abbababy

That biggest of baby milestones is here. Rowan and Daniel are one year old today. We had a big party for them yesterday (because who wants to come to a party on a Monday afternoon?). It was a glorious autumn day. About 30 people showed up. There was lots of food, baloons, presents and -- need you ask? -- cake.

Daddy baked three cakes: a chocolate cake in the shape of a lion for Daniel, a carrot cake with an explosion of lollypops for Rowan, and for our friend Shaun James-Nielsen who shares a birthday with the twins, a white wine cake with chocolate frosting. The boys were absolute angels on their special day. "C'est parce que ils sont bien elévée,"* observed one of the ladies present.
That was nice to hear, but we suspect it's really because they're just naturally sweet-natured boys. So shed a tear and say good-bye to our little babies. Daniel and Rowan are officially toddlers now.

Daddy (a.k.a Tim)

* "It's because they've been raised well."

Labels: birthday

The boys are eleven months old now -- and we've got milestones. On August 26, Daniel cut his first tooth. Then, on Thursday, September 6, he took his first real steps. While Morley and I were playing with the twins, Daniel was cruising around, holding on to the wall for support. All of a sudden, he let go of the wall and toddled toward us with five very careful Frankenstein steps. The best part of it is that we were both there to see it. Daniel is now 9.3 kg (20 lbs 7 oz) and has a wild mop of curly hair. He's unusually sociable and a shameless flirt.

Rowan is developing at his own pace. He is unlike Daniel in every way. Whereas Daniel has been crawling everywhere for two months now, Rowan had steadfastly refused to crawl, preferring to cruise, either holding on to furniture or to our hands. He just loves to be standing up, so it's odd that Daniel would be the first to walk. In the past few days, Rowan has figured how to get around by scooting on his bottom, but mostly he stays put if he has nothing within arms' reach to pull himself up with. He gnaws on everything (including our stone walls), but still no sign of teeth. Rowan is enthusiastic, affectionate and stunningly beautiful. He's 8.9 kg (19 lbs 9 oz) with straight blond hair, and is less outgoing than his brother. Right now, he's going through a "daddy's boy" phase, which just melts his daddy's heart.

Daddy (a.k.a. Tim)

In about another week, Rowan and Daniel will be 9 months old. We've been back in France since the first of May and the boys are loving it here. Daniel is now 8.8 kg (19 lbs 6 oz) and Rowan is 8.1 kg (17 lbs 13 oz). No teeth yet, but Daniel is crawling and Rowan is itching to get up and run. The boys are getting more handsome every day. Even better -- for the past three weeks, they've been sleeping through the night! No more getting up two or three times in the dead of night to calm/feed/change a crying baby. Wow. Abba and Daddy are so happy that we're all able to get a full night's rest.

The boys had their 4-month pediatrician visit last week and were not very happy with their second round of vaccinations. Daniel now weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces (6.06 kg) and is 23 inches (58 cm) tall. Rowan weighs 12 pounds 9 ounces (5.71 kg) and is 22-1/2 inches (57 cm) tall. That's still much smaller than average, but considering they were a month premature, they're growing exceptionally well. Now that we've started introducing solid food into their diet, they'll probably explode any day now.

Rowan and Daniel have discovered the joy of movement with their new Jolly Jumpers. Rowan is especially keen on jumping, but Daniel still finds the new sensation somewhat nauseating. Enjoy the video.

As we near Valentine's Day 2007, the boys have just turned four months old. It seems like they're growing and developing every single minute. They can't yet roll over or sit up unaided, but they can both hold their heads up with little effort and love bouncing in their newest obsession -- a matching pair of Jolly Jumpers. Nights are better, too. Daniel and Rowan generally go to bed around 8 p.m. and sleep until 1 a.m., then it's a quick feeding and change and they're right back to sleep until 7 a.m. What a lifestyle change for us!

When their birthday rolled around a couple of days ago, Morley and I admitted that we have trouble remembering what our lives were like before these boys came into our lives. It's like we've known them forever -- and yet it's only been four months! We've got stuff in the refrigerator older than that.

