As I told you in my MDW post, one of my very best friends, Erin, is pregnant with a set of twins of her own.  We found out that same weekend that she is expecting identical twin GIRLS!  Hershey’s dream of having our own girls’ basketball team may come true after all…

I picked 3 different pics of the same thing because OMG the faces on the different family members.  I especially love little Livy’s face in the last pic.

My poor bestie has been so under the weather lately, and it’s been a while since I did a pregnancy post (especially considering that Hershey and I will NEVER be on the preggie boat again, with good reason), so in honor of my dear preggers friend, I would like to offer you my top 5 must-haves for staying healthy during a multiple pregnancy.  Some of these things can work if you’re also having a SINGLETON, but I have never been pregnant with only one child, so I can only offer my advice for being pregnant with MORE than one!

5.  Belly Band. I have written about this little wonder before, and any time any of my pregnant friends complain about hip pain, I point them right in the direction of this piece of wonderful fabric.  I didn’t always wear the belt over my tummy because it sometimes gave me belly burn (yup, that’s the technical term), but even without it, the belt gave Jane and Emma some great support and made my hips not feel like they were going to crack in half.

4.  Rest. And the only way that I got that when sleeping with 3 people in one body was with the Pregnancy Boppy (the body pillow AND the wedge pillow).  I used the body pillow until I was too big to fit in the bed with my husband if I kept it, and then I got the wedge.  When I got really desperate towards the end, I got this giant wedge pillow.  I remember having this bad boy on the couch with me the night that I went into labor for REALS.  It helped TREMENDOUSLY.

3.  Fresh air.  Whenever I was feeling totally overwhelmed and like I couldn’t deal anymore, I got out and got some fresh air.  Whether it was going for a ride, shopping, or just down the stairs to the front door, I got out.  Having a clear mind is integral to having healthy babies.  If you are in a funk, the littles feel that.  Fresh air and sunshine can help that.  Not CURE it, but definitely help.

2.  Healthy food.  I know, you want to give in to the litter in your belly’s every whim and just feed the masses the chocolate dipped Oreos that are screaming your name, or you want to vomit up everything you’ve eaten for the last 5 years, but doing that always made me feel worse.  In fact, when I got close to the end of my pregnancy, because I had eaten frozen Stoeffer’s Mac n’ Cheese 167 days in a row, my iron levels were scary low and I was facing a blood transfusion.  So I went home and ate a steak and some spinach.  Of course, shortly after that I went into labor, but if I had been eating balanced, nutritious meals the entire time, I would have probably avoided having a nurse stick me with a needle to draw blood every couple of hours, even when I was sleeping! And if you’re too nauseous to eat anything at all, my doctor gave me something even more wonderful than chocolate dipped Oreos…

1.  B-Nexa.  This little wonder supplement changed my freaking LIFE people.  I’m not even kidding. I was so nauseous all of the time, and even tried a couple of prescription anti-nauseas (Zofran, which actually wasn’t approved by the FDA for that use, being one of them), but nothing worked except for B-Nexa.  I had Preggie Pops and Sea Bands and lions and tigers, and…You get the point.  B-Nexa was the ONLY thing that worked, and I will swear by it from now until eternity.

So that’s it!  I am wishing Erin a vomit-and-headache-free remainder of her pregnancy, but she is also raising a toddler as she is going through this, so I know that it’s going to be rough no matter what.  If you know someone who is expecting, please share this post with them.  Over a Margarita.  Nonalcoholic.  But buy them the tequila.  They’ll need it after the babies are born.

Do you have any tried-and-true methods for staying sane and healthy during pregnancy?  I’d love to hear them!

See you soon, friends!

~For Erin – Love you, girl.

Last week was our two year check up.  I am desperately awaiting the once a year days.  We went from every other day when we first brought Jane and Emma home from the hospital 2 years ago, to twice a week, to once a month, to every 3 months, to every 6 months, and here we stand.  Some of the things that we look forward to these days at each check up include:

Weigh-ins.  The girls went from not even being on the growth chart at under 5 lbs each when we brought them home, to quickly gaining weight and staying steady.  At this past visit they weighted in at around 25 lbs., which is in about the 40th percentile for their age.  Tell you what, I’m just happy that they are ON the chart!

Height checks.  Let me start by saying that I am pretty short.  I am only 5’2″, and my 6’3″ husband picks on me constantly for not being able to reach things on the middle shelf.  I am prefacing my daughters’ current measurements this way because they are only in the 10th percentile for their age.  They are peanuts.

Different Developmental Checks.  I had to fill out a very involved developmental survey prior to going to our appointment.  They asked about walking, running, jumping, different reactions in situations, speech, etc.  Turns out that not only are Jane and Emma just fine, but a bit ahead for their age.  They are speaking in simple sentences and following directions (sometimes), and can even “dress” themselves (although the clothes are usually backwards by the time they are finished, IF they haven’t thrown a total s-fit in the process).

Vaccines.  There.  I said it.  The word ‘vaccination’ seems to have become a dirty word in mommyville, but having our children vaccinated was not even a discussion that Hershey and I had.  We just said “YES” when they asked us in the NICU.  And we’ve followed the recommended schedule closely ever since.  And although we didn’t actually get any vaccines DURING this visit, the girls are scheduled for their 2-year-old vaccines next Tuesday and we have to schedule some blood labs for them in the coming summer months.  Never a fun time when Daddy has to hold the unsuspecting ladies down and Mama cries even more than the girls do, but such is life.  They forget about the shots before we walk out the door, and usually only run little TINY fevers a couple of days afterwards, along with the crankiness and weepiness that is typical.

