A Cup of Spoiled Milk

So we've been on a bit of a hiatus.  In truth, life got the best of me and I just couldn't find time to tell our tale.  However it has been quite an exciting time.  I'll try to play catch up over time (maybe) but to fill everyone in - on May 12th, 2014 we went from a family of 3 to a family of 5.  That's right - twins.  Identical girls, nonetheless.  And so I've spent the past 12 weeks on my maternity leave and thought that now would be the time to share our time with you.

So I was a planned Cesarean - not my idea of an ideal birth but baby A was stubborn and remained breech for the entire end of my pregnancy.  The day prior to my scheduled CSection (yes I made it all the way to 37 weeks) I decided to have Jacob paint my belly. It was an extraordinarily large canvas and I thought that he would enjoy doing it.

Of course, being an obstetrician, I had to put my creative juices to work and accurately depict the position of these girls.

So here we are the morning of May 12th.  For those of you that think that being an obstetrician made this process easier you are 100% wrong.  I was afraid every day of this pregnancy knowing what I know and having seen patients before me deliver prematurely.  The day I found out that we were having twins (I was about 6 weeks pregnant) I hoped that Will Smith would show up with his mind erasing taser and I could proceed through the next 9 months blissfully ignorant.  But he never showed up.  And we made it to the end.

I'll be honest - I was not your most compliant patient.  And when it came time to my spinal I threatened the anesthesiologists that I would aim my vomit on his shoes if he allowed me to vomit in the OR.  I cried during the time out while laying on the operating room table and offered to dictate the case while it was being done since I could picture exactly what they were doing (how gross).  But in the end...

Ryan Anh was born at 1218pm, 5lbs 15oz and 20 inches long, and...

Ava Mai followed shortly thereafter at 1219pm, 6lbs 11oz and 18 1/2 inches long.

We were truly blessed

and so began the next chapter in our lives.

Jacob loved his baby sisters from the beginning.  I was definitely worried about what his reaction would be to them, if he would be angry at me, angry at them, indifferent, etc.  But he asked to hold one of them and then when he decided it was time to go for a walk he realized that there was a second baby and said "I hold other baby?"

So here we are a family of 5.  By no means has this been an easy transition.  I remember my mom always telling me that going from 1 to 2 was the hardest transition.  What about 1 to 3?  These have been the hardest 12 weeks of my life.  Some days I just want to cry - maybe from sheer exhaustion, or from frank defiance by a 2 year old, or just outright frustration that everyone can't be happy (or sleeping) all at the same time.  Some days I look around my house and wonder if there will ever be any sense of order again.  And some days I wonder where that cup of milk went that I gave jacob for breakfast, only to have it resurface a few days later in the refrigerator of the toy kitchen.  But every day I am thankful for the beautiful family that Khoa and I have created and we are forced to laugh about the cup of spoiled milk.

Cousin Hudson and My Daddy's Day

What an exciting weekend.  Mommy and Daddy drove me to New York for Father’s day weekend.  We got to Gammie and Grandpa’s house very late Friday night (actually Mommy said that it was already Saturday morning).  I only knew that it was just in time for me to eat and then sleep.  Saturday morning I woke up and finally got to meet my cousin Hudson.  Gammie and Grandpa were so excited for us to meet.  They even invited the Paparazzi to our first meeting.

Look at my mommy making silly faces at Hudson.

My Aunt Lindsay loves me so much.

My Daddy was holding Hudson like this earlier in the day and Hudson had a sneak attack right into Daddy’s hands (we planned it together – I’ve been teaching him all of my secrets).  This was Hudson’s second outfit for the day!

Look at how happy Grandpa is here!  He’s been waiting for this picture ever since cousin Hudson was born.

Gammie also wanted in on this picture.

The photo session was going on and on and on and finally I just got bored with it.

Mommy told me no more yawning in her pictures, otherwise she was going to eat my face. 

That silly mommy!!

And then the finale – Hudson and I got to take a picture by ourselves. 

Thank goodness I was sitting next to Hudson, otherwise he would have fallen over.

Now Hudson lives in Manhattan, and even though I live in Western Pennsylvania with Mommy and Daddy, Mommy still says that I am a bit of a New Yorker.  So Hudson, pay close attention to what you do with your fingers when the taxi drivers cut daddy off in the car.

Grandma and Poppie came to visit too.  We played a trick on them.  Uncle Adam was holding me and Grandpa was holding Hudson and Grandma and Poppie were so confused – they didn’t know who was who.

Look at how strong I am!

Don’t worry cousin Hudson – you’ll be strong like me one day.  You’re still just a baby.

And then it was Daddy’s day.  I was so excited to give daddy my present.  Mommy helped me with it.  I bought him a case for his iPhone with my picture on it.  And then he got me dressed in my special outfit…

Aunt Morgan came over and gave me lots and lots of kisses.

Daddy and I had a great day.

I got to meet my Aunt Dawn, Uncle Mark, Brooke, Fallon and her boyfriend Mark.

Aunt Morgan wanted a picture with Hudson and I, but we just weren’t in the mood.

Gammie’s friend Anna came by to play with me too.

We sang Happy Anniversary to Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Adam

And Happy Birthday to Grandpa Jay

It was very sunny out so Aunt Morgan let me borrow her sunglasses

Daddy helped me to practice my bow.

Look at how much my daddy loves me.

I also got to spend time with Aunt Laura, Uncle Neil, cousins Tyler, Ali and Jackie, Uncle Bob and cousin Eric.

Mommy was so happy to be home spending time with family.  She was also so happy for my Daddy’s first Father’s day.

That same day I started to laugh for the first time.  I had been saving it up for more than 3 months.  Daddy just kept tickling me and I just couldn’t help myself.  Mommy was so surprised that she couldn’t move to get her camera so you will all have to wait to see me giggle. 

Happy Father’s Day Daddy!  I love you so much!