No Poop For You!

As a parent, it's always tough seeing your child(ren) in any pain or discomfort. The last couple of days, Tyler has been in serious "trying to poop" mode, and was pretty miserable the whole time. Lots of bright red faced grunting, squirming, farting, and squeezing. We tried everything from massaging his belly, to doing the bicycle motion with his legs to "loosen things up", and even tried sticking the lubed Q-tip up the darkest of places(you get the picture). All seemed to have been done with no success, until 11:33 am this morning I get this text: After 2 1/2 days of being fully clogged, it looks like things are back in order and luckily I wasn't there to have to change him.

I always wondered what the point of the smiling poop emoticon was, but I felt if there ever was an appropriate use for it, this text was it.

Gettin' Fit

I think my pregnancy weight gain has been well documented in this blog, but if not, let's just say I got a little doughy after the NYC Marathon in the last 4 months of pregnancy. I would find myself eating ice cream and cookies when Caroline wasn't even joining in. I was eating like I was pregnant, and gaining a bit of a bump. After the bambinos arrived and we got settled in, my goal was to get in serious shape. I found a gym that does Cross Fit that is about two blocks from my house. This stuff is intense. I come home almost throwing up each and every evening. Sounds fun, no?

Anyway, onto the real story. One night after I came home Caroline noticed my body was retaking the shape of a Greek God she decided she wanted to get back in shape. Considering she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight 13 hours after the babies were born, her issue wasn't losing weight. She wanted to get stronger. And by stronger, I mean she was worried about ever having to lug both baby carriers with babies in them around by herself.

After I came home from Cross Fit last night, I noticed she was in workout gear, the coffee table had been moved, and she was a little red in the face. That means one thing, "At Home Workout Tape" WRONG.

W:You work out?

C:Kind of.

W:What do you mean?

C:Well, I wanted to get stronger, so I did curls, lunges and walked around with the baby carriers.

W:Cool. Why did I just stub my toe on the 8lb dumb bells?

C:I might have put the dumb bells in the carrier to simulate some baby weight...

And...Wylie does Cross Fit and

Weights:

+

Carriers:

= Baby Fit:

Mall = Impossible

We had our first real "outing" with T & A on Friday as we ventured to North Park Mall. First of all, getting us four out of the house takes some major prep work. We only have about a 2 hour window to leave and get back before the feeding frenzy starts up again. So, we frantically pack diaper bag, change outfits, stuff babies into car seats, grab stroller and go.

The worst part about the outing is the stroller we are using. Right now we are at the mercy of The Dual Snap and Go until the kids can sit in a stroller without their carriers.

This is a dual stroller that the car seat carriers can "snap" into and you "go"...in theory. Problem with this thing is that it is the length of a school bus, and has the turning radius of a cruise ship. I would literally have to stop in the mall, look both ways and behind me, swing this puppy around and cross. At some points, Caroline would act as a crossing guard, holding her hands up, stopping traffic, and whistling me through.

The battle doesn't end there...try fitting a school bus into the baby stores...not happening.

Things I used to take for granted at the mall:

Escalators

Stairs

Curbs

Now we use elevators, ramps, and crossing guards.

Anyone have a orange vest we can borrow?

Letter to the Future about the Past

Kind of confusing I know, but Caroline and I have written a letter to us to read in 2 years when we are thinking about having one more baby.

Dear 2013 Caroline and Wylie,

Hey there, aren't your kids cute? They are both 2 years old now, walking, talking, and both child prodigies. We just wanted to write you to remind you what went on in their first month of life. I know you're thinking about having another kid, but please read this beforehand.

Remember the 3 hour feeding schedule? Remember the really tough ones that happened between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. where you had to peel yourself out of bed, sleep walk across the hallway, change a diaper and be greeted with a golden shower? Remember the cries that have been labeled the "Wounded Dinosaur" and the "Injured Dolphin"? Remember these cries echoing through the house in the surround sound of baby monitors? Caroline, remember the time you drove all of the way to the Doctor's office on your cell phone and kept complaining of a "real poopy smell in your car' only to later find the "poop smell" was on the hand that you were holding the phone with? Wylie, remember the breast milk projectile vomit you took to the bare chest at the 3 a.m. feeding?

Look, I know you love these little guys,but just remember how much work they are now. You lucked out, you got healthy babies, a boy and a girl. So, if this letter doesn't convince you enough, go price some diapers and wipes. Or watch the attached video, and your feeling on the breast pump.

