Tuesday, Mr. Mono's sister, Ivette, and her children, Isabella and Austin, came to see the babies. Its so wonderful that the girls have so many cousins. Isabella and Austin loved taking care of the babies too. Isabella even got Evelyn to burp--which is no small feat. Little Austin loved the girls and wanted to hold them and feed them all the time.

One thing I've noticed is how many boys are interested in babies. Taking the kids to my sister's house, my 12 year old nephew and his friends are always happy to hold and feed the babies. Its funny to see these little skater kids set down their skateboards and ooo and ahh over infants. I was at my sister's the other day and my nephew was having an impromptu pool party. He and another boy his age sat inside with me for a bit and gave the girls a bottle, while the girls at their party walked by, said "cute baby," and then went outside to swim. Granted they only stayed for a bit, there were, afterall, girls in bikinis outside, but the fact that they sat there at all is amazing.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see the time when boys thought babies were for girls is quickly passing and those ridiculous gender roles are fading away. I've heard so many stories from my parents generation of the men "never changing a diaper," or only wanting to do the fun stuff. And several of my friends have talked about their father's lack of participation and its impact on the family. My grandparents generation seemed to be even more divided along gender roles. (of course, this is a general notion and individual families may be different).

I'm not trying to imply that the men my own age prescribe to these notions. On the contrary, the majority of our male friends with children dote over their kids and do their fair share of parenting. Nevertheless, these are their own children and to see a teenage boy with his friends (when being "cool" is so important) dote over someone else's child seems to me to be yet another step in the right direction. So it was nice to see an even younger boy, little Austin, was equally enthralled with our babies and more than willing to help take care of them. Playing with the babies and playing with his Bionicles were equally acceptable fun things to do. cool.

We had a wonderful time with Andre's sister and her family. Her kids are growing so fast, and the thought that our kids will be growing up just as quickly made me a little sad at times. I suppose the only cure is to use each day as wisely as possible and spend lots of time together and enjoy it all.

Last Sunday, Mr. Mono, Thad, Stacie and I went to see our friend Bea's Roller Derby bout. Bea skates for the Big Easy Roller Girls in New Orleans.

Roller Derby is awesome, and while Andre and I want to encourage our daughters to pursue their own dreams and talents, and will be proud of them no matter what they decide to do, we nevertheless imagined the day when our own little Evey and Ro-ro skated in the roller derby.


It was really great to see Bea too, aka Beatrix Skiddo. Bea is an awesome skater and it was go cool to see her and the Big Easy Roller girls. Andre and I may have to buy season tickets next year.

Rowan and Evelyn in the morning

Rowan and Evelyn in the Morning from Leigh de la Reza on Vimeo.

Evelyn Skye

This is Evey this morning. She's 6 weeks old.

Rowan in the swing!

Evey Loves Elmo

My Aunt Robin sent the girls a package with lots of great gifts, including this tickle me Elmo.

Evelyn, who is almost the same size as Elmo, began to cry and I put the laughing (and vibrating) Elmo next to her and she quieted down immediately. It was very cute. Thanks Robin!

Newsflash: Papa's singing get approval from daughter

Now I never thought I had a great singing voice, but while I was chilling with Rowan this morning - singing a little ditty - I was on the receiving end of her first voluntary smile!

It was amazing! To watch her focusing on my face, and then crack into a little toothless grin

Melted my little heart...

Catching Up

Its been a while since I've posted. Time just flies when you're having fun (also when you're sleep deprived). So this post is mostly an update on what fun/ sleep deprivation we've been having.

Let me start off by saying that Rowan sleeps all the time (except at night). This is a rare photo of the girl actually awake, but she quickly fell back to sleep once the picture was taken. The obvious reason why she's sleeping so much is that she is growing so fast. She's noticeably bigger than her sister and is so strong. She can now hold her head up really well and enjoys sitting up (with help of course) She's also incredibly cute and its extremely difficult to resist pinching her chubby little legs.

This is actually a picture of Rowan and I at the Annual O'Henry Pun-off. Anyone who knows Andre knows he loves the O'Henry Pun-off, and is consequently, impossible to live with for about a week later as he attempts to pun nonstop. The pun-off was lots of fun though and quite crowded.

Here's a picture of Evey laughing at the pun-off. She must have her father's sense of humor.

