End of Another Year

Wow. I can't believe 2009 is coming to a close. At the beginning of the year I did a recap of 2008, but this year I'm going to do something a bit different. I saw this on my friend Jen's blog, and it looks like fun so here goes!

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I had surgery and general anesthesia. Not something I was hoping to have done, but I had it done nonetheless.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made a new year's resolution...unless it was to keep the twins inside until March, which I did successfully. :-)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Umm yeah. Me! Duh. And of course a ton of my bloggy friends (in alphabetical order by blog title): Lisa, babysmiling, Peeveme, Chicklet, FET Accompli (through a surrogate), Bean, A, Sushilover, fuentes, Sara, Teresa, Melanie (adopted), Katie, Mermaid, Sharon (adopted), Christina, The Dorns, Annie, G, Chelle, Shauna, Sherry, The Captain's Wife, Rebecca, Molly, Jenn, Jamie, Nancy, Jenni, Carrie, and Marie.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank G-d.

5. What countries did you visit?
None... :-)

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More sanity and more time.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 18, 2009...the day the twins were born!!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Delivering the twins and living to tell about it.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not spending enough time caring for and playing with the twins. There's just so much to do!!!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Does nearly bleeding to death during surgery count??

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our minivan. Best.Car.Ever. (Excluding the tires...I had to put snow tires on today.)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My hubby's, for being the best dad ever.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Jon from Jon & Kate + 8 and Tiger Woods, of course.

14. Where did most of your money go?
To Babies R Us and Amazon.com

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Having the twins!!! (Do you guys notice a theme??)

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?
a) happier
b) thinner, much thinner
c) poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleep

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Being lazy

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I don't celebrate Christmas. I spent Chanukkah at home with my family, and my mom came to visit. The next week my mother-in-law and brother-in-law came to visit.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I was already in love with my hubby, but I fell in love with the twins.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
The Biggest Loser and Days of our Lives (and, of course M*A*S*H!!!)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you did not hate this time last year?
Yes

24. What was the best book you read?
All of the Harry Potter books.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The twins' Learn & Groove Musical Table (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10!!! Yellow...triangle)

26. What did you want and get?
I wanted a baby...I got two babies.

27. What did you want and not get?
Natural childbirth

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It actually was terrible, but it's the only film I saw that came out this year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I don't even remember what I did, but I turned 26.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Loose and comfy

32. What kept you sane?
My hubby, my family (mom, mom-in-law, Auntie Beh!), and my friends (Melanie, David, Devorah Baila & Yehudis)

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Good question. I dunno, Elijah Wood is pretty cute.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Anything having to do with infertility health insurance coverage.

35. Who did you miss?
My dad

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Kevin M. Awesome photographer, super cool person.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Cherish every second you have on this earth, because you never know when something might go horribly wrong that you weren't expecting.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are." It's either that or the ABC's...

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!! I hope that all of my friends out there who haven't gotten pregnant yet do that this year. And I hope that all of my friends who are finally pregnant now have healthy full-term babies next year.

MRI Results

So, my OB/Gyn called me today to give me the results from yesterday's MRI. First, I need to explain something. She is referring me to an oncologist because he deals with fistulas a lot more than she does and NOT because there's anything cancerous going on. If you look up cervical fistula, it can be caused by radiation therapy, certain cancers, PELVIC SURGERY and traumatic vaginal births. So the OB is NOT WORRIED about cancer, but she wants me to be seen by the best, and that's the Gyn Oncologist. Anyhoo, the OB/Gyn said that she and the oncologist looked over the MRI together and saw that the fistula only goes from my cervix to the vagina, similar to my regular cervical opening. Since it doesn't affect my bladder (or any of its requisite parts) or my colon, they decided not to even touch it. Doing surgery to "fix" the tunnel would probably do more harm than good in my case. The oncologist even said EXACTLY what I said to the OB--that it should make getting pregnant easier now that I have TWO ways to get to the uterus! Heh I'm awesome and holey. :-) Get it...holey? Anyone who knows what book that comes from gets a bonus point. Now we'll see if this theory holds true... Two holes are better than one, right?

G-d is Good

Yep. He really is. A few days ago I signed up for a website that has postings from potential au pairs and nannies. Some of the people on the website live in the US, some out of the US, some who want to live in your house, some who want to live out, etc. I posted our family's profile and went searching for Jewish au pairs...I didn't find anyone that really stood out. Then yesterday someone "hot listed" my family (meaning they saw our profile and thought we'd be a good fit for her). An Israeli girl ALREADY LIVING IN BOSTON!!! No specific child care experience, but she has nursing experience (which includes bathing and full care of all ages--babies to adults) and she also worked on a maternity ward (my dream job!) She came to our home for an interview today and got to meet the twins briefly. We went over the "job description" and all of that fun stuff. I just felt so comfortable talking to her, and I could tell she was comfortable with us. Shmuel and his mother also liked her, so once we have a chat with her references, I believe she's going to move in...like before Shabbos!!! How awesome is that???

In other news, I had my MRI today. It really wasn't *so* bad, because they put me in feet first. My head was just at the very edge of the machine, and I even got to listen to my favorite radio station (sort of) through a pair of headphones. The buzzing and banging was very interesting. Whenever they would change the setting on the machine it would make a new noise. It was loud, but the headphones made it softer, and I could still hear the music even if it was a bit fuzzy and muffled. The whole test took about an hour, but I got a short break part way through. Basically, they did the whole test (about 40 mins?) and then took me out of the machine. They said that they wanted to put ultrasound gel "down there" to try to get a better picture of the fistula, since ultrasound gel shows up very well on MRIs. I asked if I could go to the bathroom first, and then they put me back into the machine (now with ultrasound gel oozing everywhere...gross). They took more pictures for about 10 or 15 mins, and then I was done. YAY! During the test I was fine while the banging was going on...I just breathed slowly and closed my eyes. I could open my eyes and look up and behind me and see outside the machine a bit, so that helped my nerves. But almost every time they changed the settings on the machine they would inch me into the machine a weensy bit...like probably a 1/2 inch, but to me felt like a ton. So I would have this panic that they were going to stick my head the whole way in, but once the noise got going I calmed down since I knew they wouldn't move me even a centimeter while it was taking pictures. The nurses and the doctor were so nice, so I felt in good hands. I have no idea what the results are yet, but I will let you know when I know!

Twin Stats

Ok, I have a few minutes to myself so I'm going to post the twins updated weights and lengths and percentiles!

Chana

weight: 19lbs 3oz (2 months ago 17lbs 14oz...a gain of 1lb 5oz)
height: 28 in (2 months ago 27 in...a gain of 1 in)

In percentiles for her age, this means...

weight: 60%ile (2 months ago 68%ile)
height: 68%ile (2 months ago 71%ile)

Dovid

weight: 17lbs 5oz (2 months ago 16lbs 5oz...a gain of 1lb)
height: 27 in (2 months ago 26.5 in...a gain of .5 in)

In percentiles for his age, this means...

weight: 8%ile (2 months ago 13%ile)
height: 11%ile (2 months ago 29%ile)

So we see that both kiddos dropped in their percentiles a bit, but it's still ok. They're growing and that's what matters. Dovid is still my little man, emphasis on the little. :-) The doctor's not worried about his growth, so I'm not. Now if only I could get them to swallow the food they put in their mouth and chew, I'd be all set!

She's Gone...

