4 months old!

Adam in red, Scott in green

Wow... It's 10:30 on the 22nd, and tomorrow marks the boys turning 4 months old! What is there even to say? Life has been a blur, but I guess that's to be expected for any new parent, especially if you're doing it x 2. I'm glad to say things are pretty consistently getting easier! Well, by easier, I mostly mean they are starting to cry less. We're not out of the woods yet, but there are improvements for sure. They are becoming such interactive little people, which is amazing to see. I am still already excited for every next stage, but already starting to miss them being 'tiny'.

A typical weekday for us right now starts around 7:30 AM. Babies are still up about 3-4 (or more haha) times a night, our best night was almost a week ago where we had only TWO wakings only. When Jamie leaves for work, I usually bring both babies into bed with me, and get them both situated on me propped up with pillows so we can all get a little bit more sleep. We can usually sleep for another hour or so and my Mom comes over most days around 9 or 9:30. We hang out and watch TV for a little bit before fully getting up for the day. Now that the weather isn't as great, we aren't out for as many walks as we used to, so we sometimes go out to the mall, or something else indoors. I recently started (well once so far) walking with a couple other twin Mom's and turns out there is a great 5K trail around Tynehead perimeter. I am hoping to get out there at least once a week. The boys tend to get a little bit crabby midday - last week my Mom and I went to the mall with them, and spent most of the time walking around the parking lot trying to get them to fall asleep, but no luck. The two of them in stereo can be prettyyyyyyy loud!!!! My Mom also sometimes takes them for a walk in the afternoon so I can spend some time doing housework. It's amazing just how much you can achieve in one baby free hour! (Thank you Mommy, I love you!!) Jamie gets home and we have a little bit of time together before dinner (which he cooks -BBQ chicken with roasted potatoes usually- while I feed the babies). Dinner is a huge success if we can eat with two hands, and we're starting to see some luck with rocking the babies in their car seats with our feet while we eat. After dinner we have some play time together and bring out all of the toys and play mats etc. Bath time is every second night, and tonight we went for an after dinner walk with the babies in ergo carriers which I hope will become a new thing to do, it was really nice! The boys tend to be in great moods right upon waking up, and right before bed. We get a solid chunk of time before bed where both babies are just happy and cooing and spend lots of time flailing around whacking each other in the heads. I start feeding them a little before 8, and we hope to have them down asleep by 9.... And then the whole thing starts over again!

'Life as we knew it' sure is on a standstill. We don't do the things we used to, but the boys are starting to become a little happier and they have their nexus cards so we still do our cross border shopping! I've fed babies a few times in Kohls changing rooms now, and Bellis Fair will have a new family room opening up soon which I am excited about! Both babies are pros at rolling tummy to back, and love holding up their heads like big boys. They love TV (especially hockey) and are just starting to use exersaucers. They aren't quite big enough to actually jump in it, little bit more growing to go here. . Adam fits in the bumbo chair as of tonight! That will be great if we have something we can sit them up in where they can just look around. I think they're starting to outgrow their bathtubs and we'll likely be moving them to the actual bathtub in the next couple of weeks. Maybe sit them up in Bumbos for bathtime? I don't know how people bath babies at this age! I should do some research... They are still breastfed and no signs of stopping anytime soon. I've been pumping a few oz every night so maybe Jamie and I will get out for dinner alone (whats that??) one of these days sooner rather than later!

 They are in 3 month clothing (goodbye NB stuff!) and size 1 diapers, but will be outgrowing those very soon. We had a great deal on diapers a while back and bought a LOT of size 1's... Those are going to be too small soon; maybe we can exchange them, who knows. The boys are very well dressed, and we usually do coordinating outfits, not exactly matching. They are still swaddled to sleep at night, and Adam has some of the most flaily arms ever while sleeping so I think we'll keep the swaddle for a little while. For a baby that doesn't like to be put down, Scott loves being put in the play pen and just looking at the hanging toys. He'll sit in there for 20 minutes and just happily smile and coo away. We are so close to getting real giggles out of them, I think within the next week for sure! I've been trying to get laughs by tickling and saying things like 'MEE-OWWW' and 'BOINGGGG', haha. I sang 'Wannabe' by the Spice Girls today for far longer than I'd like to admit, and even added in a dance. Didn't work, but we're getting there! Scott lost his hair a few weeks ago, and is very bald on top, he's got the perfect old man cul-de-sac. The new stuff is starting to grow in though! Adam had the side mohawk going, however he too is losing the baby hair as of the past few days! We're going to have two baldies soon!!!

Jamie and I love our little guys so much. Twins are a LOT of work, but we are so lucky to get TWO adorable little cuties. The two of them 'talking' at the same time is about the sweetest thing ever. Can't wait for the next month. <3

So, without further ado, photo time!

Scott and Adam in fall-wear

Adam & Scott next to their preemie clothes!