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. This year, we didn't go out of town or do anything fancy to celebrate. We took the girls to have their pictures made and then spent the evening with friends. Yet, it was still a great day, like so many of our days together are. Andre is an amazing person and I love sharing my life with him. I'm looking forward to the next year and many more to come.


Now for baby-toes...(Rowan)













And angry babies...(Evey)

















Babies yawning...(Evey)

















And babies dreaming...(Rowan)

More mother's day pics

1st Mother's Day

We celebrated my first Mother's Day this past Sunday. The girls gave me the best present --they slept for 5 hours straight the night before--woke up, ate, then fell asleep again. Thanks kids!

I always saw mother's day as a day of giving thanks back to your mother. However, as a new mother myself this year I feel so thankful to my girls for making me a parent. They have brought so much happiness to our lives and we both just love them so much. Last year at this time Andre and I were seeing fertility doctors. And at a time when we thought we may not be able to have children, Andre gave me the sweetest little booties with the note that they were for our future child. Now, a year later we're celebrating Mother's Day with our twins. How wonderful is that?

Andre and I took my mother and grandmother to the Driskill 1886 Cafe for brunch. We had four generations all together.

Slings and things--Real men wear babies

This is a really cute picture of our friend Tim and Andre playing chess, each with a baby in the sling.

The girls love to be in slings. They'll sleep for hours and never seem to mind being jostled around. Its been great for us too and its one of the easiest ways to carry both twins (one in the sling, one in your arms). Andre has been able to fit both twins in one sling, but its sort of a challenge.

Weekend Visit

My Aunt Ann and cousin (her daughter) Andrea drove down this past weekend to visit the girls. It was so great to see them and to introduce the girls to some of their family. Here's a picture of Andrea and Sydney holding the girls.



Those girls weren't set down for a moment the whole night, someone was continually waiting to hold them. Even the boys wanted to hold a baby. Here's a picture of my nephew, Forrest, and his friend Andrew each holding a twin.




And here's a picture of my grandmother, holding Evelyn. Rowan and Evelyn are her 7th and 8th great-grandchildren.

One Month Check-Up

The girls will be one month old this coming Thursday. So, today we went to the pediatrician for their one month check up. The doctor said, and I quote, "the girls are perfect." Which I completely agree.

Rowan weighs 7 lbs 14 oz and is 20 3/4 inches long. She's in the 25% for weight and 50% for height. Evelyn weighs 7 lbs 7 oz and is 20 inches long. She's in the 10% for both weight and height.

The girls are noticeably growing and changing. They are already growing out of some of their newborn onesies and they are beginning to focus more. Some nights they are even sleeping longer periods of time and they are having longer periods of time when they are awake and alert during the day as well. This past month has been so awesome and has gone by so fast.

This is a picture of the girls sleeping after coming home from the doctor's today. They were plum tuckered out. I love how they'll sleep with their arms up. That would be so uncomfortable for an adult. Every kid does it though. At what point do we stop sleeping like little children and start sleeping like adults? hmmm I can't recall.

Babies 1st Movie

The girls went to their first movie this afternoon. Thanks to Alamo Drafthouse's baby movie days we were able to take the girls to the movies without feeling bad if they cry or make noise. There were at least a dozen couples with babies, maybe more. We had nothing to worry about though as the girls slept the entire time. We each had one in a moby sling, so they slept soundly on our chests. Well, Evey snored throughout the movie, but they were relatively quiet.

So, what cinematic masterpiece marked the girls' first moviegoing experience you ask? None other than Iron Man. Yeah, Andre picked the movie and was quite proud that a comic book movie was his daughter's first. As if somehow he has done his job as a father in helping his daughters gain an appreciation for the finer things in life--comics. I must admit that I equally enjoyed the movie. Robert Downey Jr. was excellent, as always, and it was a fun afternoon film--made more entertaining by the fact that our afternoons generally consist of changing diapers and periodic feedings.

Iron Man Trailer


Truth be told, we've done quite well with getting out with the girls. Our pediatrician gave us the green light to take them places and so we try to do as much as possible. We are learning the art of timing (right after feeding/diaper change we have a good 3hr window), we are developing diaper bag packing skills (learning what to bring and how much), and we are acquiring the insight of strategic baby placement (sitting outside the cafe to listen to a favorite band instead of inside, etc.). All in all, its not so difficult and its fun to have them with us. They are our own little entourage.