Shifra left early this afternoon. And I wanted to respond to something that was left in my comments. I did love having Shifra with our family, and I was very hurt when she decided to leave. Sure, she got on my nerves, but so would anyone living in the same house together. My hubby gets on my nerves and I get on his...when I was living with my best friend we definitely got on each other's nerves, so getting on someone's nerves really doesn't mean much. I tried to welcome her into my home in the best way I knew how. I gave her gifts on Chanukkah (and I didn't even get Shmuel anything...) I tried to cheer her up when I knew she was down, I got her foods she wanted to eat, I did anything she asked of me. And I really thought we had a connection, but when she told our childcare coordinator (in front of me) that she felt no connection to my family and wanted to leave as soon as possible, I was devastated. I couldn't imagine what I had done to deserve that. I had no idea what else I could have done to make her feel at home. And here she was practically running out of my house as if I had the plague. She didn't even bother to say goodbye to the twins...and she might not have said goodbye to me if she hadn't needed to give me a note and the cell phone she borrowed from us. I'm still shocked, and it may take me some time to get over that hurt.

In other news, Chana pulled herself up to a stand by herself for the first time yesterday! Yaaaaay! And I'm going to have my MRI on Sunday...whoop de do. :-P I asked the office if they'd be able to do my surgery before Jan 1st, but they said that would be impossible. Greeeeeat, now I'm going to need to pay for part of the surgery (that would've been covered in full had it been done in 2009). Although the nurse in the office said they might not have to do surgery, I'm not particularly hopeful for that outcome. That would just make things too easy, and almost nothing is ever easy for me. :-)

What Next?

I'm not even going to mention what went down this morning...let's just say it was more of the same. Shifra is leaving tomorrow evening.

As for me, my OB/Gyn called yesterday to tell me that my test results were normal, but she wanted to see me today in her office. Why on earth would she want to see me if my tests were normal? Well, I'll tell you. The tissue they found wasn't cancer, thank G-d, but it was endocervical tissue. That means tissue that is found on the INSIDE of the cervix...and this stuff was found on my vagina. Her theory was that there's a fistula (meaning a tunnel) going from my vagina to my cervix (and who knows where else), and she needed to test that theory AND send me for an MRI. Greeeeeat. How was she going to test this? With infant formula... Yes, she squirted formula into my you know wheres to see if there's a tunnel. If there was a tunnel, it would go in the hole and out my cervix (and vice versa). And what do you know, she was right. Whoooops. She thinks that this was a result of my horrific C-Section, and she needs me to have the MRI to see where this fistula is going and how bad it is. Then she needs to have it fixed...that means surgery. ICKAROONIES!!! I was like "can I do it with a spinal, I'd rather not have general again." Hey, if it's going to suck I'd rather have it suck for a 1/2 hour than for several days, you know? So that's what it is...and now I need to find child care BADLY because I obviously won't be able to take care of them when I have surgery. Geez, why does everything bad have to happen at once? But you know, I would take this a hundred times over what she could have said (you know, the "c" word...) So seriously, I am grateful as all hell that this is all it is.

Toilet Update

According to Shifra, the toilet was overflowing while she was in the other room, and the Pampers thing she was trying to use to unclog the toilet after it was already overflowing. She claims it was an accident and that it was acting of its own accord, so now I can't ask her for the money...greeeeat, now I'm out $175! And she's actually nervous it might happen again because she wasn't here to tell the plumber where the water was coming from. I may call him tomorrow and ask if he'll come back to check while she's here...and BEG that he doesn't charge me again.

In other news, I forgot to tell you that we went to the pediatrician today. The twins got clean bills of health and were weighed and measured, of course. I'll do a detailed post on that later when I'm not so upset.

Worst.Day.Ever.

First, our au pair decided yesterday that she wanted to leave...as soon as humanly possible. Now I knew she was unhappy and bored to tears, because taking care of infants for 8 hours a day is not all fun and games. It takes a really special person to enjoy doing that...I sure as heck don't! I'd freak out if I had to do what she does every day, but that's beside the point. She's leaving me at the worst possible time! I'm supposed to be starting school in a month AND we had a trip to Baltimore planned in January. I bought her a flipping plane ticket to come with us!! If I don't have a third person to come, there's no way Shmuel and I will be able to take the twins and all their stuff by ourselves. So that's $200 down the drain for those tickets... To top it all off, she clogged the toilet upstairs and then called us to say that a pipe had burst. There is water EVERYWHERE!! In her bathroom, but even worse...it's dripping from the ceiling into OUR bathroom. It smells like feces... It is so horribly gross, you can't even imagine. And I just had to pay $175 to a plumber to unclog her toilet...which was clogged with the wrapper to some Pampers wipes. Who on earth puts a plastic wrapper like that in the toilet?!?!? It's like she wants to leave so badly she's trying to get kicked out of the house. Well that's lovely, but first you have to pay me the $375 on top of what you already owe me... Geez.

Right O!

Ok, so I have readership!! LOL It's just that most of you are about as bad at commenting as I am. hehe Not a problem, as long as I'm being read that's cool with me.

My mother-in-law is coming to visit in a few days and my house is a pig sty. OMG!! Yiiiiiikes! GAAAAHHH!!! And I have no time at all tomorrow to do anything, so I'm pretty much screwed. *sigh* Can I blame it on the twins? Please?? :-)

Speaking of the twins, Chana is starting to think about wanting to get onto her feet the way Dovid does. It is very cute, but she hasn't quite figured it out yet. She can get onto her knees, but from there she's puzzled. I think she'll get there soon! Another reason I need to clean up the place is so I can properly babyproof. That way I can put Dovid on the floor to explore and not need to redirect his attention every two seconds. He's just so curious about everything (like his sister), so I need to get everything off of the floor that I don't want going into his mouth. This means basically everything. Plus, I have to figure out how to attach things to the wall so they don't fall over on top of him if when he tries to pull shelves down. When on earth am I going to have time to do this??? Beeeeh!!! I need you to come and help meeeee!!!!

Where is Everyone?

I feel like I've lost my readership... I'm barely getting comments anymore, so I don't even know if anyone's reading! I have this huge rough week last week, and I get one comment... I understand if people stopped reading because I had the twins and you're still waiting for your own miracle, but I thought most of my readers already had children (with a few exceptions that I know of) that wouldn't be depressed by reading about kids. Was it something I said??

What a Week!

This week was the most obnoxious week on record. I started the week with an inkling that I might have gotten pregnant (let me tell you now, I'm not, so don't get your hopes up). I had all sorts of symptoms...metallic taste in my mouth, nausea, exhaustion, clumsiness, the works. I started using OPKs because I like them better than HPTs. I only had two left of my ancient internet cheapies, so I used those up. Each one looked darker than I would expect for my luteal phase, so I bought some at CVS to keep testing. The CVS brand turned positive. WHAT?? I would've sworn in a court of law that I had ovulated over a week prior, so they had to mean pregnant, right? Wrong. I had no signs of pending ovulation at this point, and all of my HPTs were clearly negative. So I checked my cervix. I know that it's usually high when I'm pregnant, and I also wanted to see if I had any fertile mucous. Instead what I found was a polyp. There was something there that I had never felt before, and I was terrified. So I called the OB/Gyn in the morning (this was yesterday), and she saw me only a few hours later. I know the nurse, who I had spoken with on the phone, thought I was just being a hypochondriac, but I knew what I had felt. And I was right...there was a polyp. The OB asked me if I wanted it removed, and I was like "umm of course..." And now they have to test it to make sure it's nothing weird and "just a polyp". The strange thing is that she found it in a bizarre place. Most polyps originate from the cervical opening, mine was nowhere near the opening... Anyhoo, she also took the full panel of blood tests to help me figure out what on earth was going wrong with my cycle. Here's what they found:

TSH: 1.54 uIU/ml
FSH: 2.5 mIU/ml
LH: 3.3 mIU/ml
Prolactin: 12.2 ng/ml
Progesterone: 12.14 ng/ml
Hemoglobin: 13.2 gm/dl
Hematocrit: 38.8%
hCG: 1.1 mIU/ml

This means, TSH is normal, FSH is normal, LH means I SHOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN A + ON MY STUPID OPKS!!! Prolactin is normal (yay), progesterone means I ovulated most likely when I thought I did (ahhh so I was right!), hemoglobin & hematocrit are normal, although the hematocrit is juuuust barely on the lower side of normal (which means I'm still not anemic). hCG confirms that I am not pregnant at all...so my OPK REALLY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSITIVE. I am really furious at CVS at getting my hopes up for no reason and you can be sure I'm sticking to internet cheapies from here on out. I called CVS and they want me to send them the rest of the OPKs for testing, and of course they're going to reimburse me for the purchase. Now everyone just needs to pray that they don't find anything weird from the polyp they removed...