Daddy (a.k.a Tim)

It's the boys' three-month birthday today. Daniel and Rowan now tip the scales at around 12 pounds each. Daniel's about a half pound heavier than Rowan, but Rowan's taller, which is just one of the many differences between them. For example, Daniel is much more inquisitive and verbal than Rowan. He watches everything that goes on and gives a running commentary in a wide variety of baby babbles and coos. Rowan is more introspective and monosyllabic -- and much more active than his brother. He's constantly kicking and punching (happily!) and loves to practice standing. Because he's the more physical of the two, he's also the better sleeper. Neither boy is sleeping through the night, however. They still want to be fed every 3 to 4 hours. They're happy boys, never colicky, and -- so far -- robustly healthy. Enjoy the 2 minute video clip taken at 2 a.m. on New Year's Day. Warning: May contain milk vomit.

Labels: New Year's video

We did make it home to Toronto with the boys. We left Dayton on Friday the 13th, but luck was with us nonetheless. The "7 hour" drive took us 14 hours or so, with all the stops we had to make for feeding, changing, and business at the Canadian border, but we made it. Pulled in our driveway at 4 a.m. Saturday the 14th, absolutely wiped out. Our new nanny, Joanna, saved our lives by starting work that very morning. The boys have been doing extremely well. They're eating up a storm (and producing a prodigious amount of byproduct at the other end). They get fed every three hours so we're not getting much sleep at all. That's why the blog hasn't been updated lately. To atone, here's the twins' official hospital photo, snapped when they were about 8 hours old. The second picture is what the boys looked like last night about 2 a.m. In both photos, Daniel is on the left and Rowan is on the right.


Oops. Got to go. It's midnight and someone's demanding to be fed.

Daddy (formerly known as Tim)

We'll take a brief break from telling the story of the twins' birth to share something wonderful. We brought the boys home from the hospital yesterday evening. They were physically fine, but the doctors were concerned about Rowan because he had become quite sluggish and had trouble staying awake to feed. They said it could be that his bilirubin levels were getting a little high, which makes him really drowsy. The way to get his bilirubin levels down was to make sure he ate a lot -- which was nearly impossible because his bilirubin levels were getting high. A classic spiral.

When we got him back to the condo, Morley and I were still having a heck of a time waking the boy up to feed him. To stimulate him a bit, I decided to unswaddle him and lay him on his tummy on a blanket. Rowan stirred a little bit, but not much. My Aunt Dana who had driven to Dayton that afternoon from her home in Virginia suggested that we put Daniel on the blanket next to him.

Wow. Rowan snapped awake. He and his brother were fascinated with each other. Daniel reached out and started feeling Rowan's face and Rowan sucked on Daniel's fingers. I had never seen Daniel so animated since the few minutes following his birth. The twins played with one another for quite a long time -- and both of them stayed awake for over three hours and ate like they were starving.

Seeing the two of them looking at one another with wonder, it made us realize that Daniel and Rowan had never really seen one another before. In the hospital, they were always tightly swaddled in separate bassinettes. Since we brought them home and introduced them to each other, they've been like completely different little people: active, hungry, and loud. We couldn't be happier.

Tim (a.k.a. Daddy)

Okay, so where was I? Oh yes, the full moon brought in the tide and suddenly it's 1:05 in the morning and we're staring at our sons. At this point, the boys were only known as Baby A and Baby B to everyone -- including us. We had chosen names two years ago, but had agreed to wait until the babies were born to decide which one got which name. I had worried a lot about this. How would I know which one would be Daniel? Would I know Rowan when I saw him? How could a newborn, without a personality or even definite physical features, be saddled with something as monumental and permanent as a name? And don't all newborns look alike, anyway?

Well, our twin newborns looked nothing alike. And even in the first moments of life, they did not act alike. After his initial bout of crying, Baby A (first born) calmed down and started looking around with interest at all the commotion going on around him. The neonatal team was a bit concerned about him because he looked a little pale, so they waved an oxygen mask over him and kept him toasty under a heat lamp. He had lots of dark hair on his head and even had patches of dark hair on his arms and shoulders. Baby B, in contrast, had not as much hair on his head and none at all on his body. His coloring was fairer. We couldn't really tell if his hair was light brown or even auburn. His complexion was ruddy -- bright red, in fact. Unlike his brother, Baby B was not pleased at all about being born. He was yelling his head off and had turned bright scarlet in the face.

