flash that toothless grin and "talk" to mommy! I think this one is going to be a mama's boy (Lucas is so not - Mr. Independence!) - he loves to cuddle and snuggle his head into the crook of my neck. David also loves to be held and likes to fall asleep on both mommy and daddy. He loves to be propped upright over someone's shoulder and enjoys sitting in someone's lap so he can look around the room. David also notices and bats at his "friends" who hang from his bouncy chair arch and the swing mobile.

We are so blessed! These two are such sweet and good babies! This twin thing really could be so much more difficult if we had babies that cried a lot or didn't sleep well. I'm sure we will have tough phases which will make things much more difficult with two. (I remember 'the four-month wakeful', nap training, teething, and rolling, in particular, were difficult phases with Lucas.) But we will take those phases as they come and just roll with it - because, they are just that - phases!

David, you are such a wonderful addition who completes our family in so many ways! We love you!!

Claire is 1 month old!

Wow! We can't believe how quickly time has flown! On November 5th, David and Claire turned one month old! A lot went down this month! For sure, we were a lot more comfortable with including David and Claire into our daily lifestyle and getting out and about. It helped tremendously to have our parents here to help and serve as extra hands in rearing our 3 children under 2 years old for the entire month.

Notable events: We went out to dinner as a family twice, visited a nearby pumpkin patch, and survived our first hurricane and ~48 hr power outage when Sandy blew through. The very first outing we went on as a family was to Wegman's, and the twins crashed Lucas' music class for the first time on their 1 month birthday! They basically slept the entire time on every single outing so far.

The babies are exclusively breastfeed thus far! We still continue to nurse tandem. Our feeding schedule is every 3hrs., with David initiating the request to eat the majority of the time. Right now, we try to stick as close as we can to 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm, then the 6hr stretch to 3am. We deviate some since we do feed on-demand, but most days we remain pretty much on schedule. I am always in awe of the inner clock of babies! Plus, I'm sure this routine will change in a few weeks as they start to sleep more at night. David and Claire have been sleeping in the same crib since their second night at home. We will probably continue this until they hit 3 months or until they are no longer swaddled. Now it is nice since they just stay in the same spot we put them at the beginning of the night and we don't have to worry about them rolling or moving on top of each other.

Claire: She is quite petite, still in newborn diapers, and is mainly wearing newborn clothes -- but not for much longer. Claire is also starting to throw out some smiles here and there. She LOVES her paci! No eyelashes to be found yet!

 

We did not have a 1 month well-baby appointment with the pedi since they both did so well at 2 weeks, but David is so heavy now. Claire is definitely bigger, too, but she is light as a feather after holding David! David is the eater and Claire is the sleeper, but both of them are growing and developing just wonderfully at their individual paces.

 

 

Trick or Treat!

Halloween in our town was postponed until Saturday, November 3rd this year due to all of the power outages from Hurricane Sandy.

Several days before Halloween, we would ask Lucas if he wanted to try on his monkey costume. His usual response was, "no, no, no" while walking away from us backwards! Uh oh! We were pretty sure Halloween would be a bust for our very opinionated child!

Once the TorTers started coming around, I stood with Lucas at one of our front windows for a bit to watch and discuss the kids walking by in costume. And as soon as he saw that we were giving out candy to the kids at the door, he became intrigued (which is pretty interesting since he has never had candy before!). Then. he started to ask for candy, so Eric took the opportunity to explain to Lucas that he could get his own candy if he put his monkey costume on! Success!

Eric and I took him around to visit our immediate neighbors. We had so much fun and everyone loved our little monkey! You should see how much candy he scored at 6 houses! Everyone was being extra generous since we all had an abundance of candy :) Plus, who can resist this cutie!? Happy Halloween!!

Lucas is 21 months old!

Wow! We can't believe we are three quarters of the way through Lucas' second year of life! In no time, we will be celebrating his birthday! It just doesn't seem possible that life is moving so quickly.



So what is Lucas up to now a days? First and foremost, this child LOVES music - he loves to dance to it, to listen to it, loves to sing and to be sung to. We signed him up for a music class for the fall called Kids Music Round and the child can't get enough! He has been attending class several times a week since he enjoys it so much! Usually, I take him once a week and grandparents have taken him at least once a week, as well! Lucky boy! Lucas' teacher, Miss Andrea, is constantly in awe at how much he participates for a child his age. She uses word such as "remarkable" and "amazing" to describe him. She also says he can "feel the beat" and this can be seen when the rhythm of a song changes and Lucas can pick up on it by modifying his dance moves or changing the way he's playing with the instruments she hands out. It really is wonderful to see how much joy he gets out of class and music, in general. He asks to play the Music Round CD a lot in the car or at home, and we will have little dance parties with his shaker eggs. He is really good at remembering the "moves" to a song that we sing in class, even after only learning the song once! When Eric gets home from work, we usually have a nightly dance party with adult music :) Here's a fun video of a recent one!