Visitors

My mom and Ron are coming to visit today! They'll be here for a few days to celebrate Chanukkah. And then next week my mother-in-law is coming as well as (hopefully) my sister-in-law. Then over that weekend my brother-in-law will probably visit too. What a full house!! It's going to be a ton of fun, though. I will try to take some pictures, of course.

Dovid is now a professional at standing up while holding onto something, and I even saw him "cruising" around the crib. Not a lot, but he was just scootching towards the corner from the center of the crib. Very cute. :-)

They're both sitting on their own very well. Chana will just sit until she gets bored and wants to move around to a different toy. Dovid will do the same, but he gets bored a lot quicker. (Like after 30 seconds)

In other news, our awesome bloggy friend Shaz is awaiting the birth of her (almost) adopted baby!!! We're so excited for her!!!!!! If you don't know the story, go to her blog and read the last 10 posts or so to catch up. It's really an incredible miracle.

Wordless Wednesday

Scary

Law & Order: SVU tonight was about vaccinating against the measles. It was just so terrifying, because the twins aren't vaccinated yet. The vaccination isn't given until a child is 1 year old, and it's just so scary to think about them getting the disease if other kids are carrying it. Yes, I know it's not exactly going around the schools like swine flu, and I haven't heard of any cases in my community, but this episode just made me cry. *shiver* Wow... If I had been on the fence regarding immunizations, this episode would've decided it for me. Much safer to vaccinate so your kids don't get sick and so they don't get other kids sick. As one of the characters put it on the show, "It's more dangerous to drive a car than to be vaccinated against the measles." I would have to agree.

In other news, I saw Dovid pull himself up to standing a few times today, but he always went back down to kneeling before I could get the camera or camcorder. Very, very cute.

We Got It!

Thanks to Children's Hospital of Boston, Chana, Dovid & I all got our H1N1 flu vaccines today!!!! Let me tell you...CHoB is amazing. They called my phone around 2pm with an automated message saying that there is a clinic going on RIGHT NOW that will end at 4pm. Well, you have never seen a woman move so fast. The twins were playing on the floor, and I scooped them up, put them into snow suits, grabbed the diaper bag, made sure it had everything we might need, grabbed my purse and ran out the door. We got there at precisely 2:35pm. Not bad, eh? We walked in the door and there was a short line. We waited approx 5 minutes before they registered us. Immediately thereafter they took us straight into a room and got us started. I asked if I might also get a vaccine and the lady (who already knew the twins were 8 1/2 months) said "You just tell me they're under 6 months and it's no problem *wink*". Very cool. The twins were SOOOO good. Dovid flinched and made a sad face, but didn't even cry. Chana cried, of course. But got over it way faster than any of her other routine vaccinations. I didn't flinch at all. :-) We were in and out in less than an hour...and that included time parking (which takes like 5 mins at least to find a spot, then another 5 to get them out of the car and then another 3 to walk to the clinic), waiting and getting the shots, waiting after the shots to make sure no one was allergic, then paying for parking. I give CHoB an A+ on just being super.

Now, without further ado, what you've all been waiting for....another video! Well, I have two videos. The first is one of Chana crawling (sort of) and the other is Dovid crawling. These were both taken earlier today before we got the call about the H1N1 clinic. Enjoy!!

More Milestones!

Dovid can crawl!!! He was crawling all over the floor today (on a rug I bought). He saw a toy that he wanted and crawled right over to it. Then I called Shmuel in so he could watch. I took the toy and placed it farther away from him, and again he crawled to it! Very exciting!! :-) He also pulled himself up into a standing position (with knees bent) for about 3 seconds. We have a folding chair in the living room, and I saw him trying to pull up on it so I went over and sat there so the chair wouldn't move away from him. He had easily gotten to his knees (something he's been perfecting for several days now) and was working on getting to his feet. He only got all the way onto his feet once, but I'm sure he'll get better at that soon. Yikes! He's mobile!

Chana did a wonderful job sitting today. I had sat her down on the rug so I could do a bit of cleaning up after Shabbos, and she just sat there (without falling over) for several minutes. (She actually didn't fall over at all...I had to pick her up to put her somewhere else, which is how her "sitting practice" ended.) Yay twinners!!

Eating & Swallowing

We have verification by two separate sources (Shmuel & Shifra) that the twins are actually swallowing food. How do you suppose this is verified? By seeing "things" in their poo, of course! :-) And according to Shifra, Dovid is not vomiting nearly as much as he was. We're also trying new and different things, such as asparagus and honey dew. (We haven't tried the honey dew yet...it's next on the list.) They've also had carrots, green beans, cucumber and lots of other stuff too. Yay!! I don't think they've cut down on their milk feeds at all, so I don't think they're actually swallowing much, but anything swallowed and digested (even partially) is a victory in my book. :-)

New Tricks

The babies do a few new tricks!

1. According to Shifra (our au pair), Dovid is doing better with the whole food thing...but I'll believe it when I see it. Chana is still pretty disinterested in eating but loves throwing food on the floor. (I mean, who doesn't?)


2. Chana actually pulled herself up into a sitting position yesterday! Shifra had laid her down in her crib and when we walked in a few minutes later, there she was sitting with her hands on the bars of the crib. Of course she used the bars to her advantage in helping her to sit up, but still...she did it under her own power. This then prompted me to immediately lower the mattresses in both cribs.


3. Dovid can pull himself into a kneeling position using the bars on his crib. Another reason why lowering the mattresses was such an emergency...


4. The twins are also getting much better at sitting up, but especially Chana. Dovid much prefers "standing" to sitting (even though he can't stand on his own).

I actually have two pictures from when Dovid pulled himself into the kneeling position for the first time:



And here are a few pictures of Chana sitting in her crib holding onto the rails. (This is not from when she pulled herself up.) This first one is my favorite!!!

Nursing Covers

For any of you new moms or old moms who are (still) nursing, I just got emailed a fantastic promo code for a FREE nursing cover from uddercovers.com. Yes, you do have to pay for shipping (like $8.50, I think), but it's a $32 nursing cover that would normally cost about $40 if you include the shipping. I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal.

Go to uddercovers.com, click on "Shop Now", and select the product you would like (they also have 3 piece gift sets available with this promotion). After you've added the product into your cart, type in the promo code, and it will subtract $32 from your order. You can even use the code more than once - you just have to open a new browser/window to do so.

This promotion gives you a $32.00 discount off your total order no matter what you put in your cart! This promotion code is valid once per transaction, so you can order as many times as you would like!

(If you're not currently breastfeeding they make great baby shower and holiday gifts, too!)

