Horseback Riding (sort of)

Grandma and Grandpa brought Mairead a horse when they came to visit. I mentioned in a previous post that it hooks up to the tv, but right now, Mairead just likes to ride it and hear it make sounds! In the past few days, she has added 'Neigh' to her repertoire of words and says it when she sees a horse. You can tell from the video that she is having a great time with her new toy!

Someday, Grandma will teach her to ride a real horse, but this is fun for now!

Visit from the NY family and a twins update

First, a huge congrats to our friends Jen and Chip who welcomed Adrian Brady (affectionately called Brady) into their family on the 25th. Brady is a big healthy boy at 9lbs 2oz. We are so excited for Jen and Chip and we can't wait to meet Brady!

Last Saturday, we were lucky enough to have our NY family come for a visit! They have been trying to get here since before Christmas, but the weather has been extremely uncooperative. Finally, it was a snow-free Saturday so they came to spend the day.


Mairead loved seeing everyone, and she especially loved playing with her cousin, Rachael. They even played hide and seek, which was very cute. We also went out to lunch where Mairead was well behaved for a toddler, even if numerous Cheerios and fries did end up on the floor.

We were finally able to share our Christmas gifts with the family, too. Mairead's favorite was the Little People town- there are so many buttons to press and it comes with two 'kids' who can visit each of the little buildings. It is really cute.

Grandma and Grandpa also gave Mairead this cool little horse. It connects to the TV, so that when she rides it or rocks on it, different things appear on the screen, so it is very interactive. Right now, she is mostly interested in getting on and off of it- many times over. We have even put her baby doll on it so that she might get the idea of sharing her toys. Last I checked, she had tossed the baby onto the floor, which does not bode well for Ben and Jack!

Thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Ryane, Uncle David, and Rachael for making the trip to see us!

I will say that Mairead smiles and says, "Baby" whenever she sees one, and she does seem to like babies. At my mom's house, there is a baby doll that we sit in a doll high chair, and Mairead gives it a bottle and some Cheerios. She is very good at feeding the doll... this may backfire when she tries to give our newborns some Cheerios, though! We are very hopeful that she will like being a big sister, but I still feel sad that she won't get to be the baby anymore... at the ripe old age of 18 months! Since she is our only daughter, though, she will always be our special little girl.

As for her brothers, they seem to be behaving themselves. At the ultrasound yesterday, Jack was 3lbs and Ben was 3lbs 7oz. They are both getting big and they are moving around really well. At my non-stress test today, both heartbeats were strong. It was very cute- Ben had the hiccups and you could hear them echo on the monitors. How cool that they are doing 'real people' stuff already?

Jack (Baby A) is breech and Ben is transverse, with Ben under my ribs and Jack under him. When Baby A is breech, they automatically do a c-section. I know have a while to go (let's hope), but they have been this way for a while now, and combined with other factors, I am pretty much guaranteed to have a section. I'm not thrilled about it, but we will do whatever it takes to have healthy babies.

We will keep you posted!

Wow, I have really been slacking with the blog... my apologies! Mairead is feeling much better and is over that bug she had- it's nice to have our happy little girl back! I have been a bit under the weather with a bad sore throat for a few days, but I think that is on its way out, too. On Tuesday, I had a non-stress test during which they monitor the boys' heart rates, as well as check for any contractions and for healthy movement. I am happy to report that all went well! No contractions- good movement, and good strong heartbeats! They have been moving a lot today- they seem to be changing position. I am guessing that they are running out of room in there! We have an ultrasound on Monday, so I should be able to find out how much they weigh at this point. Next Wednesday will be 30 weeks, which is a nice milestone for twin mom!

Tonight, Mairead was occupied with one of her favorite activities- building with blocks. She is so funny- she is completely quiet and very serious while she plays. She stacks the blocks very methodically and chooses certain blocks over others with much consideration. Again, we are very happy about this because her spatial skills are just great!

This picture show Mairead carrying around the Christmas card that Ry, Dave, and Rachael sent to us. Mairead points to Rachael's picture and says, "Kids!". She was very attached to the card this past week and carried it around the house with her. We are looking forward to a visit from the real Rachael (and Ry, Dave, Grandma and Grandpa) this weekend!

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa, and an update

I had another doctor's appointment today (with my regular obstetrician) and everything looks great! My blood pressure, weight, size, and the heartbeats are all good. I LOVE my doctor and can't say enough good things about him. Today, he seemed to love me! He kept saying, "28 weeks- we are almost there! I am so happy with your progress- I am so proud of how you are doing!" I think he was nervous about these boys because of the shared placenta and because of Mairead's stroke, etc. Identical twins are risky business, and both he and I are relieved that we have made it this far! From now on, I will see him every two weeks, the specialist every 4 weeks, and have non-stress tests every week. It's a good thing I am not working because I spend most of my time at a doctor's office!