My Role as PaPa Mono

So it might not be a huge surprise to many, but the role of father who has managed to swing a month at home with MaMa Mono and the two monitas is not always readily obvious.

Sure I have been trying to do my share of diaper changes, burping, and the accessory actions to the actual feedings, but other than the obvious things I feel like I am a bystander watching as my beautiful wife gives them sustenance and is the primary reason they are growing into such wonderful girls.

So with that floundering on my part, I have fallen back on perhaps the most time tested of husband/boyfriend/male suitor adages:

If Moma ain't happy, NOBODY happy.

Knowing that truer words are hard to come by, I have embraced my self-assigned job with a passion. I try and make sure Moma is well fed, relaxed, comfortable and entertained.

The last of those was fulfilled this morning by this piece of internet real estate that was right up her ally:

Due Date

Today, April 29th, is the twins official due date. Instead of being in the hospital tonight with newborns, our little baby girls, born a bit early, are 19 days old today.

They are growing so fast. Everyday they change a bit more. Their hair is growing and little curls are coming in. Their cute little bellies, that only a week ago still had the remnants of umbilical cords, are now plump and round and perfect. But the best part, the coolest development of all, the part we wait for and coo over, are the moments when you'll catch a glimpse of a smile. They are not yet smiling at us, that will come later. But a caress of the head, or a kiss to the cheek and they smile all the same. And though they will, without a doubt, have a million smiles over the years, there is something so special about the first ones.

Babies first Road Trip!

Neigh 16 days into the world, and our girls are already taking up the traveling lifestyle. Well, it might be that we forced them to it (they are still too small to put up too much of a fight), but we drove down to Houston last Saturday for my cousin's (Michelle standing with my Uncle Rey to the right) baby shower.

It was a great time, Michelle and Peter live in the North East so we don't get to see them often. Peter even got some practice time at being a dad with little Evey. Which is great, because I am a firm believer in practicing with other people's kids before your own. We did it, and it was a pleasure to be able to "pay it forward".

The girls also got to meet some of the Houston contingent of my side of their family, we are all planning big family reunions, with lots of little ones underfoot.

A couple of other pics from the trip:

The Beginning

Vegas Baby!

The girls are now on the Vegas sleep schedule. You know the one where you party all night and sleep all day. Here's a picture of Evelyn crashed out after a long night of partying. See how she's still wearing her regular clothes even? Yep, this girl is out cold. Unfortunately, we, the parents, are not on the Vegas sleep schedule and would actually like to catch a few winks during the night. I'm not saying that we need a full eight hours or anything crazy like that--oh no, maybe 3 hours...in a row if it's not too much to ask?

Andre was actually worried about Rowan yesterday because she simply refused to wake up. He even got her little feet wet, and although she made a few angry faces, she never actually opened her eyes. She woke up a few times for a quick bite to eat, and then back to sleep. Come 9:30pm she was wide eyed and bushy tailed--ready for a night on the town with her partner in crime: Evey.

In other news, Rowan is remarkably strong for a little baby. She can lift her head up by herself and hold it for quite a while. She's been able to do this--I believe, since she was born. She's really strong and can turn her head from side to side. I've seen her almost roll over a few times too. She can make it about half way, but then falls back over again. She loves to lay on her tummy and look around.

Babies enjoying the day

Just enjoying the day outside. Getting in a little tummy-time and keeping the jaundice at bay. Its been nice taking the wee ones outside to enjoy the afternoon. They've been on several walks and even took a stroller ride down Soco.

We had a lactation consultant visit yesterday. Ro-ro is not wanting to nurse. She discovered during her jaundice stint that milk flows freely from bottles and now she'd rather have her milk shaken--not stirred. We discovered, via a scale the consultant had, that she's also good at faking it. She'll appear to be nursing, but isn't actually taking in any milk. She even makes little gulping noises. So, we now have a program, so to speak, to get her on the wagon again. Presently, I'm nursing one baby and pumping for the other.

Evey, on the other hand, is a super-efficient nurser. She can nurse for a mere 10 minutes and take in 3 oz. She gets very mad if you're slow getting set up to nurse her though. She wants her milk and she wants it NOW. She would stamp her feet if she could and often times she'll angrily throw her tiny little fists around, her whole face getting red. Its really very cute.

One Week Old!!