P.S. The promo code is the word "planning" and no, I didn't get paid to pass this along...I'm just a nice person. :-)

Back to School

That's right, folks. Elana's made the big decision to go back to school to get a degree in something she can actually get a job with. But first, I need to take several (read 9) prerequisite courses. You may ask "Why does she need prerequisites? She already has both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree." Well, it's because I didn't take *any* real science or math courses in college. I haven't been in a real science or math course since 11th grade. That's nearly a decade! You may also ask "What on earth do you need 9 science courses as prerequisites for?" Well, I'd like to become a nurse. More specifically a labor & delivery nurse. After I get my BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), I may decide to continue schooling to become a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife), who is like a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner who mainly does pregnancy monthly checkups and delivers babies. I think that will be the perfect fit for me. I won't have to cut into people (for C-Sections or hysterectomies), but I'll still get to take care of pregnant women and deliver babies without having to deal with too many bedpans. How does that sound?

I'm taking my prereqs at Roxbury Community College, which is a few blocks from where my hubby works. Then I'm hoping to get into Mass General Hospital's accelerated nursing program. The prereqs will take me through Spring 2011, and then I'll hopefully start nursing school in May 2011. That program should take me about 14 months after which I'll take my exam to become an RN. Then I need to be a labor & delivery nurse (or postpartum or even NICU) for at least a year before I can take courses to become a CNM. This spring I'll be taking Bio 101, Chem 101 and Statistics. Wish me luck!

Teeth

My children actually have teeth! Well, at least I can see that Chana is getting her two bottom middle ones...I have yet to see any from Dovid, but our au pair insists she sees some coming in on the upper row. Poor Chana has been miserable, and she's not going to sleep quietly like she used to. During the day it doesn't seem to be a problem, but as soon as you put her in the crib for nap or bedtime...well, her screams could wake the dead.

Even after the pediatrician INSISTED that I start pureeing the twins food so they'll learn how to swallow food, I am continuing to give them pieces. :-) According to Molly, who is my personal Baby-Led Weaning expert, swallowing mush and learning to chew and swallow food pieces are two totally different things. Giving them mush will not help them to learn about chewing and swallowing other foods. If they know how to dip (say a green bean into hummus), then you can have them do that or dip it for them so they get something that's supposed to be mushy. I've been doing that and they seem to like the hummus. But more importantly they CAN swallow it. They had some applesauce a few weeks ago in Rochester that didn't cause trouble either. It's a learning process. They have to figure out themselves that chewing is an essential part of eating solid food. Once they figure out how to chew it enough that it becomes mushier, they'll be able to swallow with no problem. And then swallowing bigger things shouldn't be an issue. Until then, I have to put up with Dovid's gagging/throwing up/coughing fits during meal time. Let me tell you, there's nothing scarier for me than meal time with him, but I have to pursue or the kid will be taking formula with him to college.

I don't know if Chana has actually gotten to the "swallowing" stage. I think she's still just exploring food, because she doesn't gag nearly as much as Dovid does, nor is she as into her food as he is. She'll put it in her mouth, but it doesn't stay there long. She'll get it! And it'll probably be easier for her when she does get into it, because she'll already have some teeth to bite with!

Molly also says that the pediatrician is overreacting about needing them to eat a ton and wean off of formula. At this point I do *not* need to worry about the twins solid food intake. This is why it's called BABY-Led Weaning and not Mommy-Led Weaning. The twins will figure it out when they are good and ready developmentally. Even if that's not until they're a year old, it's fine. They'll get it, and they'll be just fine.

Incommunicado

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been super busy. The diet isn't going so well...I still can't seem to get out of my plateau.

In other news, the twins are being as adorable as ever. Chana was trying to imitate me saying "mama," but she could only get out "mmm" lol. They're still learning how to eat, and still they're having trouble swallowing. They make gagging faces/noises that scare the ever-living you-know-what out of you. You think they're choking, but about 2 seconds later they get it down and smile at you as if nothing happened. Then they go right back to playing with their food. It is SO nerve-wracking, and I wish they'd just learn how to swallow properly already!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is coming up next week. It will be the 4-year anniversary of meeting my husband. Wow...I can't believe it's been that long! We're hopefully going to be going to a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and hopefully Shifra and the twins will be able to join us as well. It'll be a really great time! What do you all have planned for Thanksgiving?

I Puffy <3 Metformin

I really do... I big, fat puffy heart Metformin. I ate myself silly last weekend. Thursday dinner at my mom's, Shabbos dinner at the Simon's, Shabbos lunch at the Simon's, Grandpa Irv's party on Saturday night, and my mom's open house on Sunday. I stuffed myself...I munched cookies, I drank soda, I ate whatever the heck I wanted. And guess what...I gained 1 lb and then promptly lost it + more. FLOATING MEGA PUFFY HEARTS!!!! :-) And now that I'm home, I'm not hungry all of the time. Heck, last night I was reminded of being pregnant when I was nauseous around dinner time. It made me smile, and I knew the Metformin was doing its job. <3 <3 <3

Check out the ticker on the right...it's at the lowest it's been so far...

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

I grew up on Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. I love Sesame Street and still do! I also loved watching Shalom Sesame, the Jewish American version. I enjoyed all of the characters--Ernie was always my favorite--and it's become a staple of children's television worldwide. My personal favorite Sesame Street of all time is actually a movie called "Don't Eat the Pictures" which was made in the early 80's.

Today I watched a clip from the show that I had never seen before. Well, that might not be true...the clip aired on Thanksgiving Day in 1983, when I was about 3 1/2 months old. So it is possible that I watched it with my sister, but I definitely don't remember. In either case, this episode is called "Farewell, Mr. Hooper," and during this episode Mr. Hooper's death is explained to Big Bird. I watched a clip from this episode for the first time today thanks to one of my bloggy friends. It is done so brilliantly and so emotionally, and I have to share it with you. Make sure to keep some tissues nearby, because I was in tears and my hubby needed to bring me a few to mop up my face and blow my nose. Seriously, I'm still tearing up just thinking about it. Enjoy!

Grosgrain Giveaway

I know I've been terrible about posting every day since I was away in Rochester having fun this weekend. Unfortunately I'm still catching up on things and don't have time to go into all the fun from this weekend. In the mean time, I'll leave you with a link to an incredible giveaway going on right now! Aunty Ollie $100 Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!! And, don't forget to check out my brother-in-law's blog for pictures!!!

Back on the Met

Yep, I'm back on Metformin. That's on purpose and no we're not trying to get pregnant again (yet). My cycles have been messed up since they came back post-partum. It's been driving me bonkers. The other thing driving me bonkers is my appetite. There were days I would just be hungry all day. No matter what I ate I was still hungry. I remember the first time I was on Metformin (when that was the *only* fertility drug I was on) I was so NOT hungry that I could barely eat the required food to actually take the pill. Therefore, taking the drug can not only make my cycles bearable but it will also help my appetite be normal again. Seriously I've been hungry as if I were still pregnant (which I'm not at all), and my weight loss has plateaued. No good...I'm still way higher than a good normal weight for my height. I've been on the Metformin for 3 days and already I've noticed a better appetite--meaning it's normal, and I don't think about food all day long. And right now I'm on the lowest dose, which is 1/3 of what my dose will probably become. I'm happy now. I'm not starving, I'm eating normally, and hopefully I'll finally be able to get down to my happy weight. On top of that I shouldn't have 40+ day cycles anymore! Woooo!

Shifra's Back!

