MooneyWeb

Wow….what a month it’s been. You’ll have to forgive me for the length of this update. But I fear with the new additions in our life it will be years before I can scrapbook/update baby books so I am using this as a way to document everything.

I’m writing this on the twins’ official due date, April 5 but they made their official arrival 4 weeks ago, on March 10th. Ever since finding out I was having twins, other than being diagnosed with gestational diabetes, the pregnancy was going very smoothly. Then after an ultrasound a couple of months ago, my doctor noticed that there was an obvious size difference between baby A (girl) and baby B (boy). There are usally concerns if the size difference with twins is greater than 20% and our twins were measuring at 26% difference. I was sent to a specialist and they confirmed the size difference and thereafter I was monitored closely. I had 2 appointments a week that included a stress test and ultrasounds to closely monitor the growth and the babies responsiveness. My scheduled C-section date was originally March 23rd and that was moved up very quickly to March 16. But after an ultrasound on March 6 which showed twin A measured at 4lbs 6 oz (3rd percentile) and twin B measured at 5lbs 3 oz (30th percentile), the doctor speculated I would be moved up again. And sure enough, at my appointment on March 9th there was no growth from twin A and twin B was still growing. So, they told me to prepare for delivery the next day March 10th.

On March 10th, I watched Steve coach our kids in a soccer game and then we headed to the hospital for our new arrivals. At 1:56pm twin A, Madison Ann Mooney, entered the world weighing in at 4lbs 10 ounces and was 18 ¼ inches long. At 1:57pm, twin B, Owen Jerome Mooney, made his entrance weighing 6lbs 12 ounces and was 21 inches long. I got to see both babies right away while they sewed me up and then they were sent off with Steve to the nursery to check the babies out. Steve brought Madison to me in recovery about an hour later. Owen had to stay in the nursery as he was having breathing issues so he had to be closely monitored. I was able to attempt to feed Madison and was brought into my room. It was strange being their without Owen but I wasn’t able to get up yet because of the C-section (something about not being able to move my legs). Madison was tiny, but they said she was doing really well. Because she was a preemie, she was being monitored by the nursery nurses; however, she was able to stay in the room with me. Steve was able to check in on Owen, he said that Owen would make loud humming noises with his breathing issues. Finally, about 8 hours after delivering Owen (I saw some pictures from Steve), I was wheeled down to the nursery to see him. It was kind of sad seeing him with his IV’s and just laying under the heat lamp. He hadn’t eaten yet as he was just being fed “sugar water” through his tube. But he was moving his legs and arms quite a bit. We had to wait until he was able to control his breathing before he would be allowed to be brought to my room. On the second night I was able to start feeding Owen and the nursery called me to walk down when it was time for a feeding for him and I was able to feed him a bottle. Then I’d come back to my room and feed Madison, then I would get a little sleep.

My mom stayed the nights with me at the hospital and I had family and friends in and out during the days. Unfortunately, Makenna had gotten sick earlier in the week so she (and Noah) were unable to visit right away. I had actually brought her to the doctor after noticing her sickness coming on earlier in the week. Ironically, the kids getting sick was the only thing I was “stressing” about with the upcoming delivery of the twins. I had always told them they could visit anytime while I was in the hospital but knew if they were sick, this wouldn’t be able to happen… and of course it happened. Makenna’s doctor said she had a double ear infection (only her 2nd ear infection she’s ever had) caused by a cold virus. The news didn’t seem bad at first, because I wasn’t due to delivery for 2 weeks, but then my c-section was moved up. So, the kids were unable to visit for the first couple days. They were well taken care of by daddy and I was able to web-cam with them, but they were very excited to meet their little sister/brother.

Owen ended up staying in the nursery for two nights but was released to my room just in time for the first visit from his big brother/sister. As you can see from the pictures, Makenna and Noah were very excited to hold the new additions to the family. I also got visits from the twins Godmom (Yvonne), Zaundra, and Steve’s parents.

I was surprised when all the doctors discharged us on the 4th day. I assumed they would want to monitor Owen more, or even Madison because she was so small. But they said all was good and off to home we went. On the way home I scheduled Madison and Owens doctors appointment for the next day.