The girls are a week old. What a week it has been too. Everyday we learn something else about them, see another side of their personality, and get to know our little babies a little more.

Rowan is now jaundice-free. We went back to the pediatrician yesterday and it appears the Billy-blanket worked. Her skin is nice and pink and her weight is 5 lbs 10 oz. She actually gained 5 oz in a day. Those formula lattes are so fattening. You can really tell the difference in her already. She's a lot more active. She's strong for such a little baby and can almost turn over completely. She's very good about lifting her head too. She rarely ever cries and she still has these very inquisitive looks on her face as if she's thinking, "what on earth am I doing here?" She sleeps well next to her sister and she loves to sleep on our chests. I think her favorite place is snuggled up on her daddy's chest. They'll sleep together for hours like this.

Evelyn is a doll and has been growing steadily. She weighed 5lbs 7oz at the doctor yesterday. She seems to know exactly what she wants and she'll let you know too. She's the more vocal of the two, but her little cries sound like cat mews until she gets really angry. Then she sounds like the Count from Sesame Street, "ah, ah, ah." She's been nursing really well and is very alert. She seems to dislike being swaddled and will struggle back and forth like a magician in a straightjacket until she gets out. And you have to find her in a sleepy mood for her to enjoy the moby sling (it's a sling that basically ties the baby up close to your chest). She also dislikes the vibrating bouncing chair and the swing. Maybe they're just too young for that. She likes to be rocked and quickly falls asleep if we sing to her.

Both girls seem to be able to sleep through each other's cries easily. They sleep through dog barking too. Although the dogs become very concerned when one of the babies cry. The girls do seem to know each other's presence though in a way that I assume most non-twin babies could at that age. They will reach for each other and be comforted when placed together. They'll sleep long hours side by side and wake up as soon as one is missing. Some of the most challenging aspects of being twin parents is trying to do the same thing at the same time or conversely, deciding who should go first. I suppose that is a challenge that will last for quite a while.

Andre has been a great father. I can't imagine taking care of them on my own. We are completely a team switching off babies: I'll nurse, then he'll change the diaper, and so forth, switching babies back and forth. At one point yesterday I felt as if we were jugglers tossing batons back and forth. Not to worry, we always carefully pass the babies.

So their first week is over. I am much more healed now and its easier to care for them, and yet already I'm sad the week has gone by so quickly. The days are long, but the weeks are short--such is life eh? I suppose the only thing to do is to enjoy every minute of it.

They don't know it yet, but when they wake up from their little nap they are taking their first at home bath. Then we're meeting with the lactation consultant to help Rowan kick the formula habit. And then later this afternoon they are meeting with the photographer for their first professional pictures. Busy girls already.

Is this medicine or prepping for the south of france?

So we have had our first day at home, and as I thought it is going to take couple days to get the routine figured out. All in all, though, it isn't *that* bad. I only slightly feel like I am walking in a daze.

We had our first pediatric doctors visit, and they told us that little Ro-ro is in fact still jaundice (good thing, hate to think that my texas girl was yella) and that we have to have her eat as much as possible, and to try and expose her to filtered sunlight.

What? Doctors orders to hang outside? That is the type of medicine I LIKE!

Ro and Papa Mono (that is me) had a nice stroll to the neighborhood coffee shop, enjoyed the beautiful day and grabbed a paper so I could feed my crossword addiction. Moma Mono was waking up from her nap with Evy and we got the girls together for some thematic sun bathing. Sematic because below you can see the rocking mural that we have going in their room (thanks to hard work by Alex and Robert). You can tell that they are going to be fashionistas because of the synchronous pose!!

That is all for today, hope everyone else got some sunshine!

These feet were made for walking...

Well it has been a whirlwind 3 days, but there are just a couple of more doctors to see, papers to sign and then they release us. Like a beautiful bird, released from the sterile coop to go fly and see the world.

See the world from securely fastened baby seats, swaddled like a cocoon, and headed straight to the house to find a soothing routine there.

hrmph, guess Mrs. Mono was right when she said I might not be the best with analogies!

Keep an eye out on the blog, we are going to try and have visiting hours at the house (I think we might have over stimulated the twins yesterday, newbie parent mistakes), but till then - please know we would love to have people visit. Just be advised Papa Mono is instituting the following visiting commandments:

1. Thou Shall Not Visit if sick, or thou thinkest thy is sick
2. Thou Shall Call First
3. Thou Shall feel free to bribe the Parents with food or errand running!

