We're Big Girls!

Anyone who knows Melissa and me knows that we have had a couple of rough nights as of late.  The girls have been sleeping in our room in a bassinet and Graco Pack 'n Play Playard With Bassinet which has worked out so far but one night Natalie slept 5 hours so we decided to try out their cribs in their room.  It has been a couple of days and I must say that it has gone pretty well.  They both slept for 5-6 hours last night, much to the delight of mommy and daddy. This weekend I followed up their good nights sleep with having breakfast out on the porch with each of them, one a day.

Last Week In The Macke House

My Dad Holding Leah

Last week my parents came to visit and to see the babies.  It was nice to see them and they brought presents from everyone that had heard about our newest additions to the family!  My mom came in and got to hold one of the girls while the other girl was still sleeping.  My dad was tapped to take April on much needed walks (since the girls have shown up we haven't done much of anything except take care of them so April needed some loving).  My parents were a big help as they gave us some human interaction other than our own and they also went to the store and picked us up some groceries since our shelves were getting bare.  My mom also brought some food that she had pre-made and got ready for us to just pop in the oven!

This weekend we have started to venture out of the house with the girls.  This was something that was needed to start returning our lives to a sense of normalcy and to keep Melissa's sanity (she hasn't really gone out since she has been at home on bed rest and since she had the babies were born close 9 weeks).  We went to Target and Costco.  We didn't have anyone have a major meltdown or start screaming their heads off, which was good!  We did get a lot of stops and stares since we were using the dual stroller and people were like "I just have to look!"  We also went out to Babies R' Us to pick up a few items.  We picked up a couple more of something that I think is the greatest thing to have as a new parent Summer Infant Swaddleme Cotton Knit, Pink.  These things are great to keep your babies nice and snug and they help get them to sleep!

First day home

They really do not like their cute outfits! Who is this?  I want to say Hi!!!! Ready to go!

Yesterday, Melissa, Leah, and Natalie were discharged from the hospital.  I drove everyone home (I must say my driving has started to change already because of the new additions to the family) and Melissa went in first to see April.  April was ecstatic and when I brought the girls in she was anxious to see meet them and then the fun began.  We got all the bags from the hospital, luggage, etc into the house and then it was time for a feeding, changing, and napping for the girls. An hour and a half later :-) I was sent to CVS to get Melissa's pain meds, some other items, and then to Wendy's for dinner.  I drove all the way to CVS and got to the front counter to drop off the Rx and there was no script.  I panicked.  I called Melissa at home, waking her I'm sure and had to drive all the way home to look for myself since she didn't see it anywhere.  I got back to the house and couldn't find it so I had to to call the doctor's office to see if they could write another script for the pain meds (sure this sounded on the up and up :-/). As I am talking to the after hours receptionist explaining why I am calling she is taking all my info to have the OB on call check about writing another script and I said, "Nevermind, I just found the script under some burp cloths and a onesie."   The receptionist laughed and I headed back out to get the items needed. Later on that night, strong storms were headed into the area which made Melissa and I happy since we love good storms, however this one got out of hand!  Around 10:45 PM, the tornado siren, YES THE TORNADO SIREN, went off!!! I grabbed bottles and April, Melissa had the babies, and we headed into the master bathroom which was away from the windows.  We took the computer to see when it would be ok to come back out.  Luckily, the warning expired at 11:05 PM and we were able to head back to "sleep" - (I use the term sleep loosely since any new parents know "sleep" really means "nap") .  It was a jam packed day.

A Full Saturday!

Today was a full day. It started out with me headed out to Lunkin Airport to do my long run of the week. Every week I try and do a run that is longer than my previous week's long run and a lot longer than my regular runs during the week of 4 - 6 miles. I ran 8 miles last week so this week I shot for 9 miles. We have had a lot of snow last month and it has begun, after melting, to cause flooding. The airport has a track around it that has mile markers at every 1/2 mile. I started out and got to the 4 mile marker and was going to go around once completing 5 miles and then do 4 more miles. However when I got half way to the 4.5 mile maker I was greeted with the picture to the right. I decided to turn around and then just add a 3/4 mile on the other end. I finally got done with my run and headed back home to change and head out for an afternoon of shopping with Melissa. I got back to the house, showered, changed and we headed out. We stopped at McAlister's Deli for lunch. I love McAlister's because they have several meals that are under 500 calories for you to choose from and they are actually filling for me. I chose a chipotle chicken wrap and taco salad. They were good! We then headed out the Babies R'Us because they were having a Diapers sale that if you bought 2 boxes you would get a $20.00 gift card. After that we got a call from Melissa's friend from Buffalo who was coming in to visit us. She was bringing something that makes me very very happy. She was bringing us La Nova Pizza & Wings! We headed over to meet her on the other side of town and did our grocery shopping for the week and then called her and met her in the parking lot. She brought her grand-daughters who we met last time she was in town and they were great to hang out with. They remembered my car was yellow and saw a car in the parking lot and screamed, "I SEE HIM!" However, what they didn't realize was that we took Melissa's car and that we were not the car they thought we were. Melissa's friend, Sandy, brought us the Yummy Pizza, Wings, and also brought us a couple of gifts for the babies, some blankets, clothes, and bibs! We went home and Melissa needed a nap and I needed some PIZZA! I heated up the Pizza, Wings, and got out the Blue Cheese and Celery and had a nice relaxing evening watching some NCAA March Madness (Kansas, Villanova, New Mexico...Wait didn't I say relaxing)?