On March 14 we headed to the twins doctor’s appointment. At the appointment Owen weighed 6lbs 6 oz and Madison weighed her birth weight, 4lbs 10oz. Owen check out great. There was immediately concern for Madison as they were unable to register her temperature higher than 96 degrees. So they told us we needed to check Madison into Banner Dessert Cardon Children’s hospital in Mesa. We went home and I stayed with the kids and Owen (I had to be around to feed him) and Steve brought Madison to the hospital. It was really hard to send her with Steve and stay home, but it was the first time seeing some sacrafices that needed to be made when having twins. Later on that evening, after putting the kids down to sleep, my friend Zaundra graciously drove me and Owen to the hospital (I wasn’t allowed to drive due to my C-section drugs) while my mom stayed home with Noah and Kenna. I brought some expressed breast milk for Madison to have throughout the night. Once again, it was really sad seeing Madison on the table, under the heat lamp with an IV in her and covered in blankets in an attempt to keep her warm. They were running several tests on her (blood tests, blood cultures and a spinal tap) to rule out infections. She was going to have to stay at least 2 days to get culture results before they even thought about sending her home. Steve stayed the first night with her. Owen and I came back the next day to relieve Steve. During my day there, I realized I was going to get some much needed rest and relaxation if I was the one to stay we her through the night. We did have a little hiccup, our new nurse on duty thought we weren’t allowed to have children visitors so said Owen wouldn’t be able to come. We were confused as there wasn’t a problem with Owen visiting the prior night. So we ignored what she said and came anyway. The mix up was cleared up and we were both able to stay. I got some great rest and other than feedings, both Owen and Madison basically slept the entire time. All of Madison’s tests were coming back negative for infections but as her temperature failed to stabilize, they threatened to have her stay in the hospital longer. So when Steve came back on Friday afternoon, we bundled her up in layers upon layers and got her temperature to stay up. It was determined that she was just too tiny to maintain the temperature on her own. But as long as we dressed her in layers (1 onsie, 2 nighties, swaddle, wearable blanket and 2 blankets) and took her temperature at every feeding to ensure she was staying above 97degrees, a discharge was ok. So we took Madison home and after a doctor follow up 2 days later all was good. In all, it was a frustrating experience. I felt the original hospital shouldn’t have discharged us so quickly. There were a few temperature checks of Madison that I remember they had to “re-check” because it was low and requested that I do the Kangaroo hold a few times to attempt to warm up. BUT, the important thing is that Madison and Owen are now home and are a healthy baby boy and girl. Since they were preemies we are having to feed them fortified breast milk. So I am pumping A LOT and we put powdered formula in the breast milk to increase their calorie intake and speed up their weight gain. It took a while but at about 3 weeks Owen is mastering breast feeding and Madison is finally catching on.

The hospital ordeal feels like it was a long time ago now. The twins are now 4 weeks old. Noah and Makenna have shocked me and are being an excellent big brother and sister. If one of the babies are crying they try their best to console them; with a pacci, talking or slight rocking. They love holding and feeding them. We have had constant help prior to the twins being born. My mom was here from March 1-23rd. Chelsea was in town, followed by Steve’s sister Laura. My mom is coming back into town and then Karen will be helping out after she leaves. The visitors have been doing laundry, cleaning, cooking and helping out with all the kids. It has been great for Noah and Makenna as they usually have someone willing to play with them.

It was very difficult to narrow the pictures down…mostly because I didn’t have time too and figured if you waited for this to happen the pictures would never be posted. So, hopefully updates can happen more frequently (I make no promises), but until the next one, enjoy the pictures.

February/March 2012 Pictures
Post Twin arrival, March 2012 Pictures

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New year!  We have kept pretty busy these past few months.

In the beginning of December we went on our annual drive to Williams, AZ to go on the Polar Express. As always the kids loved this trip, the train ride, playing in the snow, and seeing Santa.  Although Steve did mention that it was one of the worst snow conditions on the roads he’s had to drive through.   We also went to a MOMs club Christmas party in which Santa made an appearance.  Noah put on a cute performance with his preschool class of Christmas songs.  Auntie Laura came in for a visit.  We celebrated Makenna’s birthday with a fun princess party with her friends.  She was so excited to turn 3 and it had been a long count down. On Makenna’s birthday Auntie Laura and I took the kids to the park so she and Noah could ride on some rides and feed the ducks.  We had an interesting situation occur at the park this day.  Noah decided to ignore our several attempts to move him back from the water while throwing bread to the ducks and he fell in the water.  He was more scared then anything… oh and cold.

We celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas day at our house with Steve’s parents and Auntie Laura.  Santa Claus made an appearance and delivered Makenna her big girl bike and Noah a construction set.  It was fun watching the kid’s excitement over Christmas this year, they really got it all….decorating the Christmas tree, leaving cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, getting their stockings….they had a fun time.

In January my mom visited for a little over a week and helped unpack more boxes in the house and organize some rooms and this was very
helpful!  The landscaping on our house also started.  Soon we will have a completed front yard, pool, and the first stages of the backyard will be done as well.  The US national soccer team was playing in Phoenix and we were able to go to that game.  The kids have been really excited watching tractors and bobcats in our yard.  Noah went back to preschool after Christmas break and still loves his teacher and
school.  He also started up a multi-sports class again where he plays basketball, soccer, and teeball.  Makenna started up her preschool through Gilbert Parks and Rec again and is also enjoying a Tinkerbell ballet class.  Both kid’s got their big boy/girl rooms set
up and they are sleeping in their respective new bunkbeds.

I am now 7 months along in my pregnancy.  During the last ultrasound our girl was weighing just over 3lbs and our boy was just over 4lbs.
My C-section is currently scheduled for March 23, so I won’t go any later than that.  If I happen to go into labor before then, I would have a c-section done then.  You can check out some pictures from our 3d-ultrasound we had back in December below.

