Last day to vote!!

**UPDATE** :( Not in the top 20, but with 5500 other cute kids not a shock...I do however think mine still are the cutest!!

Well chances are not good with 5000 other cute kids but today is the last day to vote if you want to vote again!!
http://cutestkid.vibemorningshow.com/showcase/View.aspx?ID=141983

Happy Conception Day!

Happy Conception Day Blake and Leah!! It may seem a little strange to publicly acknowledge the babies conception day but I figure there was nothing private or intimate about the way these 2 were conceived, heck there was a handful of people in the room...so why not just celebrate the miracle that they are!!!

(Parent discretion advised!!)

One year ago today was our Egg retrieval. Up to this point I had been sniffing a supressant several times a day and doing daily injections that I gave myself in the stomach for the past several weeks, plus going to 7am ultrasound and blood draw appointments every morning that I even had to drag Alyssa too....Because of my PCOS things were a little wonky and we went back and forth one day we had good news, the next it was aweful news...I had 37 follicles and because I had so many, my Estrodial levels were very high which put me at risk for ovarian hyperstimulation Ohss can have some serious side effects and we were very close to cancelling the whole cycle because of it...

In the end we ended up having 37 follicles, which I might add is a very high amount, thats what happens with PCOS you make a lot of small crappy quality eggs instead of fewer, better quality ones...my ovaries were the size of large oranges and extremely tender...31 of the follicles contained eggs...19 of which were mature eggs...I was awake for the whole egg retrival, you could watch on the flat screen monitor tas they placed the eggs into the petri-dish...despite my Dr's claim of Egg Retrieval not being too bad...I found it to be pretty horrible, my poor oversized tender ovaries being poked with a needle 37 times... I was on an IV concoction of  Fentanyl ,Gravol and some other thing I can't remember but it really seemed to do nothing as far as I was concerned.
After it was over I stayed in recovery for a  few hours and wasn't feeling well at all...My heart rate dropped down to 40bpm and my Blood pressure was also very low...I blacked out and did lose my hearing for a bit..I had a few bags of IV fluid and some cookies and juice until things improved and then off home we went....I felt pretty horrible the next few days, I did end up with a a mild case of OHSS...I couldn't breathe and spent the next few nights sleeping sitting up..I was so bloated with fluid that I looked like I was pregnant already...OHSS tends to be worse if you do end up pregnant.

The eggs were left overnight in the petri dish with the "boys", they joke that they turn down the lights and turn on some nice music..haha...In the morning we got the call that we had 12 fertilized Embryos!! Great news!!!

Now I couldn't wait to see how they were doing through the night. The next morning I was anxiously awaiting the call from the embryologist, I got the call at 10am that ALL of our Embryos were of poor quality with lots of fragmentation and there would likely not be any left to freeze and that the "ONE" embryo we planned to implant 5 days later likely wouldn't survive that long and that we had better do it on Day 3 instead...I was heartbroken and devistated that we started with 37 follicles and now we might not end up with any?!!? The thought was inconceivable and feeling aweful because of the OHSS, I cried all day to Kirk that I was NOT going through this again...

Once again the embryologist called the next morning, this time with slightly better news....We were down to 8 embryos that were still growing but 2 had become better quality and were 4 cell embryos at that point...they still had some fragmentation and because of my PCOS the outer shell was really hard and that we needed to consider doing assisted hatching...We decided to do the assisted hatching, because of the quality issues and because we were doing a 3 day transfer instead of a 5 day transer (5 day transfers have better success rate) we decided to transfer 2 embryos the following day...

April 22, 2009 we went into transfer our 2, 8 celled embryos...My Dr said we had a 70% that we would achieve a pregnancy and a 40% that both would implant and we would end up with twins...The picture above is the actual picture of the embryos the morning we transferred them back...you can see the 8 cells in the middle and the smaller looking cells is what they call fragmentation...you can also see the shell around the outside of the cells which is what they poked a hole into to help them hatch...the cells come out of this shell to implant...The tiny black dots around the shells are the "loser boy" sperms still trying to get into the egg 3 days later...

I fell so in love with these 2 embryos from the moment I saw this picture, I slept with it every night and talked to them everynight for them to stick and be my take home babies...I can't imagine only having one of them now...We still have 6 more little fighter embryos that made it to freeze...I have an attachment to them like I did to these 2, and I think that is why it is hard for me to admit that our family is complete...

One year ago I was praying for these babies and today we hold them in our arms...Our little Miracles...

Babies Check up..

So I was a bit off on their weights...we had an appointment today at the pedictrician..First holy smokes it took FOREVER to get all 3 ready and out the door by myself..I was going to drop Alyssa off at Momma Leanna's but when we got their she said she really wanted to come with me...So I took her...There you have it first solo outing and we mangaged just fine...

Anywho, Leah weighed in at 10 pounds 5oz and 57.5cms long which is 22.5"...that is about a whole pound smaller than I guessed she would be...Blake was 10 pounds 2oz and 57.5cm  (22.5") which is maybe 1/2 pound smaller than I thought

None the less the pedicitrician was satisfied with their growth on the curve...Infact they have moved from 3% to 10% based off of their adjusted age of 3 months, so thats good...Basically what that means is 90% of babies at 3 months old will be larger than them and less than 10% will be smaller...Thats really all it means but they are perfect for them and thats all we care about...Usually by the end of their first year they should be almost caught up to their proper age...