Love,

Yourself, version 2011

1 Month

We had our 1 month Doctor appointment yesterday, Tyler weighs 7 lbs 3 oz and is 19.5 inches long. Addison is also 7 lbs 3 oz and is 19 inches long. Both babies are slowly creeping towards the 10th percentile in weight and height. Somehow, I was the only one that received a shot...Nothing more embarrassing than going to your kids' pediatrician and your the one walking out with the baby blue camouflage band aid.

I wasn't sure if the shot was going in my arm or butt, and we were in a hurry to get out of there as feeding time was rapidly approaching. So, in my mind, I was contemplating dropping my pants(in case of butt shot) and taking off my shirt(in case of arm shot) to speed up the process, but I thought it might be a bit awkward when the nurse walked in. Luckily for everyone involved, the shot went in my arm.

Ready for Greenville St. Patty's Day

Ready for bedtime

Catching up at 3 weeks!

It's tough to believe, but the kiddos are three weeks old today. I've learned a lot in three weeks, and I've still got some learning to do.

What I've learned:

Diapers-I knew they would roll through these things, but never at the pace it is happening at currently. I will take a diaper off, clean up the plumbing, place another diaper under one of them, then they poop again, remove newer diaper, re-clean, they pee, newest diaper strapped on, and any other "incidents" are ignored. My max is 3 diapers, I refuse to use more than that per change. Addison and Tyler, if you are reading this, the pooping game was funny, but now I'm fighting back! While we are on the subject of diapers, one of the more useful/utterly disgusting inventions is the Diaper Genie. It's genius in how it stores what seems to be thousands of diapers in a little can that is ALMOST odor free(nothing the kids have produced could ever be 100% odor-free), but it is completely disgusting when you pull this see-through trash bag out of the can and have to shamelessly take it out to your garbage. Couldn't they make the bag non-transparent? It's gross...

Wipes-The use of these things that fascinate me the most. I'm serious when I say this, I use more wipes in a day than I take breaths of air. I'm talking 8-10 wipes per kid, per change. Plus, the wipes have you at their mercy, there's no substitute, unless you want to use wash cloths, but then you're stuck cleaning poop twice...once out of the diaper, then once out of the cloth you used...two words, "No thanks".

Monitors-Apparently we bought monitors that were for a couple with a deaf person in the relationship, because not only do they produce sound, but they emit a very bright blue strobe light effect each time a sound is made. Couple the bright blue light with the sound machine the babies use for sleeping that is set on "heartbeat" and it turns our bedroom into a night club. So picture this, we are hearing "ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom" out of the monitor, we are also seeing the bright flashes of light in this exact pattern, now multiply that times two, because we are so tired, we each have a monitor on our side of the bed ensuring that one of us wakes up...Don't buy these monitors, unless you're deaf.

Boobs-Like them, always have, will again in the future, but right now I'm tired of seeing them. Caroline is either walking around with ice packs on them, warm cloths, pumping them, or just freeing them. I even saw somewhere that suggested she put cabbage leaves over her boobs to help milk production...Really? How do your boobs know you're wearing cabbage???....never thought I would say this, but I'm over boobs.

Sleep-Forgot what it felt like...so no comment.

As for the babies, they're easy, awesome, and great. I did get milk barfed on and pooped on in about a 30 minute span today, and can 100% say that is a first, but probably not a last.

Here is a public Facebook link of some pics.

This was taken from my phone during our photo shoot by http://www.carolriell.com/ I'll post her version of the pics once we get them.

2 Weeks Later...

I wanted to brag on Caroline, not only has she turned herself into a one woman dual feeding machine, but I think she looks AMAZING for having twins 2 WEEKS AGO.

*Disclaimer-Caroline said she would subtract 1 week from the Doctors' "6 week no sex after C-section" policy for posting this blog. I win, but not sure I can stay off of her for 3 more weeks if she keeps looking this hot. Now I just need to find a few more complimentary blogs to write, stat.

Friday Night...Party in the Nursery

Well, it's 11:10 on Friday night and I am laying on the floor of the nursery...why you ask? I'll tell you.

