We are on the Same Momteam!

I remember when I was expecting Isla, I was looking forward to starting this newest chapter in my life and embraced all the ideas of what came with it- including adding a new circle of friends (new moms) to my already incredible network of gal pals. What happened was pretty much the opposite. Save for a few incredible co-moms, I found the world of motherhood to be a competitive war zone, filled with supposed allies who quickly turned into defected counterparts who seemed to have nothing in common with me and whose experience with motherhood was white-picket-perfect. Their babies didn’t cry, the mothers never felt blue, and nothing ever went wrong. I felt alone and like a failure, not only did I have seemingly nothing in common, but I clearly sucked as a mom. 

Ari’s Newborn Photos

As promised, here are some of my favourite shots from our shoot with Melissa this past weekend. Since she is so amazing, Melissa not only shot Ari, but allowed Isla her own private shoot too! Also,  keep your eyes peeled for a sneak peek at Ari’s nursery as well as Isla’s big girl room:

Home for a Month!

So by my calculation Ari was 12 weeks old this past Sunday making him officially 3 months old, however because I no longer have any good reason to keep track of the weeks I’ll start just going by the 22nd of every month- it evens out eventually anyway. This also means we’ve already had him home for a month- can you believe it? Time certainly does fly when you’re having fun. Apparently it also flies when you have a newborn, a toddler, and a life to live!

Tiny Footprints- Week 40!

Yes, today was my official due date. However, once I found out I was carrying twins I knew I’d never reach it so I never really cared about the date. Now that Ari is here it happens to be a very important date because it is the date used to calculate his corrected age. You see, preemies have their actual age (just shy of 3 months in Ari’s case) based on their birthdate and their corrected age which is their actual age minus how many weeks premature they were so in Ari’s case that’s 12 weeks-12 weeks=0. So, according to his corrected age it’s as if Ari was just born today. Corrected age is considered when looking at baby’s milestones- basically their premature time would have normally been spent in the tummy so cannot be considered developmental time. Apparently they give preemies up to two years corrected age for all their milestones to sort themselves out since the developmental pattern will be different than a full-term baby. I was warned by the hospital to always notify any health practitioner of both Ari’s dates since they will use one or the other depending on what they are looking at (ie. His booster shots are based on his actual age).

Homecoming King- Weeks 37 & 38

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Worse still, no I have not forgotten about any of you loyal readers or my blog. You know what happened? I officially have two children that’s what happened! Let me just confirm what some of you may already know- life with two is nuts! So crazy in fact that it makes you look back on life with one and wonder how you could have possibly found that difficult. That was a breeze! In fact I’d like to travel back in time with a letter to pre-two me would with the following tips:

No Place Like Home

The yellow brick road in our story was a long one with many bumps in the road including the pregnancy itself, losing Beau, and the long journey in the NICU, but I am so happy to report that we have finally come to the end of the road and are back in Kansas. Well, you know what I mean. 

Cuckoo for Car Seats

Written in real-time Sunday evening around 10pm:

As I write this Ari is just minutes away from his second car seat test. Yes second, he failed his first attempt. Before getting too ahead of ourselves allow me to update you on the last 24+ hours.

Weeks 35 & 36- Happy Two Months Ari!- Weeks 7 & 8 NICU

Let me start off by apologizing to my loyal readers for leaving you hanging for a week, however once you get through this post you may realize why I’ve been MIA.

Week 34: Growing Guy- Week 6 NICU

The highlight of this week is something I didn’t anticipate happening so quickly, but am so thrilled that it has- ready for this? Ari has already grown out of his preemie clothing! Seriously, this little man is going to need a new nickname soon because he’s not so little anymore! Before he outgrows it, here’s a positive reminder to my baby boy (and myself!):

Week 29- Life in the NICU- Week 1

What’s life like in the NICU? The answer to this is not a simple one, since each experience is very individual depending on the gestational age of the baby at the time of the birth, how “mature” the baby and all its parts are at birth, and if there are any complications. This post, therefore, will simply speak to life in the NICU from my perspective.