Teagan's 1st Surgery

As most of you know, or can see in the pictures, Teagan was born with a birthmark on the left side of her face. There are many types of birthmarks, and this one is a Port Wine Stain. This type of birthmark is considered permanent because it will not fade or disappear with time, it will remain the same forever, but can be lightened or almost fully removed with laser surgery.

When Teagan was born we were given tons of information about birthmarks and our options for removal. At that time a couple different pediatricians told us that we could wait until Teagan was 3-4 years of age before performing laser surgery, this way we wouldn't need to put her under general anesthesia. Well, this turned out not to be the case. Our Craniofacial Surgeon (the same specialist who is treating Cal's plagiocephaly) told us we would see the best results from the laser surgery if we start the surgeries just after she turns 6 months old. She will have multiple laser surgeries performed over the course of a few years, and her first one is this Thursday 8/29/08. Of course, we are nervous. The procedure itself is relatively simple and will only take about 15 minutes, but it's the general anesthesia we are worried about. We were told not to worry, that putting a 6 month old under anesthesia is no different or than an older child or even an adult. BUT, it's hard to think about seeing my baby being prepped for surgery. It's an outpatient procedure and we'll actually be home by 11am (we have to be there at 6am).

We've actually noticed that the birthmark has lightened in the past few months, not because it's fading, only because her skin is stretching as she grows. We don't have very many clear pictures of Teagan's birthmark, but I found one close-up of her at 3 months old.

Keep her in your thoughts on Thursday.

One Year Ago

One year ago I started this blog to stay in touch with family and friends as we began our journey through an extremely challenging twin pregnancy. It's amazing how drastically life can change in one year. I've actually been feeling sick lately and I realized it's because the smells in the house and the humid feeling of the hot summer air brings me back to this time last year. The smell of the bathroom, the cleaning products, vitamins, and the humidity in the air makes me sick to my stomach. Driving by the doctor's office, the smell of toast, the cool A/C on a hot day, and the stickiness of my skin makes me nauseous.

Last year at this time I was going through the hardest time of my life- severe sickness and depression. One year ago this week I was in the hospital for the 3rd time for severe hyperemesis. All the veins in my arms and hands were bruised from the many IV lines placed for hydration. My body was weak and I could barely walk 8 feet to the bathroom, couldn't walk up steps, lost 7 pounds, and was vomiting 24 hours a day for months. I only left the house to visit the doctor or the hospital. I was drugged and sleepy and spent a few months in the TV room. Talking, or opening my mouth at all, made me gag, so I rarely talked to anyone but Nick, Ethan or our parents, and never talked to anyone on the phone.

The sickness and sadness was a constant throughout the entire pregnancy. Those 8 months felt like an eternity and I could not picture what my life would be like without sickness. After a while I was forced adjust to the feeling of being sick. My puke bag was always in my purse and I stocked up on gum to have a pack within reach at all times. Most of my time was spent on the couch. Ethan learned to bring toys and games over to the couch to play with me and Nick brought me food and water. Nick did the cooking, cleaning and most other errands along with working 50+ hours/week. Life was hard.

BUT, here we are one year later and we look like a completely different family. Most people comment on how much work it must be to have twins and an older child, but they have no idea how hard life was the year before the twins arrived. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, tired or just burnt I just hop on the computer and look back on our blog. It always makes me feel grateful for my health and happiness.

Here we are now. Cal & Teagan are 6 months old, Ethan 4 years, and someone has a 31st birthday coming up...

Cal's CranioCap

A few months ago we noticed Cal's head was not perfectly round. His head has a little flat spot on the back left side. Around 2 months of age we pointed this out to our pediatrician and she suggested some things for us to work on to avoid him laying on the flat part of his head. We tried propping him on his right side while sleeping, and in the bouncy seat and car seat. We gave him more tummy time to get him off his back all the time and work on his neck muscles.
At their 4 month check-up our pediatrician noted that the flat spot had worsened, plus he was not turning his head completely to the right. At this point we were referred to a specialist- a Craniofacial Surgeon.
The doctor gave us two diagnoses.
The irregular shape of the head is called "Plagiocephaly," caused by the crowded living quarters in the womb (very common with multiples) where there is little opportunity for repositioning, therefore giving the head a flat spot where it may have been in the same position for too long.
Plagiocephaly can lead to our second diagnosis- "Torticollis." Torticollis is a tightening of the neck muscle on one side.
In Cal's case, he has a tightening on the right side of the neck, in which he prefers to only look to the left, resulting in a flat spot on the left side of his head.
Now what?
The Torticollis will be treated with weekly physical therapy for the next 5 months while the shape of his head will be fixed by wearing a "CranioCap" for 2-4 months. The CranioCap will be worn 22 hours per day with four 30 min. breaks to check his head for redness and clean the cap.
In the end Calin will have a round head and normal neck muscles in 4-5 months. I think it will be fun to document the progress and watch his head transform.

So... here are some BEFORE pictures.