Mom is exhausted, next feeding time is midnight, and she wanted to catch some Zzz's. Everyone was ok with that, except our newest/most vocal member of the group, Miss Addison. So after rocking, swaddling, walking, rubbing, talking, and any other "ing" you can think of, I decide my best defense against silencing the baby monitors with her newest scream, which we call the "wounded pterodactyl", is to lay next to the crib until I hear the slightest of movements...and jump up and throw the pacifier back in her mouth. I think it's a pretty good look for me, Boppy as a pillow, small pink baby quilt covering knee to ankles, small blue baby quilt covering waist to ribcage, and my Kodiak bear like chest hair covering the rest. Sexy, if I do say so myself.

Hate to cut this entry short, but I just heard an explosion...crap(literally)

Who's jealous of my Friday? Anyone...anyone...(crickets)

Random Thoughts:Mostly on Pooping

Everyone is doing great...babies are eating, pooping, and sleeping(repeating), usually in that exact order and usually the pooping or peeing is aimed at us or ends up on us. We've had our share of diaper blowouts and golden showers too. Tyler is a little more vocal with his bowel movements(I know, like father like son), and we never have any question when his diaper is full. Addison is quite the little lady, and poos on her own schedule.

We found Saidy in the Pack-n-Play on day 2 of being home. She launched herself from our bed into it...luckily the kiddos were on the changing table...shocking I know.
Sleep is hard to come by right now...
The amount of wipes we go through are unreal...I would say it's 10 wipes to every dirty diaper.
I promise they do more than poop, but I just got done getting pooped on and that's all I can really think about, or smell, right now.

I will get back on the blogging schedule soon and will let you know what else they are doing once I get some zzz's.

Also, we have some really awesome friends. People have texted, emailed, called, and Facebooked checking on us and the babies. We have had dinners and gifts brought to us which has all been amazing. Thanks to all the peeps who have helped...it really does make a difference, and if we haven't responded to you yet, we will as soon as we get the poop off of our hands.

We Are Here...and We Are Pretty Awesome!

Quick timeline of events of how this all played out.

2:35 am-Caroline rolls over and politely tells me "Wylie, I think my water broke"

2:37 am-Called Doc and he told us to come in to have these babies

2:49 am Scrambled around the house, collecting necessary provisions for hospital survival

2:50 am- Make phone calls to family members

3:00 am-Hazard lights on, speed racing to hospital

3:10 am-check in, prepping for c-section begins

4:00 am-My dad and brother arrive

5:00am- Caroline heads back to OR

5:05 am-Wylie puts on scrubs and plays doctor

5:15 am-Wylie heads back to OR

5:35 am-Babies in arms

Tyler Thomas Eagle was born at 5:35 am on Feb 14, 2011. Addison Rebecca Eagle was born at 5:36 am.

Tyler weighed 5lbs 14 ounces and is 19 inches long...And if I do say myself, he is well "equipped". The doctor was quoted saying, "He should have come out wearing a jock strap"

Addison weighed 5lbs 5 ounces and is 18.5 inches long...and is absolutely gorgeous!

We have some pics on Shutterstock, and will continue to upload. Click here to view some pics!

Final Piece

Out with the old, in with SUV #2. We loved our Lexus and all the perks that came with it(free valet parking at Rangers and Mavs games), but we were realizing it was terribly impractical for twins. It would have been a tight fit for one car seat, let alone two. We opted for a smaller SUV, since we have the Tahoe(which seats about 12 comfortably), and went with the super-roomy Toyota Highlander. Buying a car is always an experience, buying a car with a pregnant companion is...um interesting. I won't go into details, but let's just say Caroline told the salesman off(he was wrong), then refused to look at or even talk to him for the next three hours. Awkward. Then to make Caroline almost explode one of his cohorts walked up and said, "God bless you child, if you look up pregnant in the dictionary there will definitely be a picture of you" Not the best thing to say to a pregnant women. At least no one has told her she is "the weirdest pregnant woman I've ever seen"...oh wait.

Thanks to my insomniac, definition of pregnant, weirdest pregnant person ever wife for revamping the blog. I told her I wanted my blog to look like Natalie's or Jodi's blog...and she made it happen...at 3 am Sunday morning.

If you're counting, 4 days, 7 hours, 38 minutes 30 seconds.

I promise, next blog will have pics of babies!

36 Weeks!

We are FINALLY entering the last week of being a family of two, and will soon be a family of 4!!