I like to ask every question that I can think of during these visits, knowing that the doctors specifically put aside extra time for wellness check ups.  This time around, I asked about

I was happy to hear that Jane and Emma are in the normal range, even a bit ahead, considering they can sing their ABCs from start to finish, count to 14, and are even starting to be able to identify letters.  Another thing that they do now that I think is REALLY cool is that they sit and read by themselves, reciting the words on each page of their favorite books the way I did when I was itty-bitty.  I’m hoping that this means that I have trained little fellow readers, because I am DYING to have someone to talk about books with, as my students are all sick of hearing me talk about how much I love reading!

I also had to ask about the CONSTANT fighting, as the girls seem to have some sort of the-first-rule-of-baby-fight-club-is-that-you-don’t-tell-mama-it’s-baby-fight-club-time pact going on.  We were also assured that this is “normal”.  Not so sure about my hair loss due to baby fight club, though.

What are some milestones that your little ones have reached that you are super excited about?  Anything shock you?  Anything worrying you?  I’d love to hear from you!

We are almost done with the school year which means that it’s almost summertiiiiiime, when the living is easyyyyy….

Happy Thursday, friends!

On the eve of our summer vacation, I figured it was time to share how we kicked off the summer this year.

This time last year, we were having a moment. A high stress moment. Jane and Emma had just turned the big ONE, and we were focusing on getting the seller of our house to closing. So much has changed in a year!

This year we enjoyed an extremely relaxing long weekend. Other than one double-trouble meltdown, the rest of the weekend was stress-free.

On Friday, we met our friend Erin (who is now expecting a set of twins of her own!) with her little girl, Olivia. Feels like yesterday we were at Erin’s baby shower excitedly waiting for little Livy’s arrival! We took the trio to our local zoo, where the lines were long but worth it to watch these little peanuts roam throughout the animal exhibits, holding hands and sharing snacks.

On Saturday we went to Livy’s (the girls call her “Via” because they can’t pronounce Olivia) house for a BBQ. We spent the day lounging next to the pool, wishing it were just a teensy bit warmer so we could dive in. The girls didn’t notice, and spent the afternoon playing in the sandbox and begrudgingly taking turns in the tree swing. They even got to play with their newest tiny friend, “Baby AJ!!”

The day inevitably ended in Meltdown City after VERY short naps in pack n’ plays, but we put them down and enjoyed a little bit of adult time with some of our favorite friends, after we took these blackmail-worthy photos of the twincesses.

Sunday we took the girls to the park for a bit where they ran wild for an hour before stopping at the farmers market for some “wallamelon”. That afternoon we lounged in the yard and watched Jane and Emma run back and forth between their 3 different water tables, swing set and okay house that Aunt Suzanne gave them for their birthday. I also finally got to kick back and take a little snooze in my hammock!

Monday, our last day of “vacation”, we spent playing in the yard. We did sidewalk chalk, colored in coloring books, and blew up their little pool for some real water play.

It was so hard to go back to work yesterday, but the girls were definitely looking forward to returning to school with their friends, and we are officially less than one month from summer vacation!

Last week we welcomed our new baby cousin, Brayden Hershey, to the family, and Jane and Emma are so excited to get to spend some time with their baby cousin! We haven’t been able to get down to the Philly area yet to see him in person, so we are looking forward to spending lots of time with him this summer at the beach house.

Above all, we were so grateful to have this past weekend to spend together, made possible by the sacrifices of others for our country and our freedom.

What did you all do for MDW weekend? Were you afraid of turning into a hot dog like we were?

Hope you’re all enjoying the beautiful weather here on the east coast, and if you’re in Texas or Oklahoma, we are thinking of you!

Happy Thursday!

On May 13, Jane and Emma turned 2 years old. I can’t believe that 2 years has gone by since that day that my water broke and we realized that these girls were coming, fighting their way into our world.

Since their birthday last year was spent in a tiny apartment, this year we decided to hold an all-out Cinco de Mayo style festival at our house. And it was one for the books, my friends.

One of my amazing and generous students at school heard that we were hosting a fiesta and purchased little sombreros for Jane and Emma, along with some decorations and sombrero headbands and mustaches. We also saved some money by borrowing some awesome deco from our home ec teacher at school.

I then went really simple with the food and drinks. A taco bar (I made the taco meat in the slow cooker and grilled some chicken on the BBQ with some fiesta seasoning) complete with shredded lettuce, sour cream and cheese; hot dogs and burgers for those who don’t eat tacos; coolers filled with coronas and dos equis; a mason jar filled with a simple red sangria, a pitcher of white sangria, and a punch bowl filled with margaritas on the rocks. Twin Carvel ice cream cakes rounded off the day.

We started the fiesta after the girls’ siesta so that we could take advantage of their nap time to set up, and so that they could get the most of their guests. They went to bed a little bit late that night, but after a full day of running, blowing out candles, eating cake, and getting their very first Cabbage Patch Kids (a rite of passage for little kids everywhere), they were plenty tired and slept like babies.

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who made Jane and Emma’s second birthdays SO very special.  We love you all so much, and are looking forward to plenty of fiestas in the future!  Jane and Emma are so blessed to have each and every one of you in their lives.

Until next time, friends!

Sources:

Cakes:  Carvel  //  Birthday Party Invitations:  Tiny Prints  //  Girls’ Sandals:  Target  //  Sombreros:  Amazon  //  All-In-One Decorations:  Amazon  //  Taco Bar and Drink Signs:  Max and Mae Invites on Etsy