 

Words and vocabulary have take off in the last several months! We've lost count of all of the words Lucas says, and he adds more to his list on a daily basis. Favorites that we love to hear include, "yellow", "blue", "trash truck", "mailman", "uno", "Amen", "auntie", "uncle", "football", "aaachoooo", and "cheese". He has several short sentences like "hi mama (or dada, Mimi, doe doe)", "bye mama (or dada, Mimi, doe doe)", "doe-doe ni-night"(translation: Darby is sleeping), "choo choo up" (talking about the train at Wegman's that runs on an overhead track).

As you can tell by some of his words, we have been working on colors. Lucas can point out red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and black (all of the colors in his jumbo crayon box). Though, if you ask him to name a color, he will usually say yellow or blue first :) He can also repeat all of those color names (except for orange).

Lucas is very into praying. When we say our blessing each night at dinner, he always sits nicely with his hands folded, and on most nights, he will actually initiate the prayer. He loves when we sing the Johnny Appleseed prayer but regardless of the blessing, he finishes up with a hearty "A-meeen" at the end. He also will not stand for anyone at the table that does not have their hands folded - he will call them out by name and point to their hands until they oblige. One night, I was nursing the babies in the family room and I told everyone to just start dinner, and I could hear Lucas during the blessing saying "mama, mama" - he did not want me to be left out! Also, before bed, he will lay in his crib with his little hands folded and say "pray, pray?" to begin bedtime prayers and bless our loved ones. Of course, the "A-meeen" at the end is just the sweetest!

Playtime at this age includes building towers with mega blocks, playing with any type of ball, coloring, driving cars up and down this Little People ramp toy, playing with any of his Little People toys, mowing the lawn or carpet, assembling chunky wooden puzzles, and reading books!  Books with animals or the moon are always a hit. But, "Bear Snores On" remains a favorite - especially the part where Bear sneezes.

Lucas has also taken to the iPad (but we usually have to hide it or it is all he wants to play with). One day he turned it on, went into the Skype icon and proceeded to call up Eric's Aunt Dede. It was pretty cute and very intentional as he was saying "Dede Dede" the entire time! Unfortunately, she wasn't available to answer, but that would have been awesome! I saved my old iPhone when I upgraded, and have since given it to Lucas as it has music, photos, home videos, and apps still on it. The best part is that the wireless and phone are disabled so he can't mess with my emails or make phone calls ;) So, yes, our toddler has his own iPhone! Haha!

Lucas is also becoming kind of bossy! First child syndrome, anyone? Ordering people around has started at a young age. He is very persistent and will tell people where to sit, whether it be at the dinner table, or next to him on the floor to play or read. He will sit down and then point to the floor or the chair while saying "Dada, dada, dada" or whoever his pawn is at the moment! Haha! He will even tell Darby where to lay. He even does this with the babies when he wants us to put them on the playmat, bouncy chair or floor - "baby, baby, baby" - all while pointing to the location he wants them in. Bossing around his siblings is starting early! Lucas will grab our hands and drag us to the playroom or towards the door to go outside to play. Also, if we want to sing him a song and it's not a song he wants to sing, he will firmly say "no, no, no" and shake his head while we go through numerous songs until we hit the precise one he wants to sing!

Lucas and Darby play with each other more and more. He will throw a ball for her and she will fetch it. Also, if Lucas notices her bed or a toy has been left out, he will get it for her and bring it to her.

It's not always all fun and games with these two. Darby has taken to stealing Lucas' food straight from his hands at meal time (yes, bad parents for not managing our dog better!). He has started to yell at her, "nooooo! Doe-doe!" It's also cute when we tell Darby to lay down and Lucas follows with a "stay" command along with the hand signal :) For the most part, they are best buds, though.

So, 21 months - what a great age! Lucas is providing us with lots of fun and lots of laughs on a daily basis! We are so proud of how our big boy is growing and developing! He is just so inquisitive and curious - everything he does at this age is a learning experience and we feel so fortunate to be able to watch him grow!

Here are some pictures from the pumpkin patch/farm we visited as a family last weekend. The horses, tractors, and petting zoo were a blast! We LOVE living in the country, where we have an abundance of farms to choose from within minutes of our home!

 

 



 






 



 









 

Lucas as a Big Brother!