Thursday we had our last rounds of doctor's appointments, and everything looked great. Caroline was trying to negotiate with the Doc to get the kiddos out early, but she lost. I can't say I will miss these appointments, but it sure was an unreal journey. It was always fun seeing the sonograms every week, watching the babies grow bigger on the screen each and every time we went in, tracking their weight gain, and hearing their beautiful heartbeats never got old. It was fun (for me) watching Caroline's poor body morph into a dual baby carrying machine. Every step of the way was something new for us, and as this entire "not making babies/making babies/pregnancy" journey ends...I know the new journey begins.

I can't wait to be a parent, I can't wait to be called Dad, I can't wait to change stinky messy diapers and get peed on, I can't wait to love these kids unconditionally, I can't wait to dress them up in matching Texas Tech outfits...There are so many thinks that I can't wait do. It's all going to be so awesome...so now all I have to do is....wait. Wait for 6 days. 6 days 5 hours 35 minutes and 54 seconds to be exact, but who's counting?

I don't really know what this post was meant to be, but maybe it was just meant for me to kill about 20 minutes of "wait time" if so, 6 days 5 hours 15 minutes and 33 seconds to go. Mission accomplished.

I assume the next time I will blog will be to post(show off) pictures of two beautiful hairy babies.

Aliens?

Caroline has not been taken over by aliens, but she does have two babies that appear eager to punch, claw, and/or kick their way out of her stomach.

9 days away from being born, and it appears they want to remind Mom that they are still in there and aren't coming out without a fight.

We are both really eager to meet our babies, but want them to stay in as long as they need to. But, I did find myself googling "how to make your wife go into labor" today, and the most common response was "sex". Well, we all know that's not on the horizon...so it looks like 9 more days.

35 Weeks and counting

35 weeks has come. Another major milestone in the books, and Caroline is still miserable. She can't roll over, can't sleep, breaths aloud like Darth Vader, and has run out of Friday Night Lights episodes. She killed 4 seasons in 2 weeks. That's 63 episodes, with a run time of 2,746 minutes. That's 45 1/2 hours. This is world record TV viewing at it's finest., folks.

With "Ice-mageddon" falling on the DFW area for the last few days. I have had the pleasure of working from home and supplying Caroline with some much needed (I thought) human interaction. I was wrong. She has perfected this bed rest thing to an exact science. TV schedule, eating, peeing, water breaks, all on a schedule. One day she told me that, "she was an hour and a half ahead of schedule, and it was my fault that her day was going by to slowly." This was the same day she woke me up at 5:30 am to watch Friday Night Lights with her. The only time I ever wake up at 5:30 is to go fishing....or watch Friday Night Lights...and in a couple of weeks change diapers and feed babies.

Every Thursday Caroline has her two doctor's appointments. We have named this weekly event the "Big Outing". It's the only time she gets out of the house and breaths fresh air. Mi Cocina was our lunch destination this week. Caroline was convinced people were staring at her because they "could tell she was a hermit and never gets out of the house" I didn't have the heart to tell her they were staring at her humongous baby carrier she had hidden under a half fastened maternity coat that her belly has out grown.

Week 35 appointment fun facts:
Caroline asked, "Is it normal feeling like the babies are going to fall out of me"
Docs reply, "yes that is normal, if they fall out, call me."

Caroline asked, "If my water breaks, can I shower and then come in to the hospital."
Docs reply, "No".
Caroline's internal thought, "I really need to step up my showering routine in the next two weeks"

Caroline's belly is measuring at 44 - 45 weeks. Go big or go home, right?

PS-Caroline is being a fun-sucker and said no more bare belly pics. If you want to get an idea of how big she is, go here!

Update @ 34 Weeks

A lot has been going on the past couple of weeks regarding us getting ready for T & A's arrival. I recently realized that I have never been responsible for a kid, other than a wiener dog for more than a weekend. And in less than three weeks, I will be responsible for two....just like that. No tests to pass, no certifications, no instruction manual, nothing, except Facebook(You can always find unsolicited advice from people you don't even know on there)

I put the car seats in. That made it feel real.


Last weekend my brother and some friends got together and we all headed out to the Lakehouse for one last shindig. They brought me tons of diapers, and we had a good time. I'm not allowed to get "blasted" anymore until the babies get here, just in case they arrive unexpectedly, so it was kind of weird telling people that I couldn't beer bong or dunkaroo that weekend. I started feeling sorry for myself, but the next morning I felt awesome and they did not. I win.

This is what 2,000 diapers looks like.