He said that if he had to guess, he would expect me to deliver somewhere around 36 weeks. Well, since I am 28 now, that leaves us about 8 weeks-- yikes! And that's if they make it all that way- it could even be sooner! We need to get our act together since most of the clothes, sheets, and blankets we have are pink. Also, both boys together would probably still be too small for Mairead's diapers, so we had better start stocking up!

I asked how far along the boys had to be in order to most likely avoid a NICU stay, and he said that 34 weeks would be a good point for that (barring any unforseen problems). We loved the NICU staff with Mairead and we trust them completely, but, of course, we would like to bring our babies home with us as soon as we can.

My next ultrasound is on January 26, and we are expecting a big difference in their weight since last time. As you can see, I am much bigger than I was at 26 weeks, so I think they have had a growth spurt in the last 14 days. We can't wait to see them again! It's gratifying to be getting close to a 'safe' delivery date... we'll just keep hoping and praying that they stay put for a while longer!


Our New York family has been trying to come visit to celebrate Christmas with us, but the weather has been very uncooperative. Every time they want to come, it snows... a lot! Finally, Grandma and Grandpa sent us and Mairead some gifts. They especially wanted to send the clothes because we all know how Mairead tends to grow out of things too quickly! The gifts arrived last night and one of Mairead's favorites (besides the boxes and wrapping paper they came in) was this puzzle with all sorts of colors and shapes. She loves it! She is pretty pale and looks very tired since she is getting over the bug that she has had. She is feeling a lot better though and she is no longer running a temp.

I had to include some video of her trying it out for the first time. Seeing her do the puzzle makes her Mom and Dad very happy because she has no trouble at all with sorting the shapes or with spatial relationships. When she had the stroke, the clot lodged in the area of her brain that has to do with spatial relationships, so we have been watching her closely in this area. It seems that she has no delay at all, which is a great relief! She really enjoys puzzles and shape sorters, and we think she does a great job!

Thanks for the great presents, Grandma and Grandpa- we hope to see you soon!

Sick Days

On Sunday morning, Mairead woke up with a very sudden sickness. She was vomiting, had a temp, runny nose, cough, the whole deal. It really came out of nowhere, so we were not prepared for it- especially since this kid is never sick! We were in Lowell that day so everyone did what they could to make her feel better. She even got extra baths, which she loves. She spent the day in pjs (although she needed 3 different sets of them). Coincidentally, my uncle, Jim, brought my mom some new sheets, and they matched Mairead's pajamas very nicely! You can see from the pictures that she was just wiped out. Anyone who knows Mairead knows that lying on pillow watching tv is NOT her typical personality! Also, she was pretty much refusing to eat anything we offered. Again- VERY out of character!

She is feeling much better today, but yesterday was rough. No more vomiting, but she was running a temp all day and just felt miserable. She slept pretty well last night, but both last night and Sunday night, she had to be rocked to sleep. I say this with emphasis because she hasn't done that since she was about 3 months old. You all know that she is not a 'snuggly' kid- she's too independent! I have to admit that I didn't mind that part of her being sick- I miss her cuddly days!

I'm hoping that the worst of it is behind us- and she is being really great about it. She is obviously not happy, but she isn't being difficult or too cranky- she is such a great kid!

The Dave Hickok Method of Babysitting

The other day, I bought a few new storage containers to try to make more space in our house. Mairead, of course, thought they were toys and wanted to play in them. They came in handy last night when Dave babysat Connor while Connor's mom, Jaime, and I went to dinner with our friends to celebrate our friend Jenn's engagement (congrats, Jenn!). Mairead and Connor fit nicely into the container, and this made it easy for Dave to keep tabs on both of them! Luckily, I bought three of them, so we have one for Mairead and one for each of the boys!

Sledding

Thanks to Grandma for the sled- and thanks to Daddy for doing the hard work!

Today it was not too cold when Dave and Mairead got home from school, so we were able to take her out in the yard for a few minutes to ride in her sled. She was a little unsure of things at first, and she definitely did NOT like walking in the snow, but she loved it when Daddy made the sled go really fast!

In this second video, you can hear her laughing if you turn up your sound a bit. The video was not taken with our good camera, so it's a little tough to hear. But she was having a great time. I think she was saying the word 'again,' but I'm not sure. Poor Dave really got a workout!