Thats it, just wanted to post about their weights since its been about 3 weeks...

Oh wait one cute Alyssa story...yesterday after I fed the babies I came down with her to get her a snack...She looks at me and said "You do everything" I said what do you mean? She replied "You take good care of of everything for me and Leah and Blake and Oscar and my dad, thats what my mean"

I mean really how cute is that! Makes it all worth it! Also, if you have voted for the babies for the contest THANKS!! If you feel like voting again, that would be great, however I think its a futile point now..there are about 2800 other people in Calgary that think their babies are the cutest..pfffttt I still keep voting though, surely someone out there will notice my 1 million votes for my own children

On our own...

So my nanny Julie quit! Why? Who knows...Maybe it was the 4 hour daily commute, maybe it was her doing mostly housework, maybe it was because I was home all day to watch her every move, maybe she was a bit lazy..In the end I don't really care!

I've enjoyed the past week at home with the munchkins all to myself...Some days I feel like the picture above, but I've been given a renewed sense of  I CAN DO THIS MYSELF and have actually been enjoying the challenge of keeping up with things on my own...I think I am almost brave enough to have an outing with the 3 kids myselfs too..whats the worse that could happen? All 3 melt down at the same time? Well bring it on! It happens at home ona daily basis so its certainly nothing new..the hardest part would be getting out of the house in timely fashion...The babies are doing a really great job of breastfeeding lately so I would nurse them if I needed too, anyways I think I'll try it soon! I think for now I'll hire a cleaning lady and maybe just some part time/occasional help through the week so I can go get groceries or take Alyssa somewhere fun.

Everyone is doing really great, babies are growing like crazy..they haven't been weighed for a few weeks but I'm thinking Leah has to be 11-12 pounds and Blake around 11 maybe?! Funny thing I went back and went through Alyssa's blog the other day (Christine you are right, it IS fun to go back and re-read it!) and Alyssa at 12 weeks was 12 pounds 4 oz and 22" long...The twins corrected age is about 3 months so they are almost exactly where Alyssa was at this age!! That means we are on track for 2 more chunky babies!! Woohoo!

Easter was great we had a lot of fun...We had dinner at Auntie Ronda's on the Saturday and Dinner at Momma Leanna's on Sunday...Aunt Wendy finally got to meet the twins! Sadly we forgot our camera so I don't have any pictures...Aunt Wendy did email me some I'll have to save and upload..but for now I don't have the pictures handy...

The Easter buuny hid eggs all over our house and Alyssa was so exciting to collect them as she went around the house...There was about 45 eggs and she will remember which colored egg was where...

Checking out what the Easter bunny left her and the babies

Carrying her stash

Here are just some new randoms of my pipsqueaks

Leah in her morning garb...she sleeps with socks on her hands, otherwise they get too cold!

Little Blake has been such a little sweetpea lately..he is just so smiley and as long as he's being snuggled he's just a happy little guy

Mommy and baby boy...he gets to eat dinner with me everynight...he always seems to need extra snuggles at that time of day

Alyssa scrubbing clean! Bet she'll hate this picture later on!

Leah out cold after dinner

The little buddies hanging out together watching their aquarium...

Blake has started sucking his thumb...so cute!

Just some cute ones from today...They are almost moving onto 3-6 months stuff from the newborn and 0-3 months stuff..sniff sniff...Always makes me sad to see how fast they are growing up. They are giggling now too, Alyssa was making Blake laugh yesterday just by talking to him..I love it!

Click on this picture here, you can really see here how different they actually look...Skin tone, eye color everything really!

Alyssa and Leah...aww they love each other!

Cutest Baby in Calgary Contest!!

**Edited to Add** I think maybe you CAN vote more than once so VOTE as much as you can!!

"Why must you wear that silly hat?"


Since I think my babies are the cutest babies in Calgary, I have entered them into The cutest baby in Calgary contest put on by local radio station...I have submitted this photo and need your help for them to win!!

The Grand prize is worth $45,000 and I want to WIN!!!

The grand prize is a trip for 4 to Disneyland (we're 5 but i'll let it slide!)
A brand new 2010 RV Trailer,
$5000 RESP Education fund,
A custom built play structure
$5000 of food at M&M's, a
$5000 photo package,
$2500 shopping spree at a toy store
Family pass to Calway park...

To vote for our little beauties, go to this link:
http://cutestkid.vibemorningshow.com/showcase/View.aspx?ID=141983

And rate them a 10...I'll give some props out to the other kids since there are some cuties on there but I really think mine are the cutest ;)

SO GO VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!! Contest ends April 22 but DO IT NOW so you don't forget....Send this to your friends and family so they can vote too!! Since its a local contest there is a real shot at winning...

Happy 5 months!!

Just a quickie to say Happy 5 months to my twinkies!!! I just can't believe they are 5 months old, its crazy...and they are still so New baby like its really felt like I've had tiny babies forever...they are both right around the 10 pound mark now, almost 4 times their birth weight which is really hard to believe...

I have some great pictures from Easter I'll share soon...Hope everyone had a great long weekend!