Our 34 week appointment(Thursday Jan. 27) was probably the best one we have had yet. Outside from the babies getting big(Tyler weighing in at 5 lbs 5 ounces and Addison weighing in 5 lbs 6 ounces) we got to see them pucker their lips, taking breaths, and see hair. Caroline and I always joke that I am quite possibly the hairiest being on the planet outside of an ape. So we always joked that Tyler was going to some out with a full head of hair and a beard. Well, no signs of a beard yet but definitely a head of hair. In the sonographers words, "he has a lot of hair, maybe enough for a pony tail." I'm bringing scissors to the hospital, just in case he needs a haircut. The Dr. also told us "you have won the battle, each day they stay in now is just icing on the cake." The Dr. also took Caroline off of "strict bed rest" which means she can get up to fetch her own water and snacks now, but no trips to Target...yet. We left the office high fiving, but no chest bumping. I don't think we could get our chests to "bump" right now.

This picture was supposed to be NFB,(Not For Blog) but it is just too good not to share. This is Caroline at 33 weeks 6 days and he belly is measuring at 41 1/2 weeks. In the words of my father, "They might want to do a re-count on the number of babies in there"

For now we anxiously, nervously, excitedly wait. We only have 20 days left. To me that seems like nothing. To my wife who is carrying 11 pounds of baby that seems miserable. I'm thinking they won't come until they are scheduled, which is Feb 17.

What Does This Face Mean?

This is the text pic I got about an hour ago.



This face reads: I'm bored, spilled my giant cup of water on the floor and on remote, remote not working, TV stuck on one channel and same volume, can't get up to clean water mess or change channel, muddy dog came in house and got mud everywhere, want to kill dog pouty face.

Life is good...

Nice Little Saturday?

With Caroline on bed rest, it's up to me to finalize everything before the babies get here. Saturday, I was extremely bored and ventured off to Babies R' Us, where I'm typically out of place with Caroline there, without Caroline I'm just a plain store idiot. My goal was to finish off the registry, and try to make it all fit in my Tahoe.

Registry somewhat completed:




Receipt that goes along with registry completion:

My next trip should be really interesting. I have to go get nursing bras and nursing tank tops. I'm serious. I really have to go get nursing bras and nursing tank tops. Out. Of. Place.

31 Weeks-Week 1 of at Home Bed Rest

So this is how Caroline gets to spend the next 3(hopefully 4 or 5) more weeks. Posted up, on the couch, with her sleepy dog friend, with water bottles, Gatorade, remotes, 3 seasons of Breaking Bad, re-runs of Real Houswives, and all the US Magazines a girl can want...

(Note: Due to lack of make-up, Caroline did not approve picture. Due to lack of time, Wylie wanted to use this picture. See back circle over Caroline's face)

...and a Wylie created Drawer O' Fun within arms' reach:

Parole Board

Caroline is on her way to the Dr. Parole Board. It is either going to be hospital bed rest for the next 4-5 weeks or home bed rest.

Hospital bed rest is good and bad. Good, you have doctors and nurses at your disposal and they are there 24 hours a day. Bad, you're in a freaking hospital all day every day. The smells, the food, the crappy cable TV, and the horrible couch/bed I had to sleep on.

Home is good because she can see the dogs, and Saidy is always on bed rest, so she would make a good partner. You have access to all your normal things.

Caroline doesn't really like me referring to her cervix in my blog, so from now on I will refer to it as Mr. C.

I have never really rooted for Mr.C or had any reason to root for Mr. C. But during our parole session, I have never wanted Mr. C to stay unchanged like I did yesterday. Lucky for us, Mr.C cooperated with us and hadn't changed a bit since Monday.
Which means she gets to go home. Which means I am now full time cook, nurse, house keeper, water fetcher, dresser, showerer, slave, assistant, gopher...you get the point.

So if you're bored, feel free stop by Chesterton Drive and drop off a magazine or fill up her water bottles, or clean up the house, or bathe her.

Night 1

Night 1 in the hospital was not that much fun. The worst part is Caroline had control of the remote and we had to watch The Bachelor instead of The Orange Bowl. Lots of staring at each other, lots of phone calls, and the couch/bed that I had to sleep on had about a 60 degree slant towards the ground and an air vent directly above it. Kind of like sleeping on an Arctic monutain top and trying to avoid rolling to the bottom. Needless to say, I will be sleeping at the house tonight.

Hilight of the night for me: We got to order Dominoe's for delivery
Hilight of night for Caroline: She got an Ambien

Also, thank God for the website www.damnyouautocorrect.com to help kill some of the time.