Family selfie! I have Adam, Jamie with Scott

Scott & Adam, my two smiley guys

After a family walk

Tummy time with the dogs

About a 2 month difference! 

Halloween outfits (Adam and Scott)

Watching Cutthroat kitchen!

Adam

Birth: 3 lbs, 15 oz

1 Month: 5 lbs, 6 oz

2 Months: 7 lbs, 6 oz

3 Months: 9 lbs, 12 oz

4 Months: 11 lbs, 10 oz

Snoozing with Grampy

Big boy in the bumbo!

Tummy time champ!

Looking like his Daddy! 

Little swaddlebug

After a family walk

Scott

Birth: 3 lbs, 9 oz

1 Month: 4 lbs, 13 oz

2 Months: 6 lbs, 12 oz

3 Months: 8 lbs, 13 oz

4 Months: 10 lbs, 8 oz

With Mommy at Costco

Scott getting whacked by Adam

Oh hey there - baby selfie

Smiling at his Gramma

Watching hockey with Daddy

Playing the piano like a big boy

Dexcom trial!

Many people know that I have been interested in getting a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) since before going back on the pump in August of 2011! A CGMS is a system that will track your blood sugar 24/7. It gives you an updated reading every 5 minutes, however it not meant to replace testing your blood sugar regularly. It's more so to detect trends. I've wanted one for a long time because although I have a good A1C, I'm always worried that there are highs and lows that I'm missing overnight and during the times I forget to test 1 and 2 hours post meal. I also think it would be great if I could have something telling me I'm going low before I'm actually low. Moral of the story is: I am a huge numbers and data person, and this is a whole added level of info for me to look at..  Stuff I LOVE!

So, I've known for quite a while that Animas was going to be taking part in bringing Dexcom into Canada. The US and Europe has had Dexcom for... at least a few years now I think. I actually have an email from Dexcom in January of 2011 that says the paperwork is filed and they expect to have it in Canada by the end of the year. Of course, things never happen that fast (which is fine) but finally it seems it's actually here. Due to knowing the right Animas rep (haha) I am able to be a part of a 10 person trial group in Vancouver. 

On Thursday night we met up and got to learn about the new system (first time away from the babies for 3 hours too, they survived!!) and get hooked up for a week. First thoughts - that inserter is a little scary! It's not spring loaded like an infusion set, so you have to push the needle right in. Luckily, you never actually see the needle, and it was actually pretty painless! I would say it hurt less than a normal infusion set to be honest. 

The inserter thing on the right! 

Before attaching the sensor

Ready to go!

Couple things off the bat... It's pretty big! The sensor sticks out quite a bit, so it can be easily noticed under tight shirts/ dresses etc. Not that I am in tight shirts and dresses nowadays, but that's not the point. Also, it is of course another separate infusion set, so another piece of plastic attached to your body. Pain wise, I haven't felt it at all! I don't get it caught on things like my insulin pump infusion set (because it doesn't have a tube attached to it!) and it's pretty comfortable. So far I haven't had any peeling of the tape, but I'm only 48 hours in, we'll see how it looks at the end of the week. 

Once getting it in, there is a 2 hour period you have to wait before you calibrate twice. I (not so patiently) waited and entered my two blood readings (from separate pokes) and I was live! It's set to let me know when I'm above or below my limit which I have set at 3.8 (68) for lows and 12.5 (225) for highs.The first night it woke me up in the early AM to tell me that my blood sugar was running low, very handy! I wake myself up when I'm low, but I usually wake up in the 2's, this wakes me up when I'm in the 3's instead. I probably check it at LEAST every hour during the day just to see where I'm at. Surprisingly, I actually spike and drop a lot less than I thought I did. I was really discouraged after the first 24 hour period where my line looked just like a roller coaster ride, but that roller coaster is over a whole day, and still (except for a few short periods) well within my limits. I've also found it's usually a point or 2 off, but I wasn't expecting it to be bang on. I love that it will tell me what direction my blood sugar is heading in based off of the direction of the readings and the arrow. Really helps with making decisions prior to bedtime if you can see you are 5.5 and dropping like a rock!  

First Calibration!

And we're live! 

Right now I'm on the fence if I will be buying one. I'm going to see if insurance will cover it  (Dexcom is not cheap by any means), because I do think it's a great tool. I don't think I would wear it constantly, maybe a week here and there to make sure things are still looking the way they should. It's also great for me as a new Mom because it can alert me to my rapidly rising blood sugar if I forget to bolus for a meal, which has happened a couple times since the babies came along! I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week, and apparently the accuracy gets better day by day as we go along. So far, I really really love it. I don't love having another site, but the data may just be worth it! I'll update again after the week is finished too :) 

Over a 3 hour period, you can see my blood is heading up

Aside from a low around 3AM, a great night!! 

Over a longer period of time... Looks scary, but it's mostly in range, and now I can see where I'm rising and dropping!