Babies are a Handful

These babies are sure keeping us on our toes. They are still confusing their days and nights. They sleep like little angels during the day, but at night they want to be held constantly. I am once again praising our decision to bring the recliners with us to Okinawa because they allow us to hold both babies on our laps while sitting in them. The ability to do that makes it possible to feed a baby and keep the other baby from crying. My mom and Greg have been staying up at night with the babies so I can get some sleep. I'm still getting up every few hours to pump but the rest is essential for my survival, I don't know what I would do without my parents here. The girls are still having latching issues which to be fair was to be expected. They were born at 38 weeks, so they haven't even reached "full term" yet. I'm hoping there will be a huge turn around in the next week. Maybe they will start sleeping a little more at night and start latching a little better.

Gabriella has blossomed into a fantastic big sister, she can feed a baby then change their position (while supporting their neck) to burp them. She has the magical ability to entertain the babies even when they are in the throws of screaming. She loves to help and wants to be there every step of the way to offer assistance. Last night Greg, Gabriella, myself and the twins were laying in our bed. Gabriella was working on writing her first and last name for school, Greg was working a crossword puzzle and I was just enjoying the loving glow of a quiet family moment. It was in that moment that a little bit of peace came over me, an assurance that everything would be alright. I will survive this moment and the next, no matter how crazy or overwhelming the moment is, it will pass and the waters will calm again. I'm more confident today that this is possible than I was yesterday. I hope my confidence continues to grow each day.

Bathing Beauties

We gave the baby girls their first bath the other day. Gabriella was on hand to add her assistance and give suggestions. They have an adorable bath seat that makes it possible to bathe them in the bathtub. The girls both had a pretty pleasant experience with the exception of getting their hair washed. Neither liked the water being poured over their heads but they didn't cry, just cringe and try to move out of the spray of the washcloth. The baths were ridiculously quick in order to prevent the girls from getting cold. After toweling them off their hair was dried into a very spiky hairstyle. Next time I will get a picture of the hair. Please ignore the exhausted mother holding the babies in the above pictures, she hasn't had much sleep but on the upside she has taken a daily shower. There will be lots more baths in the coming weeks, we've already had a second one where Gabriella was the assistant, she is an excellent towel girl and baby distractor. I'm thinking of hiring her on as a permanent part of bath time.

Big Sister

Changes are happening all around in this house, lack of sleeping, new babies, everyone trying to learn the ropes with two new babies. Gabriella has moved into her role as big sister with ease and grace. She lovingly tickles and entertains the new arrivals whenever they happen to be awake. She's helped to feed them, change their diapers by handing out the wipes and of course comforting them when they are upset. Genevieve and Julia recognize Gabriella's voice when she walks into a room and they have graced her with quite a few smiles in the past few days. Trying to give Gabriella all the attention she needs gets a little challenging but her friends and my parents have really stepped up in helping her feel needed and important. Gabriella will start kindergarten in a few weeks and we've been gearing up all summer for riding the bus to school and meeting lots of new friends. We are so proud of her adjustment to these new changes and how she always looks to find the good in each new situation.

We've come a long way babies

For 30 weeks these little twins grew inside me. I found out they were twins at 8 weeks pregnant and they were born one day shy of 38 weeks. It's amazing to think back at the last 9 months, the vacations we took, the fun we've had and the preparations we made. These little ones have grown from the size of kidney beans to being almost 6 and 7 pounds. Now that they are out the adventure really begins. But lets take a look back and find out how we got this far.