Please don't be offended, but we are not expert parents (yet) so I would like to prolong the inevitability of simultaneous sick babies as long as possible. Also I would hate to be falling asleep when I was trying to host folk.

To end on an upper, thank you soooooo much for all the love and support of all our friends and family! It has been wonderful to read your replies and posts!

Rowan and Evelyn's Birth Story

I'm logged in as Mr. Mono, so let me start by saying this is the story of Rowan and Evelyn's birth told by Mrs. Monkey.

At 36 weeks, after a really bad case of PUPPS, our doctor, Dr. Uribe said we could be scheduled for an induction at the end of the following week. 37 weeks is full term for twins and we knew that both girls were doing quite well.

There is something wonderful about the word, "induction," as any pregnant mom can tell you, but as the day approached I began to get really nervous. Before I knew it, our big day was here. I could hardly sleep the last few days. Our two rather large baby girls had by this time perfected the art of the "double whammy." While one would head-butt my bladder the other one would simultaneously kick under my rib, with an occasional toe wedge between the ribs. So, needless to say, I was rather exhausted Thursday morning as we made our way to the hospital for our 7am appointment.

Checking into the hospital, I was relieved to not be in full-blown labor. We had pre-registered months ahead, yet there was still quite a bit of paperwork and questions. Anyhow, we settled into our labor and delivery room, met our wonderful nurse and began a pictocin drip to induce.

At about 8 or 9 my sister showed up. Apparently Starbucks was slow that day. Not that it mattered any to me. I couldn't eat or drink anything from midnight the previous night--so ice chips it was for me. I told her and Andre they could take their little bucky-wuckies outside if they wanted to eat. Apparently the pictocin was working.

Time went on and the contraction became more intense. Then they became more intense, then more intense and finally I asked the nurse the check how far along I was progressing. Surely with all this hard work and endurance I'd be...I don't know maybe 6cm dialated. Afterall, I was 3 cm when we arrived at the hospital that morning and several hours had passed and darn it--those contractions hurt. To my surprise and dismay, after all that time I had dialated a whopping 1/2 cm! Okay, that's just ridculous--lets bring out the epidural.

I do think that natural childbirth is a great thing and it works well for some women. If you can move around, use a birthing pool, or birthing ball. If you have a good birth or maybe its good genes...I don't know. What I did know was that I had three monitors strapped to me, various IV's and two big babies on the way. It just wasn't going to work.

I felt incredibly better once the epi took. My legs were numb, but not in a paralyzing way, closer to the way your mouth feels after novacain at the dentist. That sort of funny, drool all over yourself kind of way. So, now other people could eat in the room, Andre's incessant blogging became endearing, and my fear of childbirth melted away. I also started dialating faster. Before long I was 8 cm, and then without feeling a bit of pain I had made it to 10cm! Yay 10 cm, the glory!

The epidural hurt a bit going in. I could feel a very uncomfortable sensation when the medicine was put in, but it was okay. However, there appeared to be a kink in it somewhere and every once in a while the machine would indicate that it wasn't working. Another anasethiologist came in and for some reason the kink occurred when I layed in a particular position. My vertibrae seemed to prevent a good flow, but only occassionally.

Now was the time to start pushing. I pushed for an hour and half and Dr. Uribe checked me. Rowan's hair was starting to show, but she wasn't progressing down with the pushes. So, we could get a c-section, use a vacuum or foreceps, or keep pushing. Whatever we wanted to do. I decided to keep pushing. It was now evening and our nurse Rachel's shift was over. Another nurse, Dora came in to continue the pushing.

A half hour later Dr. Uribe checked again, yet Rowan wasn't budging. I decided at that time to go with the forecep option. Afterall, I was getting very tired, feeling more pain, pushing really hard and I still had another baby to push for too.

Oh wait, I was feeling more pain. Yes, in fact I had gradually been able to feel more of my legs, more of the contractions. Certainly, I needed more epidural medicine if I was going to the forecept stage. Andre looked at the epi bag and it was empty. How long it had been empty we didn't know because of all the problems we had had getting it to work. Now I was starting to really feel the contractions. The nurse ordered another bag, but it wasn't coming fast enough. I was in serious pain at this point. The kind of pain that makes you cry. The kind that makes your husband worry. The kind that makes you worry. They got the epidural bag, but now that kink just wasn't going to work. So on the operating table they took out one epidural and put in another one. This whole point in the labor was scary and painful and kind of blur now.