Yay! My au pair is finally back from vacation, so I can start working again. I think first I'll do the website coding lessons that my "boss" (i.e. my best friend Melanie) wants me to do. She eventually wants me to help her with creating websites, but first I need to learn how. Next, I'm going to work a bit on my Names Unlimited page, which is still under construction (although you're welcome to look at it and order things...just email me for info). Then I'm going to sort all of the laundry that's sitting on the couch opposite me, and finally I'm going to start packing for Rochester. How long do you think this is all going to take me? Probably a few weeks, so I'd better get started now (seeing as I leave for Rochester in 2 days). :-)

Scavenger Hunt

Since yesterday I've been spending my free time doing The 10th Semi-Annual Great Cloth Diaper Hunt. Half of me loves it, and the other half hates it. I love it because I could win free stuff. I hate it because it takes up my time, and I get so frustrated when I can't find something quickly. hehehe Anyhoo, go check it out if you want to try to win free cloth diapers and other "green" products. You also get a discount code to use at some of the merchants that are participating in the hunt. Yay for discounts!

300th Post!

Whoops, I missed it! This is actually my 303rd post. I'll link to the actual 300th post here. It was the one about the twins' appointment with the neurologist and their weights. The funny thing is that my 200th post was also about their appointment with the neurologist...six months ago. Hehehe If you read that post again, you'll also see that I was talking about poor Dovid's pooing habits. Luckily he's gotten better on that account, and we don't even have to give him Karo syrup any more.

The twins have gotten so big, and I'm really looking forward to bringing them to Rochester this coming weekend!!! They're finally going to get to meet many people who have been waiting (and waiting and waiting) to meet them. There will be lots of pictures (especially on my brother-in-law's blog, I'm sure). Yeeeee!! Going to Rochester!

I've also decided to try posting something every day during the month of November in honor of National Blog Posting Month. (You can see the link on my side bar.) Wish me luck!

Washing Diapers

I've been using Charlie's Soap to wash my new cloth diapers, but I realized that it's not a disinfectant. EWWW ICK! :-) I found new products called "Thirsties Pre Wash" and "Thirsties Super Wash" on The Cloth Diaper Report website. (They're also having a giveaway for the products.) What do you think? How do you ladies disinfect your cloth diapers?? NEED HELP!!! P.S. I can't use "sunshine" as a disinfectant because not only don't we have a clothesline, but I live in the northeast where sunshine doesn't exist during the winter months... :-)

Still Trying?

For those of you who are still trying to get pregnant, there's a great contest going on at Baby Makin(g) Machine's blog. She's giving away a fertility relaxation program that helped her to get pregnant on her 2nd month trying. (Ick, yeah I know...) :-) Go check it out!

Neurology Appointment

The twins had their follow up with the Neurologist today. The doctor says that they are developmentally perfect for their true age (not corrected age), which it totally awesome!!!! They also got their height and weight taken, so here are the new numbers.

Chana

weight: 17lbs 14oz (last month 16lb 10.9oz...a gain of 1lb 3.1oz)
height: 27 in (last month 26 in...a gain of 1 in)

In percentiles for her age, this means...

weight: 68%ile (last month 57%ile)
height: 71%ile (last month 50%ile)

Dovid

weight: 16lbs 5oz (last month 15lbs 1.9oz...a gain of 1lb 3.1oz)
height: 26.5 in (last month 25.5 in...a gain of 1 in)

In percentiles for his age, this means...

weight: 13%ile (last month 11%ile)
height: 29%ile (last month 19%ile)

Yay twinners!!! They both gained the exact same amount of height and weight. How awesome is that? And they are zooming up in percentiles. Can you believe that MY daughter is in the 71st percentile for height??? And she was a preemie!! Good golly... And Dovid is catching up, too...29th percentile for height! I'm just so proud of their development. :-)

Wedding Fun

We went to NJ this weekend for a wedding and had a great time. My brother-in-law posted some pictures on his blog, since they drove up from Virginia just to babysit the twins for a few hours. It was great to be able to enjoy the wedding without having to worry about feedings and crying babies. Once I get the pictures off of my camera I'll see if there are any good ones to post here. In the mean time, go to my brother-in-law's blog to see pics of the twinners!

Packages!

Today I received most of the things I ordered. The only things left to arrive are the bumGenius! diapers and the cloth wipes. I already installed the diaper sprayer, and I was impressed at how easy it was to install and how well the directions were written (with excellent pictures too). I impressed my hubby by showing him how it worked and how really cool it is. Man this would've been awesome post-partum when I was supposed to be spraying myself 24/7...although the water from the supply is pretty cold, which would not have been happy. Anyhoo, it's a pretty neat contraption in any case. I also showed Shmuel how the pre-fold diapers work...at least I showed him how I think it's supposed to work. Hehe, whether that's right or not remains to be seen. :-) I bought the detergent that you guys recommended (Charlie's Soap), and that should be arriving in tomorrow's mail. I don't think the bumGenius! diapers will be in in time for our trip to NJ this weekend, so we might have to use disposables... :-(

Chana's diaper rash is still the same. I called the pediatrician's office who suggested I put anti-fungal cream on her 3x a day and see if that helps. If it hasn't gotten better within 48 hours then we should bring her in. We'll start tomorrow and give it until Monday. We'll see what happens!

Making the Switch

We've decided to switch to cloth diapers. Chana has the most incredible diaper rash ever. She has sores "down there" and cries when we wipe her off and put the cream on. It's just so sad that it hurts her so much. Dovid has a little bit of a rash, but not nearly as bad as Chana's. So, cloth diapers. Here is a list of what we bought:

20 bumGenius! 3.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers (10 White, 2 Blossom, 3 Zinnia, 2 Twilight, & 3 Moonbeam) from Wild Flower Diapers

1 Cotton Prefold Diapers Package (Size Medium, Natural/Unbleached) from Diaper Junction

2 Bummis Super Snap Wraps (Size Medium) from Diaper Junction

2 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (Size Medium, 1 Froggy Pond & 1 Flower) from Diaper Junction

1 FREE Baby Legs by bumGenius! (Hopscotch Jack) from Diaper Junction

3 Flannel Baby Wipes (15 pack, White) from Amazon

1 bumGenius! Diaper Sprayer from Amazon

1 Safety 1st Easy Saver Diaper Pail from Amazon

2 Thirsties Diaper Pail Liners from Amazon

1 Kushies "On The Go" Wet Bag (Large, 2-Pack, Boy Prints) from Amazon

Can you see I had fun? :-) I'm not even going to tell you how much it cost, but I'll tell you this...I would spend more on disposable diapers in a year than the total for all of these cloth diapers and accessories. Also, I'm going to be using cloth wipes instead of disposable wipes, and that saves me about $12 a month in addition to the savings on diapers. I'm totally psyched, and you guys are welcome to use what I bought as a guide to what you should get if you decide to make the switch (or just go with cloth from the start, like I should have done). Of course if you're only having 1, you probably only need 10 bumGenius diapers, and you probably wouldn't need any extra Bummis. I may need to buy more cloth wipes, but we'll see how these do. And I want to give a big thank you to Molly for helping me with this!!

Trying to Crawl

Dovid has gotten to that stage where he'll get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. He wants to crawl forward, but he can't figure out how to do it. At one point he lunged forward and landed on his belly. He looked at me, and I smiled at him, so he knew that what he was doing was OK. He's getting there, though!

We decided to buy a lot of baby-proofing stuff, because we honestly having done anything yet. Yikes! Electric outlets are first along with putting locks on some cabinets. Of course they're not even close to that stage, but we have to get it done sometime! We also have to move the mattresses on their cribs to the lowest level since they're *this close* to sitting up on their own. I mean, they can sit up for a little bit if you sit them up inside their Boppy pillows, but they can't pull themselves into a sitting up position, and I don't think they can sit up very well without their Boppy pillows. Even so, you don't want any surprises...