The staff let Morley hold Baby A. Morley looked at me, smiled, and said, "That's Rowan. This is Daniel." I said, "I'm so glad you said that. That's exactly what I was thinking." It was so obvious. The name Daniel fit Baby A perfectly somehow -- and as for Baby B, "Rowan" means "red oak," a fitting name for a little man who was robust and rather autumnal.

We went back to check on Becki, to thank her and see how she was doing. She looked exhausted but beatific.

(to be continued.)

On Saturday evening, Morley and I took my sister's advice to see the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" (which we enjoyed). We caught an early screening and then went to a really mediocre chain restaurant on the outskirts of the local mall. For Beavercreek, Ohio, it was a "big night out." As we were driving home from the restaurant I said to Morley, "With luck, this will probably be our last night out for a long time." We both hoped my prediction wasn't true, and that Becki would stay pregnant at least one more week -- maybe two. That's when we saw the moon. It was the most enormous harvest moon I had ever seen in my life: a freakishly gargantuan, tide-pulling, cartoon of a moon, and I said "I sure hope Becki doesn't see that!"

Five minutes later, at 10:30 pm, we were walking in the door of the condo we're staying at and my cell phone rang. It was Scott. "Becki's water just broke," he said. "We're on our way to the hospital. We'll call you and let you know what the doctors say and let you know if you need to start heading on down." Morley and I just stared at one another. Then we rushed to our computers and Googled "water breaks labor birth" and found out that generally it was the rule that once a woman's water breaks, the baby will be born within 24 hours. "Let's pack a suitcase," I said. "That's just what I was going to propose," said Morley. We threw some things in an overnight bag and just as we were zipping it shut, Brody called from the car and said "You guys better meet us at the hospital."

We arrived at the hospital before 11 pm and Becki was in triage with Brody, who was going to be acting as his mother's birthing coach. We sat out in the waiting room with Scott for about 15 minutes then were ushered into Becki's private room where she was all hooked up to monitors. By this time her contractions were coming every three minutes. She was in a great deal of discomfort but kept insisting that she didn't want to have an epidural. An hour went by (really quickly for us, really slowy for Becki), and poor thing was just in agony. Finally, she turned to Morley and me and asked us if it was okay to have an epidural! We were gobsmacked. Even in such a circumstance, Becki was considering our feelings about our children's birth experience before her own. (Of course we gave our consent -- we had told her earlier, several times, that having a spinal was completely up to her. We wanted her to whatever she was comfortable with.) Unfortunately, by the time the pain got too much for her and she asked for an epidural, it was too late. "We've got elip!" the nurse said to someone over the telephone. "We're on our way to the O.R."

They wheeled Becki's bed out of the room and the staff directed Brody, Scott, Morley and me to a room down the hall where we were instructed to remove our clothes and put on surgical scrubs. Once we were dressed and looking thoroughly silly in our paper bonnets, we were lead to the operating room where Becki had her legs in the stirrups and was being coached to push. A few minutes later -- at 1 a.m. precisely -- Daniel James came shooting out, blue one second, then screaming and pink the next. A nurse whisked him out of the room to an ajoining area where a team was ready to clean him up and assess him. (Apgar score: 9 out of 10.) Doctor Watson next took out this long stick-like thing and punctured the second placenta. A gush of water, and then another little head appeared. Rowan Matthew entered the world at 1:05. Like his brother before him, his cries started immediately and he turned rather red rather quickly. (Apgar score: also 9 out of 10.) The boys were doing great.

(A lot more happened, but we've got to get back to the hospital now. Check back a little later for the continuation!)

Here's are the boys after one day. Rowan's the one with the hat. Daniel's the one with all the hair.

We would like to announce the arrival of Daniel James Beiser -- 4 pounds 10 ounces -- at 1 a.m. October 8. Hot on his heels was Rowan Matthew Beiser -- 4 pounds 13 ounces -- at 1:05. Both boys are absolutely perfect and in the best of health. Our surrogate, Becki, came through with flying colors. More news later. Abba and Daddy have been up all night falling in love with two beautiful little guys.

It's week #35 and, frankly, we're stunned (and extremely pleased) to have remained pregnant this long.

