Twins Growing Out of Control Now!

Hard to believe that the twins just passed the 15 month mark. Not a day goes by without them entered into unchartered waters. Last week Grace learned how to give kisses (with a wide open mouth ... still working on the peck on the lips), Darien learned how to open up the toilet lid, open all of the doors in our house, turn a roll of toilet paper into confetti, and more. Everyday is the same routine: wake up, eat, get ALL of their toys out of the bin, deposit them in random places throughout the house, eat, nap, take all of the tupperware out of the cabinet, make a run for the bathroom to see if they can sneak in when mommy's not watching, eat, see daddy when he gets home from work, play steamroller, monster, and disco dancing, eat, bottle, pajamas, lay down with daddy for a half hour while drinking said bottle, in the crib (with daddy sneaking out of the room on all fours so he's not seen). Each night, at 2 AM and 6 AM ... bottle and diaper changes. Then repeat the whole cycle over again. It's our hope that they'll sleep all the way through the night without the need for mid-air milk refueling, but mommy and I can't bear their midnight cries - yeah, we're softies.

Here is a picture of Darien and Grace at Christmas time!

It's a Miracle - Twins Reach First Birthday

I can't believe a whole year has past since I started this blog for Darien and Grace. The two little miracles have grown like weeds the past 3 months and are developing into little people! They both crawl all around the house, pull themselves up into a standing position on everything, and they get their hands on everything they can - pots, pans, tupperware, toasters, refrigerators (see below), ... you name it, they touch it. Just last week I turned on my shower to allow it a minute to heat up, and by the time I came back little Darien had crawled into the master bathroom, opened the shower door, and crawled into the shower itself. When I came back a minute later, he was soaked! I laughed so hard, took a cute picture (or two), and thought to myself ... "It's starting!" Now, you can't take your eye off of these two for 2 seconds or they'll find their way into some trouble! So cute, but oh so high maintenance!

Twins Enjoying the Summer

This summer has been a blast with the twins. Now that the weather is nice and warm, Darien and Grace have enjoyed many outdoor activities with Debbie and I. We take them for bike rides in their new Chariot, we take them to the park, to the swimming pool, and other fun spots. Grace just started crawling yesterday and Darien began "army" crawling a few weeks ago. They have very funny personalities now - they always try to make people (and each other) laugh by making raspberries with their lips and funny grunts. Grace is starting to grow some serious hair now, and Darien's scalp is completely full of brown curly hair. They are so pleasant to be around (except for bed-time) and they should be walking and saying "no" by the next time I post!

Where Does the Time Go?

I can't believe nearly four months have passed since my last entry in the Baby Blog! Let me rewind back to where I left off and give you a little travelogue of how we made it to April 2006.

December was a great month! We took the twins to get their pictures take for our 2005 edition of the Oborn Family Christmas Cards which also doubled as birth announcements. They looked so cute!

We did our best to keep the little guys warm and we enjoyed spending Christmas with Debbie's family here in Utah.

January started out with a trip to the emergency room for Darien. He came down with a fever, runny nose, and then he developed this terrible sounding cough. We tried to keep him hydrated but his cough turned into wheezing and soon he had trouble breathing. I suspected RSV, so to the hospital we went at 11:59 PM on Friday night. The ER physicians ran a few tests and sure as can be, our little boy had come down with RSV. They immediately admitted him and hooked him up to oxygen so that his clogged lungs could get enough oxygen into his blood stream. The next 3 days were filled with suctioning of his lungs and trachea, constant oxygen lines to his nose, and little sleep for dad - who stayed by his bedside all but 8 hours of his three day hospital weekend. The good news was that only one of the twins came down with RSV. The only thing worse than a baby with RSV is 2 babies with RSV.

Soon after Darien came home, both him a Grace started sleeping 8 hours at night for the first time. Boy were Debbie and I relieved! Nighttime has now been much more peaceful and mommy and daddy are getting enough sleep to actually function somewhat normally.

In March we blessed the twins in the LDS Church. Many relatives came and we had a great time at our house afterwards for the post-blessing party.

Now, as we head into Spring, the babies will start to actually see what the outdoors look like. It has been really cold in Utah since late October (when they were born). Darien is now tipping the scales at 21 lbs and Grace is still a ways behind at 16 lbs. They recently figured out how to make raspberries with their mouths (blowing out your mouth with your tongue stuck out) and they are begriming to roll over and do other semi-coordinated movements. Here is a recent picture of the two:

More to come soon!

November in the Books

On November 1, around 3AM as I sat feeding the babies I thought to myself: If I can just get through November ...

Well, here we are in the beginning of December with November in the rear-view mirror. The babies have done remarkably well in November. Each has gained almost 3 pounds from their birth weight. Darien is approaching 10 lbs. and Grace is gaining a little slower (which is good considering she is a little princess) at 8 lbs.