March of Dimes Raffle and Baby Dickey Giveaway

Baby Makin(g) Machine is having an incredible raffle for over $1000 worth of prizes. I'm even donating some Avon stuff, so get in there and give a few dollars to the raffle!

While you're at it, go enter the Daddy Scrubs raffle over at Baby Dickey. It's easy to enter and the prize is absolutely adorable!!

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15th is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. Today we remember all babies who died because of a miscarriage (at any gestation), stillbirths, SIDS, or any other infant death. Tonight, everyone is encouraged to light a candle at 7PM (in every time zone) to remember the babies who never had a chance to grow up. Keep the candle going for 1 hour so that there will be a continuous "wave of light" throughout the world. Tonight I'll be lighting a candle for the baby I lost at 5 1/2 weeks on February 1, 2008.

Today is a good day to say a prayer for anyone you know who has lost a baby at any age. It means so much to those of us who have gone through this type of loss. And say an extra prayer for those women who have not yet had the blessing of healthy children.

Please leave me a comment and let me know who you will be remembering today and feel free to share your story.

He Crawls...Backwards

That's right, folks. Dovid likes to slither on his belly...backwards. It's funny cuz I'll find him in places other than where I set him down, and I see that he got there by scootching on his belly backwards. He puts his arms out and pushes himself. It's quite funny, actually, and he seems to be enjoying himself. Whatever works! It looks like I need to seriously start baby-proofing...

Dovid's been having a little trouble with the swallowing step of eating. He can pick things up and even chew a little bit, but he gags himself when he tries to swallow (even something really small). When he gags, he spits up milk. Poor kid. :-( He'll get it eventually, but it just pains me to watch him gag even though I know he's in no danger and he's not "choking."

Now then, I have to tell you how *awesome* I am at finding good deals. I knew I needed to buy new car seats for the twins, because they are rapidly growing out of the infant seats. Well, at least Chana is...hehe Anyway, I found the kind I wanted. It's called the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite Convertible Car Seat, which ranges from approx $160 to approx $180. I had been looking on Amazon, but I wasn't so happy with the color selection...or the price. I mean, I knew I was going to spend a lot, but spending almost $400 for two car seats was making me feel a bit queasy. lol Anyway, I finally found two colors that I adored...Lamont and Sophia. Lucky me, I happened to find them at a store that was selling the Lamont for $110 and the Sophia for $100. Then, I go and use my amazing coupon finding skills and get a 10% off coupon code for the seats. Throw in free shipping, and I just spent $189 for two car seats. Now, how awesome am I? :-) That's right...pretty darned awesome.

Success!!

Dovid finally got his first *real* taste of food today!!! First off, he was a total pro at picking up the pieces of sweet potato that Shifra had given him. These are the EXACT SAME sweet potatoes that I made for Shabbos...spices and everything, except we cut the round slices in half so it would be easier to pick up. He definitely was chewing it, and it looked like he tried to swallow but coughed a bit up. Until a few minutes ago Shifra wasn't 100% sure if he had actually swallowed any of it, but she changed his diaper he had an orange piece in his poo!!!! YAY!!! Go Dovid!!!

Chana wasn't interested in food earlier when Shifra was feeding them, but I gave her some just now with Dovid and as soon as I wasn't looking at her, she picked up a piece of sweet potato and started chewing. lol Luckily I have it all on tape:



In other news, I am *not* anemic!!!! My hemoglobin is 13.6 gm/dl and my hematocrit is 39.7%--both within the normal range! I was shocked...and asked the nurse if my results had been switched with someone else's. lol Seriously, I don't know if I've ever had normal hemoglobin ever...even before pregnancy. So, the nurse told me to keep up the good work and stay on my iron once a day. Wheeee!!! I rock!

Good Intentions

For those of you who love my posts about interesting Jewish things, you are going to love this one...

First of all, this weekend we had two holidays--Shmini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. I'm not going into detail on either because that's not what the post is about. Sorry! Anyhoo, on Shabbos, holidays and every Monday and Thursday, the ba'al koreh reads a portion of the Torah and a man from the congregation is called up to the Torah to have an aliyah. There are between 3 and 7 aliyos depending on the day, it's an honor to have an aliyah, and in our shul men who get one then donate a small amount of money to the shul for this honor. That person says the blessings before and after the ba'al koreh reads a portion of the Torah. On Simchas Torah there are several special aliyos and many other honors that the men bid for. One of these special aliyos is called kol ha'neorim. In this aliyah all of the children in the shul (even the girls) get to participate. It is a segulah for children for the man who reads the blessings for this aliyah. I made sure that Shmuel bid for this aliyah in 2007, and we got pregnant within the year. :-) This year I wanted to make ABSOLUTELY SURE that friends of ours would have this honor. My friend has been married for 6 or 7 years, and I would honestly do anything to see her have the blessing of healthy children. So before the holiday, I called the Rabbi and said that I wanted to make sure her husband would get this aliyah. I told him that I would personally donate the money for it. He said he'd take care of it...

The men bid on the various honors long before I would ever arrive at shul, so I was looking forward to seeing my friend's reaction. As soon as I walk in, she runs over to me and goes "[Hubby] got kol ha'neorim!!!" I was like "I know, I helped plan that." She's like "Uhhh you did? I told him to bid for it." LOL Whooooooops! So much for that plan, they got it themselves. And boy did I feel stupid. :-) Well, bottom line is he got the aliyah, and I hope to hear very good news from her VERY VERY soon!!

Click HERE for more Hebrew & Yiddish word definitions

Puppy Update

Sorry I didn't post the update sooner.... Anyways, Trinity only had the 4 puppies! So either the doctor counted wrong at her ultrasound or she miscarried 3 puppies and just reabsorbed them. So I didn't miss anything at all. :-) The 4 puppies are doing well and gaining lots of weight, which is excellent.

Puppies!!

I've been waiting for my best friend's dog (best friend is Melanie, dog is Trinity) to finally go into labor for several days. We first thought she was going to have the puppies on Friday, and when I had to go home for the holiday starting Friday night, I was convinced she'd have the puppies over the weekend (without me). :-( I was soooo happy when I found out that she waited for me!! Then yesterday we thought she might have them...but no dice. This morning I woke up at 8am and called Melanie, who said that Trinity was definitely acting weirder and that I should come over. I got there before 9am, but Trinity didn't go into "serious active" labor until almost 2pm. Then it took her nearly an hour and a half to birth the first puppy. It was HUUUUUGE and Melanie had to help the puppy out by pulling. (That puppy was a girl.) After that, the second puppy, a boy, was born after about a half an hour. The next, another boy, after another 20 mins. Then she waited over another hour to have her 4th puppy, a third boy. Then she stopped.... That last puppy was born at 5:20pm. I left at 9:30 and she hadn't had any other puppies. She is expecting at least 7, because that's how many the doctor saw on the ultrasound, so we know she's not finished yet. I haven't heard anything, but it's possible that she is still awaiting the last puppies. lol I will let you know when I know!!

P.S. Dogs have it soooo much easier than humans, let me tell you!

P.P.S. No, we are not taking a puppy for the twins. Melanie would never let us have one even if we wanted one, because we don't have such a good track record with animals. :-)

Kreativ Blogger Award

Big thank you to Sarah R @ Andrew Tales for nominating me for the Kreativ Blogger Award!!


Rules:
1) Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2) Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3) Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4) Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5) Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6) Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7) Leave a comment on each.

