what's up weekly. (time flies! the twins are a month old!)

Hi, friends!  Long time, no write.  I haven't had a ton of time with my hands free; I'm sure you understand!

So let me fill you in on what's been going on the last few weeks:

First, we finally decided on names for the babies - only two weeks after their birth.  World, meet Knox Nolen Reuel, and Eulalie Day!

Todd wrote their names on the white board and propped it in our room, which helped the kids for the first week or so.  We lived so long calling them Mister and Sister, or Boy Baby and Girl Baby, that it took a while for their real names to settle in.

Todd is better at writing about the meaning of the names we chose, so when he posts a blog about it, I'll make sure to link it.  In the meantime, here's my abbreviated effort:

Knox, after John Knox, the Scottish Reformer.  Nolen, after Todd's side of the family.  (His mom's maiden name.)  And Reuel, after Moses' father-in-law, and a gentle nod to Tolkien.  (Have you ever wondered what the "J.R.R." stands for?  Well, Reuel, among other things.)

Eulalie, which means "sweetly spoken," or "good news."  I've always liked the name, but it seemed especially apt after we got the good news that she was a bonus blessing we weren't expecting!  Day, after my sister, and the postmillenial understanding of the world.  (The light is increasing, the day is here.)  I love the line from Hillaire Belloc, "Do not, I beseech you, be troubled about the increase of forces already in dissolution.  You've mistaken the hour of night; it is already morning."  I am reminded of this when I think of her name.

Callista standing sentry while I took a shower.

When Todd was home those first few weeks, he'd bring me breakfast on a tray and I'd get to eat in bed with the babies.  (He had also made me bacon and chocolate milk, because that is what I've been eating every day.  That sad little egg on a plate is not all he brought.)

I love about twins that they can do all the things singles do, but TOGETHER.  And they look so cute doing it!

Getting some sunshine to cure his jaundice, and some sister hugs to cure their blues.

In baby milestone news, the babies are now a full month old! 

Todd went back to work after three weeks off, and it has been an adjustment for everyone.  We loved having him home, and he was a big help, so I'm working on adjusting to managing/supervising by myself during the day, and he had to tackle all the workload that piled up at work while he was gone.  

Holding both babies at once.

Feeding both babies at once.

The babies are starting to sleep a bit longer at night, and more consistently sleep at night.  Daytimes are still a bit less predictable - sometimes they're really sleepy, sometimes they're wiiiiiiide awake for long stretches, and sometimes one is in one rhythm while the other is doing something wildly different.  Many days I don't leave the couch much except to grab something to eat and use the bathroom.  My arms are always full and and I'm almost always nursing.

The babies are growing!  Carolyn came at three weeks postpartum to weigh them, and since then I've also borrowed a baby scale from another twin mom.  Knox has already gained over a pound, and Eulalie has gained more than half a pound!

Knox's jaundice has mostly cleared up.  His eyes are still a bit yellow, but his skin is a good color.  He's still a good sleeper and super chill, though, so it's good to know that wasn't just due to his jaundice!

Lots of time outside.  Lots of furrowed eyebrows.

This is how I spend a good portion of many days.  It is toasty with all those swaddled babies up against me, I have to say.  

The brothers holding the babies so I could get a shower and cook my breakfast.  The kids have been so helpful to me - I don't know how I would do it without their help.

Callista the Baby Whisperer steps up to bat.

While I've been snuggling Knox and Eulalie, Todd and the kids have been veritable socialites.  The kids went to a LOTR-themed birthday party and dressed to the nines.

Samwise Gamgee.  He had all kinds of authentic gear in his pack and everything.

They also went to an airsoft war with some friends at church.

They went to a park with a splash pad.

We've been treated to a lot of baked goods, which is good/bad since I eat them all.

We celebrated Todd on Father's Day.  Atticus was especially excited to have an actual gift budget to work with now that he's working, and he got him some nice cigars.

Todd also got some amazing original art.  

A couple of kids had half birthdays!

And now that she's two-and-a-half, Oey has been acting like a big kid.  First, she got her first turn to go get the Friday night pizza and groceries with Todd.  (He takes one kid with him each week for a little one-on-one time.  She has been too little to care until now, but she was very excited to go.)