The twins are also starting to develop little personalities too. Grace is curious, and likes to stare at the ceiling with her gorgeous blue eyes. Just before she goes to sleep after a bottle, she'll smile - melting my heart. DP is also a sweet little boy (again, assuming he's not hungry, in which case he snorts and lets out a blood-curling shriek that let's you know without question that it's time to eat). They both make this funny 'beep' sound too - every time they do it Debbie and I laugh.

The real challenge thus far has been keeping their nostrils clean - with such dry Utah air their sinuses are constantly clogged. We purchased a humidifier and implemented some ideas from WebMD.com (love that site now more than ever). They are now breathing better (not perfect) and getting better sleep. Ah, sleep... the next challenge. Debbie and I have had to revert to sleep cycles, where one of us goes downstairs to a guest room (piece and quiet) to sleep while the other one looks after the twins. Right now, I'm sleeping from 7 PM to 2 AM, and Debbie sleeps from 2 AM to 9 AM. We've found that it's better to get some uninterrupted sleep than for both of us to toil with a child and get 3 2-hour naps during the night.

Hopefully, the twins will start sleeping longer than 2 hours after each bottle. Darien has already increased his capacity to 5 oz and Grace is up to 4 oz - which we hope will translate into longer naps. It hasn't happened yet, but everything we read and everyone we talk to says that after six weeks we should start to see the change.

Lastly, we hired a part-time babysitter - Meagan Smart - to help Debbie with the kids during the mornings so that she can actually run errands, do laundry, and maintain the house. Meagan used to baby sit Gale's kids when they lived up here a few years ago and she did (and continues to do) a fantastic job. I'm so grateful my sister gave us that recommendation because we don't know many people in day care here in Utah since we are so new, and we really needed the help.

Week 2 - Trying to Figure this Fatherhood Thing Out

Trying to 'figure out' your new children is an interesting and challenging experience for us rookies. However, now that we are through the first two weeks, we seem to have them somewhat figured out; Darien is all about his food - don't mess with this bottle and he'll be a good boy. Grace is more polite - she'll give you a fair amount of warning that her stomach is getting close to empty and that she'd appreciate it if you could get a new bottle for her soon. Grace's problem is that her little stomach can keep her milk down and requires constant burping so she doesn't spit up. Darien is a man about his food and isn't about to let any go to waste - he rarely spits up and is good with just one big burp. Both of them are eating around 3 oz. of Infamil and go through 8 diapers each per day. The real humor in this is that I know it's just going to get worse - more cans of Infamil and more diapers.

On October 30, Debbie's sister Joni came to visit us from New York. She brought with her some really cute 'New York' outfits that we adore. Here are pictures for Darien and Grace a la New York City:

Day 5 - The Architect Pays Us a Visit

Tonight we received a visit from Dr. David Richards, the infertility doctor who created our two little babies in the lab. He is a very fun person to be around and he shared with our family some of the things he looks for in an embryo (oxygen level, cell alignment, etc.) I am very happy to know that Darien and Grace have the best possible DNA from both Debbie and I, as they were chosen from over a dozen other possibilities. Dr. Richards is an expert in giving people like us the best chance to conceive, and we'll be forever grateful for his talent and knowledge.

Day 4 - A Few Bumps in the Road

Day 4 started out with a doctors appointment, which seemed innocent enough. What I didn't know going in is that the babies blood was cleaned in-utero by the placenta and now both of my babies livers needed to 'jump start'. One sign that their little livers aren't keeping up with demand is a build up of bilirubin that causes their skin to turn yellow. Both Grace and Darien began to pick up a yellowish tint and the pediatrician sent us straight to the hopsital for blood work. The results showed that Grace was high, but not in danger. Darien on the other hand did have high amounts of bilirubin and was prescribed 24 hours in the 'light box'.



He spent the next 24 hours in the light box, only coming out for food and diaper changes. He was visibly uncomfortable and I laid by him the entire night, trying to readjust the cloth that kept the light out of his eyes. The night was very long and very stressful. I did all I could to keep him in there as long as possible so that the light could work through his skin to break down the bilirubin and get it to a level that his liver could support.

The next day Darien was tested and his level came down from 13.8 to 11.9, well within the 'safe' range for his age (still measured in hours). I was relieved, but it was very difficult forcing my son to be in so much discomfort. Only the knowledge that it was for his own good and the love that I have for him allowed me to keep him in there all those hours without taking him out - which would have been the path of least resistance I assure you. I learned a vital lesson of being a father and what it is like to see your kids in pain. My own life now is far less valuable to me than that of my kids - there is no sacrifice too great or too costly that I would be happy to do for them both.