It all begin with a blessing, that turned into two. The day of the ultrasound Greg was working the inpatient ward, he got pages in between the exam and the ultrasound. The midwife patiently waited for him to call back his last page before calling him back in the room for the internal ultrasound. As they were probing away I jokingly asked "there's only one in there, right?" well the response was a small flick of the wrist and the photo above appeared on screen. All I can say is it's a good thing I was laying down, because you could have knocked me over with a feather. We were not on fertility medication, twins don't really run in either of our families and it wasn't something I ever imagined was in the realm of possibilities. As I sat at the pharmacy waiting for my new set of prenatal vitamins I studied the ultrasound picture, trying to imagine what carrying and giving birth to twins would be like. Over the next few weeks, I picked a doctor, found out that having twins is considered "high risk" and I would get more ultrasounds and attend more appointments than someone carrying a singleton. I went to 21 doctors appointments which included ultrasounds at every visit with a few in depth measuring ultrasounds every 4 weeks or so and Non stress tests for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy. I have 10 ultrasounds pictures of these babies and now that I can see them in person, the grainy in utero pictures don't do them justice. Every appointment was met with a bit of apprehension, would they be growing ok, are the hearts still beating strongly and is there something happening that would cause them to come early. Lucky for us they were healthy throughout the whole pregnancy. We waited as long as we could to schedule the c-section in order to give the babies the best chance at staying out of the NICU. The day finally arrived and I headed to Labor and Delivery at 6:30 in the morning. I thought I'd be leaving Gabriella at home but she was up and excited so she went along with us. She and my dad waited in the waiting room while I got prepped for my section. Gabriella came in to tell me good luck and that she was excited to see the babies on the outside. I walked into the OR room and hoisted myself up on the table, my spinal block was put in place that the prepping began. I couldn't see anything or tell you how it felt because I was numb from the chest down and they had a curtain up. The doctor came in and then Greg did and they began to slice me open. Genevieve Catherine Montoya entered the world at 9:04 am and 40 seconds later Julia Grace Montoya followed. They are born in the same minute. They both cried and squealed which is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. I remember Gabriella's first cry at her c-section. The tears streamed down my face as Greg walked over to take pictures and see the beautiful new babies. There were two teams in the OR and they had the girls on either side of the room. Greg walked back and forth between the warming tables finding out the girls' Apgar scores, which were both 8 and 9, and counting their fingers and toes. The girls were taken off to the recovery room where they got to meet their grandmothers, grandfather and big sister. Greg went with them and I stayed where I was and got put back together. Everything went well and before I knew it I was wheeled into my room and was able to hold the babies for the very first time. I couldn't believe how different they were size wise. Genevieve was born at 6 lbs 13 oz while Julia was 5 lbs 15 oz. As of now we don't know if they are identical or not. While they look similar, the size difference makes it easy to tell them apart as do their personalities. The placenta was sent away to a lab for analysis and we will probably know something in a few weeks. If we really want something definitive we will have to send for a DNA kit. We spent the standard 3 days in the hospital and were released on Friday afternoon. Instead of hassling with the car and car seats we packed the girls into their double snap and go stroller and walked home with them. I won't say it's the easiest walk I've ever taken, but it was probably less painful than getting in and out of the car. All of us are doing well, the adjustment to life with two infants is hard but the smiles we get from the girls make the sleepless nights and ear piercing cries worth while. As I write this blog the girls are 5 days old and doing well. Julia is slightly jaundiced but nothing really to worry about. Genevieve is thriving although she doesn't like to sleep at night and is prone to long hours of screaming if not held. These are just a few of the millions of hurdles to come up in the coming months and years, but we will get over them. Thanks to all our friends for the wonderful support during this pregnancy, its success can be attributed to every prayer and good thought sent by those we love and who love us.

A return to me and the beginning of 3

Todays the big day. In a few hours I'll be heading to Labor and Delivery to get prepped for my c-section. In a few hours I'll no longer be carrying twins in my belly I'll have them in my arms. I think back on the past 38 weeks and wonder how I've made it this far. 2 weeks and 1 day from a full term pregnancy that if one looked at statistics should never had gone so smoothly. I credit the smoothness to lots of prayers to God, both on my own and from others on my behalf, a laid back approach to aches and pains which allowed me to overcome things without thinking too much into them and finally being too busy with my little girl to worry. In the beginning of this pregnancy I thought a lot about the future, what the babies would look like, how they would act, where they would sleep, etc. Towards the end I thought about each day as a kind of send off to our old life. Gabriella and I did a lot of special mommy/daughter activities because I knew it would be the last time we'd be able to do them so easily. I got wonderfully tan because I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the shade taking care of new babies. I ate a lot of tasty desserts and wonderfully spicy dishes because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to once the babies arrived. And here I sit at the precipice of a new life with no regrets about how I spent the last few months of the old one. I look forward to meeting these two new little Montoya's, I hope they are as beautiful and sweet as the little girl I already have, but if they aren't that's ok too. Lightning doesn't often strike twice. I never really wanted twins, by saying that I mean I never really imagined myself with twins with matching names when I was playing house. Now that they are almost here I will admit to having some anxiety about telling them apart and fostering a sense of individuality within each of them. I worry about being able to feed them at the same time, giving them and Gabriella enough attention. In a word I'm scared. Scared of the unknown and undetermined. But alone here in my kitchen when the unknowns swirl around me like a tornado I only need to look up because on the other side of the ceiling is a beautiful, well adjusted child who I've had 5 years to screw up and haven't yet. I'm hopeful I'll be just as lucky with these two.