It was time to push again. Pushing is really quite difficult too. They tell you to curl in a C shape and push in sets of 3. I pushed and pushed. "We're almost done right? They're almost out?" Andre: "Yeah honey, just 5 more sets of pushing." "What!" And this is how it went for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually about an hour. Finally Rowan was almost there and Dr. Uribe was able to pull her out the rest of the way. I could feel her body pulled from mine with a sharp tug. Then the cry. That beautiful baby cry that tells you that everything is okay and everything is over.

Oh wait, its not over yet. Now for Evelyn. I'm told it took 30 minutes for Evey to come into this world, but let me say, that was the longest 30 minutes of my life. Finally, after 15 hours of labor, both girls were here.

The geekery continues..

Leigh has gotten some beautiful flowers, so I had to
break out the old flower arranging skills I had from
my youth (don't ask)


So turns out that when you birth children (or are the partner of a birther) they give you a handy dandy yellow sheet of photocopy that is supposed to act as your feeding/diaper/general baby contentment log.

That is not going to do, I wrote in two entries and my inner geek cracked. One simple spreadsheet later and I have a running log of feedings, what time, what side, duration, diaper changes, descriptions and general comments. I am sure that this might get jazzed up further, but I need to actually help and do said entry items...

Oh also I will be putting together a montage shot of all the wonderful visitors we have had, they helped break up a day of feeding, sleeping, and pooping. Though the baby wearing time was great for PaPa naps..

Forget about the Geneva Particle accelerator

Sure two Hawaiian scientists are convinced that turning on the Geneva Particle Accelerator will create a blackhole that will end our universe, but that aint nothing compared to our little Evelyn!! That girl is one giant suction/eating machine. I am convinced that being born second has given her a lil complex, she is bent and determined on out eating her sister.

Leigh has just mastered (gotten down at least once) the double football hold that should go a long ways to cooridnated breast feeding, which goes a long way to more sleep. (Shhh don't tell her, but she just fell asleep with both girls still munching away).

So that is good, just don't send this link to Walt Wagner of the Hawaii law suit...

Morning Report of Ro-ro and Evy

Good morning all, I have no idea how coherent I will be, running on 3 hours of sleep and some truly horrendous Hospital Coffee (Are they saving money by finding other was of reusing medical waste?).

The girls had a big night, while Rowan came right out of the starting blocks with a big hunger, Evelyn wins the prize for 1/2 hour of solid eating and then going to an angelic slumber. Ro-ro on the other hand was more of a foodie, taste-savor-relax-repeat. She would fall asleep on the teat, and when we tried to lay her down to sleep would wake up for more. Sigh, suddenly I see what my foodie-ness has wrought!

I will let Mrs. Mono relate the entire birthing story, I will just leave it at the basic facts:

1. started at 7am, done around 10pm. Total of 15hrs, 3hrs of pushing
2. Epidurals are god-sends, especially for twins (even if the first one fails, and you need a second at go time)
3. Foreceps are scary looking implements, but great when 15hrs have taken their energy toll
4. all signs point to fraternal twins
5. did I mention how horrible hospital coffee is?

That about does it for now, while we are at the hospital we are an all hours visiting situation, come on by! We are in room 214 of Seaton, snacks and good coffee/tea is welcome.

Little Rowan
"Ro-Ro, the Famously Finicky Foodie"















Little Evelyn
"Evy, Just Glad Ro isn't kicking me anymore"

Good night all, more tomorrow...

Well they are out, and Moma and I are plum tuckered out... I think this is the beginning of the joys of sleep deprivation. Thankfully, it is worth it every moment! We got some food into Leigh, she said "This is BEST tuna sandwich ever!"

More stats: Rowan was 19.5", Evelyn was 19.25" Leigh was a two epidural lady, and while no fun, definitely worth it if the 10 minutes after the first one blew out was any indication.

Thanks for hanging in with us for this very eventful day.

They're here!!!

21:05 Rowan enters the world, 6lbs1oz, APGAR 8-9
21:38 Evelyn entered fast on her sister's heels, 6lbs1oz, APGAR 8-9

Pictures coming in a while...
Rowan has the de laReza nose, Evelyn has Leigh's button nose and her chin.