Multiples Class Shocks All!

Last night Melissa and I had a multiples class which was designed to prepare new parents of pending multiples for the potential that they could be born premature, they may be breach, and that they will need a lot more work than 1 baby.  It was a very informative class and did definitely give me something to think about and made me realize just how small babies could be born and still be healthy, happy, and perfectly normal.  To give you something to think about the picture to the right shows 2 items the item to the right is a premature baby's diaper and the black item to the left is my blackberry case!  I hope that our babies are born: healthy, happy, and they will definitely be well loved!

Garages, Baby Girls, Weight Struggles, & The Bed All To Myself

In preparation for the two baby girls coming we have made a few changes around the apartment:

• Melissa has started to sleep on the couch and I have the bed all to myself. I feel bad since I shouldn't be in the bedroom with the bed all to myself. If anyone should be sleeping on the couch, it should be me, however Melissa says that she is more comfortable on the couch. I guess if she is more comfortable I can sleep in the bedroom.
  
  
• We have started to clean out the spare bedroom and we started to rent a garage in the apartment complex that we live in to gain some more space. My goal is to try and get one of the cars in it and a lot of the boxes and plastic tubs full of our stuff.
  
  
• I have also started using Melissa's BodyBugg since she can't use it and I am trying hard to get back down to a more healthy weight. I am having a hard time since I don't have my partner with me but it's understandable as Melissa is carrying the babies. I am shooting for a 1,000 caloric deficit per day. I am going to run a Mini-Marathon before the babies are born. You can follow my training progress on my Twitter feed.
  
  

A Tale Of Two Daycares

The past Monday, Melissa and I took a half day from work and went to visit 2 day cares in preparation for the 2nd coming in June (some might have referred to them as our babies but that's what I am calling them :-)) The first one we went to seemed pretty nice. They had a very clean establishment. It was near a school so it seems safe. We talked to the lady who ran the infant room and she showed us around. We then went down and spoke to the directory who gave us the total for the 2 bebes (which by the way, OUCH)! As we were talking about the place the director's daughter was there talking about a set of twins that were at the daycare. She couldn't remember their last names so she yells to another girl, "Julie, do you remember what Colin and Hayden's last name is, remember the dad is really hot!" Melissa and I laughed and I am sure the director was turning several shades of red!

So we decided to go to another day care and just show up, we read in a book and saw it several places online that it's best to just show up so that you can see how directors handle things without planning. The director at this second day care took everything in stride. She pitched in in the infant room because it was nap time and one of the babies didn't want to rest on the floor by herself so she picked her up and rocked her back and forth. Now we were talking about the day care when all of a sudden we hear this THUD. We all said, "What was that?" We turned and looked in the 1 year old part of the room and one of the boys must have wanted to come over and say hi because he took a running start and ran into the door, he must have been trying to get our attention. We are not sure which one we are going to go with but I figured you would like to hear about the process.

Dude You Broke My Wife

Today was our second ultrasound. The doctor walked in and I said: “Dude, you broke my wife!” Everyone laughed and we started the procedure. He said everyone looks good, good size, and we even got to see the hearts beating. He said see this pulsating blob right here, that’s the first heart beating. He then showed us the second heart beating. It was so neat. Melissa and I looked at eachother and we were so happy. Melissa said that there had better be 2 babies in her stomach due to the sickness and sleepiness. I have told Melissa that I don’t care what we have, boy – boy, boy – girl, girl – girl as long as they are healthy. We added the US photo to the fridge, along with the other one. I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL THEY ARE BORN, I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THEM BEING HERE. The midnight feedings, long hours of no sleep, diapers, bottles, laundry, DOESN’T IT SOUND GREAT!

Two for One Special

Today, Melissa & I went to our first sonogram appointment at the doctor's office. Melissa had been trying to not get to excited in case something went wrong however I'll admit it, I was anxious and excited! The doctor asked, "How are we doing?" and I said "She is always hungry." to which he said, "Well, I can give you a couple of reasons why that is!” We both knew what that meant, TWINS! We were excited and stunned! I couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. Check out the sonogram piture and you can see 2 dark blobs signifying two babies. We called our parents to tell them the good news and went to have breakfast to celebrate. I was a space cadet the rest of the day. Melissa and I are so happy we have been blessed with this gift. We'll keep you informed!