Oliver's First Train Ride

Even though we had been up in Jersey the prior weekend, I was already feeling like I needed to get out of the house by the time Friday rolled around.  Adam came up with a great idea for a daytrip, so on Saturday we headed out to Lancaster so Oliver could take a ride on the Strassburg railroad. 

The trip was a success!  The babies slept almost the entire time (although I did need to climb into the back of the minivan to put a schnulli in Alex's mouth countless times).  We were able to get out of the house by 9:30 (impressive) and timed the trip well around the babies feeding schedule.  Oliver was incredibly patient sitting in the car waiting for us to feed the babies when he could see the train in front of us. 

Afterwards, we went out to lunch at a local diner, which also went better than expected.  We were quite a sight coming in with two carseats and Oliver, but everyone was super nice and accommodating.  Oliver sat in a booster seat and we propped the two car seats on upside down highchairs.  The timing worked out perfectly that the babies needed to be fed after we had finished eating. 

Escaping the City

After the monster heatwave, I was going stir crazy and had to get out of the house.  We hadn't planned on going up to the club until late July (thinking we would need at least a month to adjust to our new schedule/life), but I was ready to give it a go after just two weeks home.  The night feedings in the bungalow weren't fun, but really weren't any worse than they would have been at home.  It was German Heritage Day on Sunday and there was lots going on. 

First Days Home

Still in posting catch-up mode, so bare with me. In the interest of getting photos out to those that want them, I'm publishing now and will be going back to fill in text later (so those of you that get this via email will have to log on to the website to read more). 

POTD: Escaping the House

Today I made it out of the house with the twins, despite the heat and my headcold.  I was determined!  I went out to lunch with a good friend who was in from out of town and ran some errands in Center City. 
The double stroller takes some real effort to navigate.  Doors are my enemy!   I prefer taking the single snap & go and putting one of the babies in a baby carrier, but in this heat, that didn't seem like a good idea.  The boys were cooperative and handled the heat and bright sun well.  I definitely feel confident that I can get out of the house with them solo more frequently - thank goodness!

Hospital photos

Life with twins has been crazy-busy (I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less), so I am just now getting around to posting (LOTS of) photos from when the babies were first born. 

This was the photo we sent around to friends and family to announce Alex (R) & Lukas's (L) arrival. 

A Family of Five

Last Tuesday, Alexander and Lukas entered the world via planned cesearan.  While having twins wasn't quite our plan, I keep reminding myself how extremely fortunate we are with the way things turned out - We got pregnant quickly.  I had an uneventful pregnancy, despite my supposed "high risk" status.  My employer was cooperative and helped make my pregnancy easy by allowing me to work from home.  I was able to carry the babies to past the 38 week mark (full-term!).  It was an uneventful delivery.  The babies were both born over 6.5lbs and didn't have any health problems (so we were able to avoid the intensive care nursery).  We were even able to leave the hospital a day early.  My recovery from the surgery has gone smoothly.  Besides the shock of discovering we were having twins, everything went to plan, which is no small feat.  It is easy to forget just how many instances there are where something can go wrong.   

It's the time in our life when many of our friends are also having kids, so we know of the troubles conceiving, difficult pregnancies, miscarriages, complications during birth, stints in the hospital, and long recoveries from labor.  Firsthand experience with Oliver reminds us how difficult/taxing a long labor and emergency Csection were both physically and emotionally, and how tough a stint in the NICU can be (and were lucky then too he was only there for 2 weeks).  So many twins are born prematurely and can spend months hooked up to monitors, feeding tubes, etc... 

At times when caring for the twins seems too daunting, this is what I remind myself - we are so fortunate the way things turned out.  I never want to loose sight of that.