A Special Occasion Dinner

August 7th is a very special day for the Montoya family. Firstly it's my birthday and secondly it's my in laws wedding anniversary. Since we were all together here in Okinawa we decided to celebrate the special occasion by going out to dinner at Sam's by the Sea. It's a favorite of American's for special dinners, they have a lot of fancy drinks and a very extensive menu. We enjoyed delicious meals including crab legs, lobster and steak, shrimp and steak and flaming filet mignon served on a sword. The whole place is an experience. The waitresses wear sailor suits and the whole interior looks like the inside of a ship. They even have a few birds inside and out to add to the ambiance. Gabriella's meal even included a drink in a skull with a cherry in the eye socket. We didn't choose Sam's only because the restaurant is great for special meals we also selected it because it shares a name with my father in law Sam. He posed with a few of the sailor suit clad waitresses as well as his lovely bride of 39 years. We all wore our Sam's by the Sea bibs and the restaurant even gave me a tea cup and saucer to celebrate my birthday. It was a lovely meal and everyone enjoyed their meals and conversation flowed as easily as the beverages.

Little Music Box Dancer

This summer Gabriella has really come into her own regarding her dancing. Her new class started in June and it's a combination of Jazz and Ballet. This summer she's learned the names of all her steps and the differences in the two dancing styles. The class is Saturday for an hour and although it's early Gabriella is still able to get her groove on. Over the course of the summer she's really improved her balance and ability to follow along when her teacher explains the dance moves. She does practice at home or in various store aisles while we are out and about. When ever music is on she happily practices. She's absolutely adorable when she's jazz walking around the house. I wonder if dance will become a lifelong pursuit, if not then I will continue to enjoy her dancing as long as I can.

10 Years of Magic

July 22nd marked our 10th wedding anniversary. Greg and I celebrated it with a wonderful dinner and a night out on the town. We started the evening with tepanyaki at Four Seasons steak house. I had lobster and steak while Greg had delicious Kobe and shrimp. The meal was great and we had a fantastic cook. Next stop was Cafe Nirai, where I partook in a few delicious sodas. The first was mint and the second was violet soda. Next stop was I's, Greg's favorite bar on the island. I haven't seen I since last year on our anniversary. I had spicy ginger ale and we told I and his wife Kaori that we were expecting twins, futogo in Japanese. They were both pleased for us and surprised at the news. The last stop was dessert at the Hearth Cafe. I had a delicious chocolate cake and some iced coffee. Greg had cheesecake which was a little on the dry side, but still tasty. The meals and sodas were so tasty and the night out as two adults celebrating 10 years of being married was priceless. Here's to another 10 years together.

Saying Goodbye to Friends

Military life has many ups and downs, there are lots of perks, like tax free grocery shopping, but also lots of hardships like saying good bye to friends. The military population on Okinawa is transient, people come and go all year long. This month we said goodbye to our sponsor family the Broom's. Rachel, Matt, Zach and Mallory were our first friends on the island and have definitely been our closest for the 2 years we've been here. It was bitter sweet to see them move on to their next duty station. I'm happy for them to return to the states, to have access to fancy grocery stores, organic food, to entertainment, fast internet and being close to family. But I still miss them terribly. Of course Gabriella misses her friends, we pass the Broom's old house and she always makes a remark about them being in Hawaii or moving to Virginia. She realizes they aren't coming back but has already made plans to visit them or have them visit us.