Spotlight on the Big Brother, Lucas - Week 1 was also a bit difficult for our, once, only child. But, Eric and I must say that we are blown away by how well Lucas has transitioned into his new role as big brother. The biggest thing that was "off" with Lucas during the first week was his sleep. Not sure if it was because of all of the commotion, or because his grandparents and family were here, or just less attention from mom and dad. But, Lucas would not go down for his nap or at bedtime without shedding tons of tears. Very unlike him as he is usually a wonderful sleeper from the time we lay him down and he says "ni-night" and waves goodbye to us as we shut his door. He would sleep just fine once he fell asleep (even through all of the baby cries), but it was getting him to his crib that was the hard part. Luckily, that only lasted for a short time, and we are back to our normal sleep routine. Eric and I make it a point to spend one-on-one time with Lucas each day, and it helps tremendously to have grandparents here to help out.

 

We weren't sure how Lucas would take to David and Claire since he is so young, but, surprisingly, he seems to love the "babies"! They are the first thing he wants to see each morning. He loves to touch their feet and give them kisses on their head. He even sings them songs mainly "twinkle, twinkle", pulls the strings on their bouncy chairs to play them music, pops their pacies back in, and gives them his books and toys! Oh yes, and can't forget that he loves throwing their dirty diapers in the diaper pail! We really could not be any prouder of our big boy!

Two weeks in...

It's been two weeks since David and Claire were born. Two weeks since our family dynamic changed drastically. And two weeks since our hearts grew triple in size to make room to love these two as much as we love Lucas. As hard as it's been, it's been an amazing two weeks!

Week one was the most difficult. AND we had help! Grammy Irene stayed the entire week (what a Godsend!), and Grandpa Bob and Auntie Michele split the week (again, amazing!). Eric was home for the beginning of the week (so special!), and Uncle Craig was here for a night too. Someone always had to be on Lucas duty. Everyone else was on twins duty. All of our visitors were super helpful, but it was still hard!

The twins and I had to get in to a groove with nursing. After the first night home where little sleep was to be had, I quickly learned how important the phrase "one up, both up" was. And it's been that way every since! Tandem nursing the babies at the same time streamlines each feed drastically. Fortunately, for me, it's no more difficult to breast feed two babies than one. These two are wonderful eaters! They latch beautifully. I can position them myself on our double nursing pillow while on our bed or the couch, but I do have someone up with me for a little while during night feedings to change diapers, hand me babies, and help get them back down, if needed. David started to lose weight when we got home from the hospital, but he caught up when I started pumping and supplementing an extra ounce of milk a few times a day for two days. He gained 6 oz in two days because of our efforts and has been doing wonderfully ever since! Both babies were back up to their birth weights by one week old! At two weeks old, both have surpassed their birth weights - David is 7 lbs 7 oz, and Claire is now 6 lbs, 14 oz!

We also went against recommendations (to wait 3-5 weeks) and introduced bottles of breast milk before they were one week old. This was mainly to maintain mommy's sanity and give me a chance to sleep a bit. Again, our wonder babies were amazing. They now take one bottle each night before bed, while I pump and attempt to go to sleep on the early side. David is up to a 4oz bottle and Claire will take 3oz. They still continue to nurse very well and don't have any issues going back and forth from bottle to breast! Bottles also help when I want to run an errand or take Lucas to music class, and a grandma is staying with the twins.

Sleep was very hard to come by the first week. We were waking the babies every 3 hours to eat, and getting only 2 hour stretches of sleep at night. Plus, the first few days one of the babies would need some extra TLC to get back to sleep, so that cut in to our sleep too. We were a very sleep deprived household! Once the twins hit their birth weights at one week old, we started to let them sleep a longer stretch at night. That transition still took a few days because David was still on the every 3 hours schedule. The stretch has gotten longer each day, so far. Every 3 hours turned into 4 hours and then 5 hours and, dare I say, 6 hours! Needless to say, we are improving in the sleep department!

Week two has been a lot easier as we settle into our groove. This past week and next, Grandma Joanne is here to lend a hand, and again, we are so thankful for the help!

David is proving to be our alert little chill guy! He is so interested in our world when his eyes are open! He loves to look around and stare at the faces of whoever is holding him. He is also quite a good sleeper, so far, and as long as he is swaddled, it doesn't take much for him to drift off to dreamworld! He reminds us a lot of his big brother with respect to sleeping and his physical appearance - though, David, has a ton of dark hair that Lucas did not. Let's just hope he continues to take after Lucas in the sleep department! David also is the one that will not miss a feeding. Eric and I joke that he must have an alarm clock on him, as every 3 hours (many times, on the dot!), he is asking to eat! David is a slow eater, but he is very efficient and will actively eat the entire time he is sleeping.