7 things about me people may not know: (The TV/Movie/Music edition...)
1) One of my favorite movies of all time is Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I love everything Monty Python and have seen every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. One of my best friends from college, David, used to play the opening to Monty Python and the Holy Grail very loud on his computer to get my attention when we were living in the same house but on different floors.

2) I played Dorothy in my camp's production of The Wizard of Oz back in 1998. Many of the munchkins were taller than I was...

3) I was an extra in the movie Indian Summer in 1993.

4) I've met the actor Chevy Chase, whose daughter was a bunk mate of mine at Camp Tamakwa. He's just as hilarious in person as he is on TV, and his daughter is such a sweetie (regardless of who her father is).

5) I met Blake Berris and Rachel Melvin (two actors who used to be on Days of our Lives) at a fan event almost exactly 2 years ago.

6) My favorite band is Rascal Flatts, and I would LOOOVE to see them in concert!

7) My favorite type of secular music is country music. :-)

Tag 7 people:
1) Baby Smiling In Back Seat (who just had her twins!!)
2) Celia @ Breeder Beware
3) Sharon @ Mindful Meandering
4) Christina @ My Life
5) Chelle @ Our Life in a Nutchell
6) Murgdan @ Conceive This!
7) WiseGuy @ Woman Anyone?

Guest Blogger

First off, on Friday I set this to post today because today is the 2nd day of Sukkos and using the computer is forbidden. But I wanted to let you know that today I am the guest poster for Nancy's Blog because she's on vacation. (Obviously Nancy set that post ahead of time, too.) Go read my post!! It's a good one (and quite funny too).

Weight Loss...

I woke up to this:



Not sure if you can see it so well, but it says 140.8. Then in trying to get a good photo of the numbers, I had to weigh myself like 10 times. The first 3 or 4 times it was exactly the same, but then the silly digital scale went down to 131 and I was like "ummmm no?" and then it went to 132 and then 135 and then 139 and then up to 141 and then back down to 140.8. It was quite funny. Digital scales are whack. :-)

Urgh (Sorry, but I really need to vent...)

Preface: The twins' actual pediatrician called me today to talk about the appointment we had last week...

It drives me mad when the pediatricians at the twins' doctors office tell me that Baby-Led Weaning is not recommended, that I should start them on rice cereal pronto and not give finger foods until 8-9 months. Seriously...don't tell someone that something is bad until you've read about it and you *really* know what you're talking about. Otherwise it just pisses people off. Fine...you're a pediatrician and I get that. And you're worried about babies choking. Of course you are. So am I. But babies can choke on nearly anything--including RICE CEREAL! Especially if you put the spoon too far back into the baby's mouth... With BLW you have no fear of that because the babies are putting things into their own mouths...the FRONT of their mouths, because they can't reach the back and would have no idea how to do that anyway. Yes, I realize that Dovid will be able to go onto normal formula once he starts getting solid food, but honestly...my insurance is paying for his preemie formula (which he's doing great on) and it doesn't cover the regular stuff. Do I honestly want to have him on the regular stuff ($$'s coming out of my pocket) for any longer than I really have to??? Not a chance. Babies do *not* need to eat rice cereal. They do *not* need to eat mush at 6 months. Besides, do you really want your kids to eat stuff with a ton of preservatives? Not me.

Update: This is not meant to be an insult to anyone who feeds their baby with mushy baby food. It's the "norm" nowadays, and I support anyone who makes sure their baby gets fed *period*. :-) And I give big kudos to people who mush their own baby food. It's just as healthy as BLW, except in a different format.

What do I tell the pediatrician so that she'll listen to the fact that BLW is a GOOD option and something that she should be telling parents as an alternative to the recommendation for starting mushy stuff. Honestly...just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you know everything.

Baby-Led Weaning Question

fuentes from Life at 335 asked a great question in my comments, and I want to make sure it gets answered (for the both of us). :-)

She asks..."I gave Keelin banana pieces but when she picked it up she couldn't figure out where it went (it was in the palm of her hand), I think I made it too small. I am super worried about her choking, how big can you make the pieces????)"

I also experienced something like that, only it was more the fact that the banana pieces (when cut really thin like long french fries) broke apart and the twins had a really tough time picking up the broken pieces and getting them into their mouths. I would pick it up and hold it in my hand so that they had a better chance, but they still were having a tough time with it. I don't want to make the pieces *too* big around because of course I don't want them to choke on it, but then again, when Dovid finally got a piece into his mouth he was more licking it than anything else...and then spat it out cuz he had no idea what to do with it. lol Any thoughts??

Not Interested

I tried giving the twins banana pieces (Baby-Led Weaning style) and they just were not interested. They wouldn't even look at the banana in front of them. They would look anywhere else but down...and they didn't even try to touch it or anything. It was quite disappointing, but I guess it just means we have to keep trying! Any tips, Molly??

Pediatrician

The twins had their 6 month checkup today! Here's how we're doing for height and weight:

Chana

weight: 16 lb 10.9 oz (last month she was 15 lbs 1.3 oz...a gain of 1 lb 9.6 oz)
height: 26 in (last month 25 in...a gain of 1 in)
head circumference: 41.5 cm

In percentiles for her age, this means...

weight: 66%ile (last month 57%ile)
height: 62%ile (last month 50%ile)
hc: 16.6%ile

Dovid

weight: 15 lb 1.9 oz (last month 13 lbs 15.6 oz...a gain of 1 lb 2.3 oz)
height: 25.5 in (last month 24.75 in...a gain of .75 in)
head circumference: 42.5 cm

In percentiles for his age, this means...

weight: 12%ile (last month 11%ile)
height: 21%ile (last month 19%ile)
hc: 12.3%ile

Now we can see that the twins are growing! Chana is just gaining so much weight...and Dovid is just sorta gaining. lol He's just a little guy and plans to stay that way. It's also funny that Dovid has a bigger head, but he's in a lower percentile... In any case, it's all 100% on target and the doctors are really happy. They also say we can start solids, although the doctor we saw today doesn't know anything about Baby-Led Weaning and was warning me about choking and wasn't recommending it until 8 months. But I say she has no idea what she's talking about and plan to start it anyway...as long as Molly says it's ok! :-D

I'm a Movie Producer

Well, at least for the twins I am. I finally got out the video camera my mom bought us and caught the twins giggling on camera. Unfortunately every time they looked at me, they stopped laughing. I edited out those parts so all you see are the giggles. Basically, Dovid was cracking up at Chana making screetchy noises. So Chana is the one you hear screetching and Dovid is laughing...although I believe Chana gets in a few giggles too. Enjoy!!

Whoops!

I haven't posted in a while. It's almost time for the next episode of Biggest Loser (tomorrow). lol I gained a bit of weight over the weekend because of Rosh Hashana, but I didn't do *too* badly considering how much I ate plus desserts. mmmmm dessert... Anyway, I figured it's a Jewish holiday and I'm supposed to be happy and eat well. So I did. :-) Now I just have to get on the Wii Fit and lose it again. And make sure I don't do too badly during Sukkos... But if Dovid keeps trying to eat me, I may not have to lose any weight at all...he'll just eat it all off of me. lol He's being very clingy...always wanting me to hold him and not wanting to sit in a seat and just play. He's trying to grab my shirt and eat that too. Maybe he's just hungry? Well I'll go feed him then.

