Fever!

We have been very fortunate to have 9 1/2 month old twins that have not really gotten sick. We have had a few sniffles here and there, but not really anything dire. Well, that all changed last Friday. My daughter Ainsley had been pretty clingy that day and felt a little warm but we are all always "a little warm" because it's summer in Texas and no matter how much you run that a/c, you are always "a little warm". I didn't really think much about it. Goodness knows I was sweating!

That evening when my husband got home, I had just finished feeding Ainsley and she was just laying in my lap. Believe me, I was taking advantage of this because she is very active and hardly ever let's me hold her like a baby anymore so I was loving every minute of it. My husband immediately thought something was wrong because he knows she never sits still long enough for the cuddling so we took her tempereature and it was 100 degrees. I thought she was just teething again because she usually gets a little temperature when she teethes so we gave her some Tylenol and kept an eye on her until she went to bed.

We checked on her at 10pm and took her temp which was now up to 102. I immediately called the doctor and when he called I explained that she really did not have any other symptoms except the temperature. He thought it might be a urinary tract infection, but wanted us to take her to the E.R. At this point I remembered that there is another baby asleep in his crib so only one of us can go and the other has to stay home.

My husband decided he would take her and I would stay home and pace the floor with worry. He promised to call as soon as he knew something. He took her to a children's hospital and they got her in immediately thankfully and tested her for what they also thought was a u.t.i. At this point her fever was 104. They took off her pajamas(left her bear in her hands of course or else there would have been a riot) and gave her pedialite and motrin. Her temperature started coming down and they ran the tests which of course took until Tuesday to get the results, but still gave her antibiotics. They finally got home around 1:30am and she's wide awake wanting to play. She loves to stay up late and so she thought she would just rock it out and have a party then while we decompressed from stress and worry. A lovely sight I'm sure!

It has been a little crazy here because we were having a barbecue the next day for Philip's birthday, but she was feeling better then. Her fever still went up a little, but nothing like it did thank goodness.

It is the most helpless feeling when a child gets sick and there is nothing you can do. Thank goodness we caught it quickly and she is feeling better now and nearly back to herself. She is already back to stealing Anders' toys so we know she is on the mend. The one good thing out of all of this is that she was not contagious so at least Anders will not get sick. We know that is coming, but it is nice to prolong it as long as possible.

Kiss your babies and thank God for them daily. I know we do!!

Crawling

My daughter Ainsley started crawling at my brother Bruin's house on July 4th. When your kids hit these milestones, you're so excited until you realize that what that means is that she is now mobile and can go pretty much wherever she wants.

When we returned home, I attempted to keep her in one area of the living room by putting pillows, car seats, exersaucers, bumbos, etc. You name it and I was probably using it. These things were all games to her so she played with a few of them for a while and when that got boring, she figured out how to get around them.

In the meantime, I was pretty proud of myself for being so ingenius about keeping her in there without buying the gates and fences yet, which we had planned on doing that weekend. I just had to make it through the week. I went about doing the things I usually do while keeping an eye on them. I dusted, cleaned bathrooms, kitchens, laundry (of course) and other stuff that had been put off during the July 4th holiday.

When I came back into the living room, Anders was being his usual smiling, sweet self just playing in his same area. I looked around for Ainsley and noticed she was not in there. I made it to the kitchen in time to see her sloshing her hand in the cat water bowl and about to eat some cat food. Needless to say, I kept her in a swing, my lap, or right near me until Saturday.

When Saturday came, we went to get the gates. I wasn't thrilled about putting them all over my house because I still wanted a little adultness to my home and this was kind of the last thing until I finally gave in to my house becoming babyland. My husband and I found these pens and I thought how perfect. Some people may think I am mean or a bad Mom, but I think that you have to do what you have to do. All I can say is: "don't feed the animals":)

Blessings

As I am typing this today, my two b/g twin blessings are taking a nap. I take this time to catch up on things, clean, breathe, grab a meal, etc. Today I read on a moms of multiples (MoM) website about a twin that died. He was older and they are not sure how he died. I read the heartbreaking account from his mother and just cried. http://martinomadness.blogspot.com

As a Mom of twins, this is never far from your mind. You are warned from the day you knowyou are having twins that you are at high risk of losing one or both of them. Not that you need reminders of this. Everyday I thank God for my two blessings that were born with no problems and didn't even have to be in the NICU at the hospital, but on days like today, I am especially grateful of them because I know how easily that could have been us.

In the multiples community, you hear a lot about loss of multiples either all or one so it is never far from your heart. My husband warns me about reading these blog posts, but it makes me more appreciative of what I have and I don't ever want to take anyone in my life for granted, but especially my two blessings.

Kris

I wanted to say Happy Birthday to my best friend Kris. She is 39 today. (I'm sure she will love me saying that!) Oh well, we're the same age! She is this amazing person whom I have known since we were kids. She is also battling stage II breast cancer and started her chemo on Monday. She is epitome of the glass is half full. I'm so blessed that she is in my life and just wanted to wish her the best birthday she could possibly have so Happy Birthday Kris. I love you!

Hello!

Today is my first blog and I'm very excited to hear from everyone out there. Like my description says, I am a SAHM of twins. They are the best things along with my husband in my life. It is an amazing adventure from day to day and I love every minute of it!
They are 7 months old now and I treasure every moment I get to spend with them. I couldn't do anything without the help of my husband Philip. He's my partner in all this! My life has totally changed (as I knew it would) from pre-twins. You forget that you ever just dropped everything and went on vacation or even out to eat. That does not happen now. There is a multitude of planning that goes into everything.
My kids are very scheduled especially my son Anders. He lives and breathes by the schedule. It has been a really great help most of the time, unless we have to stray from that and then he gets a little crazy because he is out of his element. My daughter on the other hand could care less when she eats and especially sleeps. She would play and roll around the floor all day if I would let her.
We ventured out to Target today for a graduation gift (lots of that planning involved) and of course it rains. Lovely! I have this stroller that is that size of a small country and the car seats pop in it, which is nice, but first you have to get the stroller out of the car and open it up (in the rain) get each kid and make sure their hood is down (in the rain) and then lock up the car (in the rain) and run into the store (in the rain). When we finally get into the store, I have to get one of those carrying baskets because twins do not fit in a shopping cart. Now I am pushing this small country stroller and carrying the basket trying to get my shopping done before the kids start crying or Ainsley starts yelling like a holler monkey throughout the store. (She loves doing this and laughs because she thinks she is very funny) I finally got to the checkout and see the light at the end of the tunnel and there is a lady in line who begins squeezing and pinching my kids cheeks. I'm just hoping she doesn't have swine flu or anything else and want to offer her the hand sanitizer in my purse, but it's too late. Then the inevitable question: are they identical? I patiently and kindly say, no ma'am, they are fraternal. This is my life!