We don't think we saw Claire's eyes the entire first week of her life! What a little sleepy head! Around 10 days old, she finally started to wake up and now she will stay awake for an hour stretch once a day or so - usually in the early evenings. Claire is proving to be one who wants to be held and rocked to sleep. Many nights, she is the baby that is harder to get down. Each feeding takes about half the time as her brother, but with Claire, it's all about getting back to sleep as soon as possible, so she is all business during a feeding! We also think we are going to see smiles from this one early.

2012 Christmas Cards from Tiny Prints!

Now that the twins are here, we have been starting to think about designing their birth announcements! After Lucas was born, it was a no-brainer that we would use Tiny Prints as our stationary of choice. So many of our friends had sent out beautiful announcements and cards over the years, and when you flipped the card over, the Tiny Prints logo was found more times than not.

Of course, as I was perusing the Tiny Prints site, my eyes couldn't help but wander towards their Photo Christmas Cards. Eric and I considered sending out a combined Christmas/Birth Announcement, but in the end, decided that we really wanted to have a special announcement for the twins as a keepsake, so double the cards it will be! Plus, we absolutely LOVED our Christmas cards from Tiny Prints last year, and can't imagine not having one this year, as well:

We are not quite sure if we will go with one photo this year (it may be very difficult to get a decent shot of a toddler and 2 newborns!), or a collage with individual kid photos, but here are some of the designs that caught my eye:

 

Check out Tiny Prints Special Offers page where you can find all of their current promotions and coupon codes.

 

Tiny Prints has sponsored this post.

They're heeere!

On the afternoon of Friday, October 5th, at 38 weeks and 1 day gestation, David Robert and Claire Elise made their debut into the world!! David weighed 6lbs14oz and was 20.5" long. And Claire weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 19.75" long.

At almost 13lbs of baby, we were SO ready to meet these two when Eric and I headed to the hospital after breakfast on Friday morning for our scheduled induction. The ride to the hospital this time around was SO different than with Lucas' birth - it was so calm - no middle of the night driving, water breakage or contractions to contend with. We just walked into the hospital like it was any other day.

Once we got settled in our labor room, my doctor came in to check me - 5cm! Yay! Halfway there before we even got started! So, at 9:30am, she broke David's water bag, started the Pitocin, and ordered my epidural. At 3:00pm, I was checked again and found to be 9cm! Doc said it should be around an hour til I hit 10, but about 30 minutes later I started to feel the urge to push! Uh oh! My doctor was in the OR performing a C-section and we hadn't been moved to our OR yet! So the nurses frantically started to get everything together for our move!

I should backup for a second and explain that although we were going for a vaginal delivery, it is protocol at many hospitals to deliver twins in an Operating Room (OR). This is mainly as a precaution in case an emergency C- section has to be performed primarily on Baby B. Plus, there are so many people present for a twin delivery, that an OR provides more space for everyone to spread out.

We got to the OR at 4:05pm, and the small circus was already setting up - anesthesiologists, pediatricians and pediatric nurses (one of each per baby), a backup OB in case mine didn't make it out of surgery in time, several nurses, and some student nurses that we allowed to witness their first twin vaginal delivery! There must have been 20 people in there!

I was determined to wait for our doctor - she was the one who I trusted to deliver our breech Claire (Baby B) vaginally! David (Baby A) was ready to go and was descending rapidly. But, we waited. And I breathed and breathed through contractions and the strong urge to push for 30 minutes!! Looking back - that just sounds crazy!

Our doctor came in at 4:35, and pushing started almost immediately! David Robert was born 6 minutes later with a full head of dark hair and a strong cry! He was whisked away to the other side of the room to get cleaned up. I didn't get to see my baby boy, but, through tears, Eric assured me he was beautiful and perfect! What I had to focus on now was Claire! The doctor broke her water bag and according to Eric, a foot popped out immediately. The doc reached up (yes, seriously!), grabbed her other foot and helped guide her out. Before I knew it, her body and shoulders were out. I honestly cannot remember if I had to push her head out or if the doctors just pulled her out, but 2 minutes after her brother, beautiful baby girl, Claire Elise, entered our world!

David needed an IV of fluids because he was a little pale. And Claire swallowed some blood and didn't breathe for about 90 seconds (scary!). But, we were assured by the pediatrician that both of those complications were minor and both babies were very healthy. Neither baby needed extra monitoring in the NICU, and after everyone (including momma) was cleaned up, both babies were wheeled back to our labor room with us!

These two little ones are so amazing! Giving momma an uncomplicated pregnancy that lasted over 38 weeks, healthy weights, no NICU time, and a twin vaginal delivery that could not have gone better in my wildest dreams! Angels were looking down on us, for sure - we are so very blessed and will be forever grateful for their safe and healthy arrival!

Welcome to the world, David and Claire! We love you so much!