Biggest Loser

I am sooooooo happy that the newest season of The Biggest Loser has started!!! It's the only TV show I watch (aside from restarting my addiction to Days of our Lives). It's such a feel-good show, and I love watching all of the contestants lose tons of weight and become healthy. I also like it because it makes me feel better about myself and my weight loss. If you've noticed, I am one pound...that's it, just one pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight. Unfortunately I still have a crazy floppy belly with tons of extra skin, but I hope it will get somewhat better once I'm down to my ideal weight. I asked my hubby if my tummy used to look like that before I got pregnant, because I just plain forgot what it looked like. He said that it's extra skin was from the twins, and that my tummy wasn't as floppy before, which is what I thought. I just hope that it does start to look better once I'm closer to my ideal weight... *sigh* The things we women do to have children, including giving up our whole bodies, are just incredible.

Keep watching the weight ticker so you can see when I get past my pre-pregnancy weight and start to knock off more pounds. My next goal, once I get past 141, is to be less than I weighed at my first OB appointment. I had lost five pounds in first trimester, so I believe I weighed 136 at my first appointment with the doc. If I can weigh less than that when I go to see her for my yearly gyn appointment (Oct 8), I'll be ecstatic. At least I'll be *really* close.

25 Firsts

I am stealing this from Sarah R, Nancy, and Jenn.

"25 Firsts"

1. Who was your first prom date? I believe that was Ilya Gandelman. It was his Junior Prom and I was a sophomore.

2. Do you still talk to your first love? He's my facebook friend, but we don't actually communicate.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink? Manischewitz wine

4. What was your first job? I worked in the box office at the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

5. What was your first car? 2006 Ford Focus

6. Who was the first person to text you today? I haven't received any text messages today.

7. Who was the first person you thought of this morning? Chana (she was crying)

8. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Kelley

9. Where did you go on your first flight in a plane? I think Seattle, WA.

10. Who was your first best friend and do you still talk? Shira Kochman, and we send each other emails on facebook infrequently.

11. Where was your first sleepover? Shira Kochman's house

12. Who was the first person you talked to today? Shifra, my au pair

13. Whose wedding were you in for the first time? My sister's, and I was the maid-of honor.

14. What was the first thing you did this morning? Got dressed

15. What was the first concert you went to? My first concert I believe was Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers & Bill Cosby. (Yes, mom, I remember it...)

16. First tattoo? Don't have any, don't plan to get any.

17. First piercing? My ears and I was 14 (almost 15).

18. First foreign country you went to? Canada (lol)

19. First movie you remember seeing? An American Tail

20. What state did you first live in? New York

21. Who was your first room mate? I honestly don't remember her name. It was at Bucknell and she moved out after a few weeks. I think her last name was Rich...

22. When was your first detention? Never had one!

24. What is one thing you would learn, given the chance? To speak Hebrew fluently

25. Who will be the next person to post this? YOU WILL!

Last Installment of Pictures...For Now

You're welcome, WiseGuy & Nancy. I'm glad you guys enjoy my posts on random Jewish stuff. I absolutely love sharing. :-) For FET Accompli--I think my husband has been "the Kohen" for one pidyon ha-ben (and I believe it was many, many years ago...) It's usually an "older" man or a Rabbi that happens to also be a Kohen that would do one of the few pidyon ha-ben's that actually happen in this community. They are just SO rare!

Anyways, onto the last of my old pictures! These were all taken the day the twins came home from the hospital (March 25th). Funny thing about March 25th, if you've ever read Lord of the Rings, that's the day of the year when Frodo put The Ring into Mount Doom and it was totally destroyed. Being the nerd that I am, I was *so* hoping to have the babies that day. Oh well...anyways...

Here is Dovid, still lying in his teensy crib in the NICU

And now I've dressed him and picked him up. Wow, he is SO tiny!

Now he's all snuggled into his carseat. I'm in awe of how small he was...

Here is Shmuel holding Chana

And here's the whole family all ready to go home (YIPE!)

Dovid's Pillow

WiseGuy asked a question about what is written on the pillow that Dovid was lying on for his bris. It's the first few words of a pasuk in Bamidbar (Numbers 18:16). It says, ופדיו מבן חודש תפדה. "Oo-phe-doo-yav mee-ben cho-desh teeph-deh" This means "And those that are to be redeemed, from one month shall you redeem". This phrase actually has nothing to do with the bris. lol It has more to do with something called pidyon ha-ben, which means "redemption of the [first-born] son." A pidyon ha-ben is done on the 30th day after birth and there are several qualifications that need to occur in order to require this redemption.

1) The baby needs to be a first-born. If you had a girl first, no dice. If you had a miscarriage after 40 days of pregnancy, you're disqualified too.

2) The baby needs to be a boy. Once again, if you had a girl first, you don't need to do this.

3) The baby needs to be born the "natural way". If you had a C-Section, forget it. ;-)

4) The baby's father cannot be a Kohen or a Levi and the baby's mother cannot be a Bas-Kohen or Bas-Levi . (Bas-Kohen/Levi means that her dad was either a Kohen or a Levi.)

We were disqualified on all 4 counts. lol Chana was born first, so there goes the first two. They were born by C-Section, and Shmuel is a Kohen.

The actually ceremony is pretty simple. The father of the baby gives the Kohen present three coins to redeem his son from serving in the Beis HaMikdosh (May it be rebuilt soon!) That's basically it. lol They obviously use the same pillow for both bris ceremonies and pidyon ha-ben ceremonies in my shul.

Random note: As you'll see from the definitions of all these words on my side bar (and the link below), all Kohanim are Leviim, but not all Leviim are Kohanim

Click HERE for more Hebrew & Yiddish word definitions

I've seen a lot of people posting about 9/11 today, but I don't have a very interesting story and I'd rather not bring up sad memories right before Shabbos. Maybe I'll talk about it next year...

Still More Pics and Other Stuff

A few thoughts for the day and then onto more pictures!

1) The tooth isn't chipped. It just feels that way, but the dentist says it looks fine.

2) The screen on my au pair's phone died. The one I just gave her 3 weeks ago and it doesn't work. Stupid phone...was brand new too. She didn't do anything to it, but the screen stopped working. Stupid T-Mobile says the phone isn't under warranty (even though it's only been used for 3 weeks) so she has to use an old one of ours. :-(

3) My hubby is sick. He's got a temperature and feels icky, so I've been playing Doctor Mom/Wife. Poor Shmuel. :-(

4) A note to Beh: I think Chana has dark blue eyes...maybe hazel? And her hair looks less gingy than it used to. It seems to be more of a light brown lately, but there's so little of it that it's difficult to tell.

Ok, now for pictures!!

This may have been the twins first bath at home (April 22), but they were already a month old so that would be a bit gross. lol Things were a bit crazy in April... Anyway, Chana obviously didn't mind her bath as much as Dovid did.

(Chana) This is fun! Can I do more of this?


(Dovid) I HATE THIS!!!

Well, maybe it's not *so* bad...

Ok, fine. Do what you gotta do.

Here are some random pictures from mid-April (going from newest to oldest)...

Love this bouncy seat!

Hmmm, this is comfy.

Yeah, not bad.

Well, it's so good I think I'll sing about it.

LAAAAA!!!

Hey, I'm trying to sleep here.

I like this swing.

Hmmmm...

Yep, it's a good swing.

These next few were all taken on the day of Dovid's bris, April 1st.

Here are Ron & Chana

I seriously could not find it in myself to smile. I was soooooo scared and I looked it.

This is my mother-in-law, my mother, Dovid and me. I think all of the women were pretty nervous, don't you think?

Here Dovid is being passed (by my mom) to the men's side for the...you know. Poor guy. :-(

That's it for now!! Last photos in this series will come in tomorrow's post.
Click HERE for more Hebrew & Yiddish word definitions