Here is our handsome little man with his new CranioCap. He is adjusting very well and it hasn't changed his cheery personality one bit.

Day Out With...

THOMAS!!!

Thomas The Train came to Minneapolis! Ethan was in heaven today at the "Day Out with Thomas" event. We actually rode in one of the double-decker coaches pulled by Thomas himself.

Ethan even had Nick and I to himself today while Grandma Rooney stayed home with the twins. We all had a wonderful day.

Enjoying Summer

Here are some pictures from last week. We've been going up to the cabin almost every weekend this month. We can't get enough of the cabin fun- the fresh air and beautiful land, Ethan swimming in the lake, playing in the sand, fishing, 4-wheeling, watching my parent's cabin progress, morning mochas at Ruttgers, and much more.

Nick and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last weekend at the cabin.

Here is a picture of that perfect day 2 years ago at the Walton Compound...

Cheers to 2 years!

And here we are today...

After a fun weekend at the cabin we always look forward to "Mommy Monday Mocha Maddness" with Steph and Lisa and kids. We've been meeting every Monday morning at new parks around the city for the past few months, and mochas are always in hand...

How is Everything?

I can't believe how fast time flies.

Ethan celebrated his 4th birthday last week.

On the same day Calin and Teagan turned 5 months old.

Since I've only been posting pictures and haven't been very good about writing on the blog lately, I'll take a few minutes out of my sleep time to summarize the past few months.

Are we sleeping?
YES! Calin and Teagan have been sleeping 9-10 hours through the night for almost 2 months now. They have their last bed-time bottle just before 9pm and they usually wake up between 6-7am. These days we try to give them their pacifiers if they wake up before 6:30 and it will get us another 20-30 minutes of sleep.

They each have their own crib as they move around a lot in their sleep now. For the past week or two we've had to respond to crying in the middle of the night because one or both of their heads are smashed into the crib rails. (No, we don't have bumpers in the cribs because they are no longer considered safe)

And, we have all 3 kids sleeping in one room. :) It's actually working out really well. Ethan absolutely loves having the babies in his room. Amazingly, they all sleep through any crying, fussing or talking.

So, sleep is fabulous and we're glad to be back.


How is the big brother?
Ethan loves his babies and shows them off to everyone. He is so proud of them and loves to give them hugs and kisses. Now that the babes are becoming more active Ethan engages them in play and gives them toys. When I pick Ethan up from camp (which has been a lifesaver- 3 mornings a week for the entire summer) he yells for all his friends to come see his babies. He is the sweetest big brother.


How do we get around?
Having a older child has forced me to get out of the house daily and lead a normal life as if I weren't toting around two car seats. It would be very easy to slip into a bad habit of staying indoors because "it's too difficult to do things with twins."

Nope, I go everywhere everyday. Today we went to Costco after I picked Ethan up from camp. I found that the easiest way to shop is with one baby in the Baby Bjorn and one in the car seat on the shopping cart. Ethan usually walks or hangs/rides on the side of the cart. This way Teagan and Calin can look at each other and I actually have room in my cart for shopping! For the first couple months I just put all my items in the basket of the double stroller, but that was a pain and I could never buy any large items (like paper towels or toilet paper). So, this new system works well...until they grow out of their infant car seats.

Overall, I've put myself in the mindset that getting out with twins and a 4 year old is a piece of cake. And if it all goes to hell then we drop the cart and run for the nearest exit (which hasn't happened yet, but I have had to purchase pacifiers at the store multiple times because I forgot to pack any).

How are mom and dad doing?

Nick and I are handling the chaos very well. Life is busy and every day is physically and emotionally demanding but we find time to relax at the end of the day and even get away on dates with help from our parents. Date nights are a must! Having family nearby is an absolute must with twins!
We're headed up to the cabin again this weekend to celebrate our anniversary and Nick's parents will be watching the kids on Saturday so we can go out and celebrate.
Ok, I can't cut into my sleep much more. I love getting 8 hours of sleep again! And yes, we still drink mochas every morning. :)

July 4th Tradition

For the past few years we've been celebrating the 4th of July at the cabin with close friends- Doug, Tom, Rebecca and Dan. This year topped them all. We pontooned all day on Bay Lake, hung out on the dock all weekend and then joined friends/family on Lake Minnetonka on Sunday. It was a glorious weekend.

Check out the pics...

Busy Building

We've been busy enjoying the summer! Last weekend we went up north to the cabin. Actually, now we should change that phrase. We went up to the CABINS.

My parents recently bought 10 acres of land just 1 mile down the Hwy from the Walton Compound. They spent 10 days building their first structure on their new land. Shalene helped at the beginning of the week, Nick helped for a couple days at the end and Steve Cuddy joined the force for a couple days also. We are very lucky to have our family's cabins with 1 mile of each other and we're already having a ton of fun 4-wheeling back and forth and spending time at both places. My parents are in heaven and will probably be up north every weekend until the snow falls.

They've made great progress. Check it out...