She's so proud to get to carry the grocery list!

And she's also exercising to grow big and strong.

And while that's far from everything that has been going on around here, that's all I have photos for and time to tell you about!  Five very intimidating kids would like to wish you a good weekend.  (Or, five very good kids would like to wish you a very intimidating weekend.  Whichever.)

"Are you sure it's not twins?"

So, a question I got a lot after the babies were born was, "Did you really not know you were having twins?"  I wasn't keeping anything secret the whole time; I was as surprised as everyone else!  

I didn't have more morning sickness than normal.

I only gained about ten pounds more than I usually do.

Even though I never got ultrasounds, only one heartbeat was ever detected.

My fundal height (uterus size) always measured normal.  At my twenty week check, I was even measuring a week too small, which is how I always measure at twenty weeks.

I (mostly) never felt unusual movement.  (More on this in a minute.)

Even though people made comments like, "Are you sure there's only one in there," people have said that literally every single pregnancy and, before now, they've always been wrong. It's hard to put any stock in comments like that.

When my neighbor (mom of five) found out after the birth that I had had twins, she said, "You never looked Twin Big."  And my milk farmer has nine kids of her own, and when she commented about how big I was a week or two before the birth, I joked and said maybe it was twins, and she said, "You're big, but you're not that big."  I think that was a perfect, succinct way of saying how I felt all through the pregnancy when my size made me wonder about twins: "I'm big, but not that big."  I wasn't Twin Big.

Except.  There were things that were different through the pregnancy that made me at least wonder at times.

I started putting on weight and showing a bump earlier in the pregnancy than I normally do.  Because we waited to tell people until we were about 18 weeks along, it made it more challenging to keep the secret than I'd anticipated - usually I don't start showing until after twenty weeks.

My belly ended up getting so big, and it was heavy.  I felt like the weight was balanced much farther forward than normal, and my skin and muscles were stretched so low under my belly.  I was constantly asking my midwife if I was growing at a normal pace, and if she could tell how big the baby was.  I felt like I could feel my muscles and new stretch marks actually ripping!

I felt unwell for a lot of it.  I had no energy at times; it was like my legs were filled with water.  I had a hard time with my protein and glucose readings - every time we measured up until the very end, my protein and glucose would show up so wonky, even though I was eating (though I also struggled against almost zero appetite and tons of heartburn).  My upper back killed me - I wonder now if this had to do with the positioning of the back baby.  I almost passed out at the chiropractor when asked to stand too long.  Just strange/unusual pain and weakness that I hadn't experienced in previous pregnancies, at least as far as I remember.

I felt more concerned than I ever have before about the size and positioning of the baby for birth.  I spent a lot of time praying about this, which I'm really glad for because I do believe those prayers were answered.  The babies weren't a single ten-pounder like I was worried about, but they also weren't too small.  And their positioning was beautiful - each baby was out with just a few pushes.  Neither was breech.  It was perfect positioning.

I think there were a few days where I felt both babies.  My midwife, Carolyn, was unavailable that week, and after months of knowing exactly how the baby was positioned - I could feel exactly where the head, bottom, feet, hands, etc were located and moving - all of a sudden the positioning changed.  Instead of a single baby curled along my right side, I could feel a hard spot on either side of my stomach, and all the movement was in the center.  I was worried the baby had turned sideways and I was feeling a head on one side and a bottom on the other side, and feet and hands were moving across the center.  By the time Carolyn had gotten back, movements and positioning felt normal again - except this time the single baby was curled along my left side.  It makes me wonder if somehow I felt both babies at once, or if they even switched positions during that time.  I can't know for sure!

I had heard the Purely Parsons story about the gal who had been surprised by twins at her home birth, even though she had had an ultrasound the day before (due to her unusually large pregnancy growth) and only one baby had been detected.  Babies get missed sometimes!  It was in the back of my mind, and it would come to mind when I was feeling especially big!  

Todd took this photo the night before the babies were born because, "There is just so much belly!"

But those things from above never changed!  Still only one heartbeat, only one set of movements, a uterus that was measuring normal and a baby that seemed to be average sized.

So, yes, to answer the original question, I was genuinely surprised it was twins!  ...Mostly.