I made this blog to share the lives of our identical twin girls Chaya and Anjali, born on May 9, 2011. We are so happy to finally have our own little family, after 7 years of trying. After 2 cycles of intrauterine insemination, and 3 cycles of in vitro fertilization, we are proud parents at last!
My mom flew down almost a week before giving birth to the girls. We didn't know exactly when they would come, and I wanted her to be here while we were at the hospital, so I knew the dogs would be well taken care of. She's leaving in a few days, and boy will we miss having her here! She's been great, has helped us so much, doing pretty much all of the cooking, helping clean the house, running errands, helping take care of the dogs, and doing anything to help with the babies (helping me breastfeed both, changing diapers, waking them, dressing them, burping them),.. It has taken a BIG load off of us this whole month. Chaya and Anjali will surely miss having their grand-maman here! But good news is, my mom will be back in a few weeks, this time driving down here with my dad, and their dog. They will stay here for about 3 weeks, and do more traveling and visiting on their way down here, and back up north. We are looking forward to having them both here, my dad is very anxious and excited to see them in person! He's only seen them in photos and also when we spoke on Skype. MERCI BEAUCOUP grand-maman pour tout ton aide avec les petites!
Going out to dinner, 6 days before giving birth.
Delicious dinner cooked by my mom, few days before giving birth.
Yummy breakfast my mom made, day before giving birth.
At the hospital, morning of c-section.
Ready to go home with the babies!
Grand-maman with Anjali
Grand-Maman with her hands full!
Grand-Maman and sleeping Chaya
Grand-Maman trying to wake up Chaya by tickling her.
Some people have asked how the dogs were doing since the babies have been home.. well, the very first day we came home from the hospital, it was a big party! Willi was SO excited, to see mommy again, and to see and smell those cute little baby girls! He was a little TOO excited, and had trouble controlling himself. He's always loved babies and kids, but we had to watch him at first, he wanted to nibble on them and lick them all over. Bessie was also quite intrigued, she wanted to see them and sniff them. Adina didn't really show much interest. After that first day though, Willi has calmed down a lot, and everyone is now very comfortable around the babies. Willi sometimes comes running when one of the girls cry, to make sure everything's ok. He also sneaks in a lick or two on the girls' feet or head when he walks by. Bessie also likes to lick them sometimes, she mostly just likes to watch them if she's close by. Adina pretty much ignores the girls, she sometimes sniffs them if we're all on the couch. The dogs have been great, we knew they would be after a short period of adjustment!
Willi in the babies' room, keeping a watchful eye on them
Willi guardian of the crib
Chaya sleeping on Bessie
Prosanta showing one baby to Bessie
Chaya being introduced to Bessie, happy Willi behind
Doggies on the day we came home from the hospital
Willi in the living room
Family walk around the neighborhood
Happy Willi in the backyard
Coming home from the hospital, giving the dogs some attention
Went to our 2 week appointment at the pediatrician today. We were very anxious to find out Chaya and Anjali's current weights, hoping they had surpassed their birth weights. If so, we may not have to keep waking them every 2 hours to feed them anymore! It's been quite a challenge to keep up, very tiring to wake up so often, and work so hard to keep them awake while they feed!
GREAT NEWS, both girls now weigh more than their birth weights! Chaya weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces, and Anjali was 6 pounds 14 ounces! Still 5 ounces apart, both girls are growing very well, and do not need to feed as often anymore! YAHOOO!!!! You don't know how happy and excited that made mommy and daddy! Doctor says we can now let their feedings be up to 3 hours apart during the day, and up to 5 hours apart at night. She anticipates they will probably wake up every 2 to 3 hours for now, and eventually they may sleep a longer stretch of 4-5 hours towards the end of the night.
Daddy, mommy and grand-maman decided to bring the girlies on their first ever trip to the Red Stick farmers market this saturday morning! We loaded up the CR-V, brought the baby slings and headed downtown Baton Rouge. It was a beautiful warm sunny day in Louisiana, we didn't dress the babies too warm, since they would be nice and cozy in the baby slings. Daddy carried Chaya, mommy had Anjali. Boy do twin baby girls ever get LOTS of attention in public places!!!? I'm not sure who got more attention, Willi as a tiny little puppy, or Chaya and Anjali. We proudly showed off our little bundles to all the little ladies who showed some interest. People were also amazed that daddy was carrying one too... well, of course, who else would carry the other one?! Prosanta went and bought a hot tea at one point, with Chaya still in the sling, and he was walking back to our table with his tea in one hand, and a grocery bag full of produce in another. Then he started joking, and was saying "Aww... look at that wonderful daddy, carrying a hot tea over his baby's head! What a great daddy!" We all had lunch at the market, and then headed back home with LOTS of delicious fruits and vegetables.
Do I need to mention again how sleep deprivation makes you lose your mind? I have now mistaken a our 20 pound french bulldog for one of the babies, and also a pillow I like to hold in my arms. A few nights ago, my cell phone alarm went off (goes off every 2 hours for us to wake and feed the babies).. Mommy and daddy were still dozing off, not quite fully awake yet. I was holding a folded pillow in my arms, which I've done since being pregnant. I turned to daddy and mumbled something about having both girls with me. I did this twice in one night mind you, I was convinced I had both my girls in my arms, when in fact it was just a pillow. Later that same night, daddy kept joking about it to mommy, "My sweet little pillow babies... Here's your tiny little bottle!" We both started laughing uncontrollably and just couldn't stop. We still laugh about it a few days later.
At first, Chaya seemed to be enjoying her first bath ever, in their cute little whale bath tub. But after a little while she cried and seemed to want to get out of there. Anjali's first bath didn't go so well, she pretty much cried the whole time. Two days later though, when we tried baths again for the 2nd time, Anjali LOVED IT! In fact, she seemed to happy, relaxed and comfortable, I felt bad taking her out of there! She actually fell asleep, as I poured warm water all over her body, including over her head and face. What a good girl! Chaya also seemed to like being in her bath for the 2nd time, no crying! I'm looking forward to bringing them in our pool for the first time! Hopefully the water will warm up pretty soon! It's been quite hot here in Louisiana these past few weeks.
Anjali relaxing in her first bath ever, at first!
Anjali not really enjoying her first bath after all.
Chaya crying during her first bath.
Chaya wants to get out of her bath.
Chaya in her bath tub.
Anjali crying in her towel.
Mommy holding Chaya after her bath.
Chaya nice and relaxed in her hooded towel.
Grand-Maman holding Anjali after her bath outside (3rd bath).