At yesterday's appointment, Dr. Watson's favorable appraisal of the situation was "Things are starting to happen. You're right where you should be." According to the baby books, this means the twins should each weigh 5-1/4 pounds and be about 18 inches from crown to heel. At this point, they're more or less completely formed and are just taking this time to fatten up. Becki was given one final uterus-calming injection to keep her from going into labor. This might be enough to keep the pregnancy going for another week (or two), but it's certainly no guarantee. The doctor's office made Becki another appointment for next Wednesday, but everyone was acting like they didn't expect she was going to need it.

After Becki's exam, Dr. Watson took off his rubber gloves, then turned to me, smiled, and said, "You should start getting lots of extra sleep -- right now."

Tim (a.k.a. Daddy)

Last Wednesday, Becki, Scott and Brody presented us with a very special gift -- a "bronze" casting of Becki's belly! It's a beautifully framed plaster sculpture, cast from life, memorializing our 33rd week of pregnancy. Apparently, the whole family pitched in to make this project for us. Needless to say, we were completely bowled over. What a wonderful gift. And what a wonderful family we've found to help us bring our children into the world. Our love and thanks to you three dear souls.

Here's the video that Morley mentioned in his Sept 13 post. Becki certainly did an awesome job. Hope you enjoy it.

(If video doesn't play, go to Shockwave Download and install the latest version of Macromedia Shockwave on your computer. It's free.)

It's week #34. In this final stretch of the pregnancy, Becki sees the ob-gyn every Wednesday. A couple of days ago, we all went in together and stood around the ultrasound machine and got the latest glimpse of how the twins are coming along. Click on the photos to see larger images of their cute faces. Baby B looks a little ghostly, but that's because he and his brother were squirming around a lot. It was fun to see that Baby A even had his eyes open!


After our pre-term labor scare two weeks ago, everything is back to normal. No more contractions. The surrogate and the boys are doing just great. On the monitor, we got to see the twins' hearts beating, and watched in awe as their little diaphragms and lungs went through "breathing practice." Both boys weigh in at approximately 5 pounds each now. Doctor Watson says he's going to try to get Becki to 36 weeks (October 12), but would like to have her carry until week 37 ... or even week 38. That would be October 26. We sure hope we don't have to wait until Halloween to see those pumpkins.

Tim (a.k.a Daddy)

Tim and I are now in Dayton: to be exact, we're in Beaver Creek, a suburb of Dayton. Everything is far away here -- the grocery store, the baby goods store, even Starbucks. However, we're only 15 minutes from the hospital and that's part of the good news. The other part is that Becki, after some premature contractions last week, is no longer experiencing anything that suggests babies A and B will be arriving in the immediate future and, aside from the indignities of being constantly poked in the ribs, is feeling well and maintaining her good humor. When the boys do get here, we're ready for them, with our Graco Snuggly car seats, our Graco twin stroller, and a suit-case full of diapers, wipes, formula and God only knows what else. The mohelet and rabbi in Toronto are lined up, the nursery in Toronto furnished and ready. Tim and I need some rest after our house move, after the nanny we hired pulled out on us, and after a long drive down from Toronto. Beaver Creek should be a good place for that. Morley (a.k.a. Abba)

It's September 13. I've just come back from the gym, Tim is still there. I sat down at my computer and found an email from Becki with an attachment: a 2 minute video of her abdomen, taken in the wee hours of the morning, with those super-charged life elements wriggling and thrashing around as if they can't wait to get out and see what's on the other side. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and chills racing up and down my spine. What a glorious life the 4 of us have in store for us, and what a great gift Becki, Scott and Brody are giving us. Thank you.

Morley (a.k.a. Abba)

We're in our new house now. (Actually, we're going back and forth between the two houses in anticipation of the move next week.) The big event yesterday was that the nursery furniture was delivered. I'm sure no one will be surprised when I tell you that the delivery was scheduled to arrive before 5 pm, and that we sat here wasting an entire day being idle in this empty house waiting for a truck which perversely chose to arrive at 4:56. So lucky me, I got to assemble a crib and changing table late into the evening. Oh, but what beauties they are. When I cleared away all the packing debris and saw the room filled with baby furniture, my heart just swelled.

The latest on the pregnancy front is that we just learned that the obstetrician has moved our EDC up -- by a whole month! He now thinks it's likely the twins will arrive on October 9 instead of November 9. I feel faint even blogging about it.

Timothy (a.k.a. Daddy)