Currently Rowan is nursing, and Evy is next...

Laura here...

Leigh is STILL PUSHING! And Andre is counting for her like a pro! They haven't gone back for "full delivery" yet, but I will keep you posted! (as directed!) Laura

pushing

9 times so far!!

A Whole lot of Yin in the Hizzy

So the matriarchs of the maternal lineage are all visiting the room. 3.5 generations in one room, we will call it a full four when we get a picture with the girls in it too.

And the latest verdict is that we have hit 10 cm, and a +2 at 6:02 pm.

We are on the home stretch now.

Da me un OCHO!!!

4:45pm: Ladies and Gentlemen, if you give your attention to the race track you will see Mrs. Mono fast coming along the curve. Heading into the home stretch! We might have these babies out within the 12 hour mark!

Ain't she Sweet?

"Please sir, may I have some more?" Not only are we rocking to the Itunes Beatle's Radio channel, but Leigh went from a tear ladden 10 on the pain scale, to blissfully napping after the epidural.

Now we are pretty crunchy for our families, and we were going to try and tough it out, but with twins it is more painful (was spiking hi pain at 3.5 cm) and more complicated if they have any issues with baby B.

So at 1:45pm, we got Dr. Kronoberg to give a very fine epidural, and all that pain went the wayside.

Yippee for 2008 medicine.

5cm-6cm dialated

all I got to say is that modern medicine is worth every penny...

Process so far..

Contractions are coming every 3-4 minutes, Leigh is doing a great job, one would never have thought that these girls were her first. Laura, Mrs. Mono's sister (see top), has showed up to lend support so that will be helpful.


Below is a picture where we are trying to recreate the old school process of childbirth... Don't fret, this is staged, I am giving Leigh my full support when she lets me :-D

First pics of the process

This is the room, Mrs Mono graciously allowed me to get coffee (in background) even though she isn't allowed anything stiffer than ice chips since midnight last night.

Oh, I have also been informed that my jokes are no longer funny... Good thing I have a decent poker face!

Pitocin on board

Checked in, met our nurse, and we started the magic labor drug that will start the show at 08:20am, 4/10/2008

Go Time!

Well we are off to Seaton Central, stay tuned for updates...

Rowan Elise and Evelyn Skye

Tomorrow we become parents. We're expected to arrive at the hospital at 7am tomorrow morning.

The twins are now 37 1/2 weeks and are considered full term for twins. Our doctor is estimating that they may be close to 6 1/2 pounds each. They were 5 pounds 9 oz and 5 pounds 14 oz at our last growth scan a few weeks ago. They are both head down and ready to go. Hopefully we'll be ready too. Its all incredibly overwhelming and we're going to need as much help as we can plead for. I think Andre is planning on creating some sort of visiting schedule for the girls, but I'm not entirely sure. He'll post details about the girls when the arrive and let you all know.

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli

That is what I imagine my little twin girls saying to each other. See, we are under the proverbial gun. If they don't come out on their own, we induce in seven days.

Very exciting news! I find myself telling it to everyone I come across, and while I don't know if the respiratory distress patient we ran on was *that* interested, they did offer congratulations.

The doctors estimate that they should weigh about 6.5lbs each when born, which means little chance of NICU time, and will most likely be headed home with us. I admit, that does scare me a little bit. I have next to no experience taking care of wee little ones for more than a couple of hours, now we will have two little lasses that will be dependent on me and Mrs. Mono. Whew, at least Mrs. Mono's experience will make up for any of my rookie mistakes!

So yeah, that little inner fear might have something to do with my mental image of my daughters wearing pinstripe suits, speaking in Italian accents, and debating between lethal weapons and yummy pastries...

First "Test Tube" Twins Turn 25

This is an article about the first twins conceived through in vitro 25 yrs ago.

First Test Tube Twins Turn 25 (click here)

The amount of medical advancement in this area is astounding. To think about how small the success rate was 25 years ago and what they can do today...wow, and they are advancing constantly. When we transferred two embryos the lab technician said they were on the verge of more advancements. They had already given me a valium so I'm not sure what those advancements are exactly, but it was impressive. Maybe Andre remembers.

The article said the average success rate today for in vitro is 30%, but our doctor's success rate was 60-70%. I can't imagine how much the science will advance in the next 25 years. Good on ya' science!!