I’m going to sign off now. Enjoy the many albums we have below!

December 2011
Polar Express
Makenna’s 3^rd Bday
Yvonne Christmas Pictures
Christmas Pictures
3D Ultrasound Pictures
January 2012

Where did the past 2 months go??  It’s been crazy but exciting times for the Mooney family.  I’ll just go in the order of the events because there seem to have been a lot in a short span.

In October we took advantage of the Halloween season to the fullest.  We went to a pumpkin patch with our MOMs club, Veturiccio Farms and then hit up the pumpkin patch as a family at Schnepf Farms.  The kids love Schnepf Farms, there were hay rides, amusement park like rides, the pumpkin patch and yummy food.  Makenna this year was brave enough to go on the Roller Coaster.  In fact, she insisted and made the height requirement with the help of her bow.  I couldn’t go on it because I was pregnant but daddy enjoyed two separate rides with the kids.  Noah is an old pro at rides like this.  Makenna on the other hand, found it a bit scary but was proud of going on it.  We carved pumpkins, cooked pumpkin seeds and other Halloween treats.  Of course, we also went trick or treating.  Noah was Captain Hook this year.  Makenna couldn’t decide….Cinderella or Snow White??  So, she got both.  She wore Cinderella to the MOMs club Halloween party and Snow White trick or treating.  Since we were still in the apartment, we went to the Russo’s house this year to trick or treat.  The kids were troopers and were out most of the night getting their candy.  We also took the kids to see a Dora play at the Phoenix Children’s theater.  Considering they still love and watch Dora religiously, they really enjoyed the play.

Our move was delayed for two weeks because the cabinets were delayed.  We were frustrated when we heard about it but it was all worth it. We were forced to pack up the garage a majority of our items were being stored in because it was only available to us until November 1.  But thank goodness for Pack Rat, it worked out well for us.  We also ended keeping the apartment until the last day possible. We got the keys to our new house on November 10.  I forgot how much work moving is!!  Or it might be the fact that we have soooo much stuff!!  Right now we are just about settled in.  The kid’s rooms need some work and the office has not been unpacked. But all the main areas: kitchen, great room and playroom are organized and lived in.  We even have some curtains
up!!

A week after we moved into the new house I had my ultrasound.  We (Steve, Makenna and Noah) headed into the ultrasound thinking we were going to find out, girl or boy.  And oh my, did we get more than we bargained for!!  It was a typical ultrasound to begin with.  He said we wouldn’t find out the sex until the end of the ultrasound.  But as soon as he started the ultrasound the baby was presenting herself…yep, he said it was a GIRL!  This was no surprise to me.  So we all settled back into the routine of  the ultrasound.  He started taking measurements.  He showed us the arm, the face.  Then he regrouped, put more jelly on my belly and backed up.  He then said, uhhhh, it looks like I’m going to have to redo all my measurements.  I say, “Why, did you lose them or something?”  He moved the ultrasound head on my belly for a few seconds.  He looked at the screen, then at me, and said: “Do you see that?”  I said, “See what?”  Steve’s attention had now turned from the kids back to the ultrasound tech/screen. Then the ultrasound tech said: “There are two of them.”  I’m pretty sure I said “What?” and I think Steve let out a little laugh.  “Yep, there are 2 of them, let’s see if we can find out what this other one is.”  After a little moving around he said: “Looks like this one is a boy.”  So, it’s fraternal twins.  Everyone asks what our reaction was when we tell the news. Really, no reaction…more surprise and processing the information.  Anyone that knows us, is aware what a difficult time we had having Noah. Two years of trying, two years of fertility treatments that included six IUI’s and three full rounds of in-vitro.  The last round they implanted three embryos and we got Noah out of it.  Then we were shocked to find out we were pregnant with Makenna and now this.  It’s amazing how things turn out.  If you had told me five years ago that we would have four kids I would have told you that you’re crazy!

In other news, Makenna has started her first preschool class.  She is going to the same teacher as Noah did last year through Gilbert Parks and Rec, one day a weeks for 45 minutes.  She LOVES it and looks forward to her class all week long.  She has moved up to a gymnastics class on her own.  She really loves her class, although about halfway through she always looks for daddy and
mommy to come say hi.  But she really enjoys the bars and the trampoline.  Noah moved up to a novice boy’s class and is having a lot of fun with it.  He is also still enjoying preschool.  He really loves his teacher, Ms. Barb.  He also finished up his soccer season and he seemed to enjoy running around on the field this year.   We also started him in a multi sports class that is at the same time and place as Makenna’s preschool.  He’s learning more soccer, tee ball, and basketball.

Other than that, we enjoyed Thanksgiving this year with Steve’s parents in the new house.  We are getting ready for the Christmas season.  Enjoy the pictures from October and November.  We actually lost our battery charger in the move for a while so the November pictures are lacking a bit.  Hope everyone is having a great start to the holiday season.

October pictures

November pictures

Ultrasound pictures

I’ve neglected MooneyWeb for 2 months, but am finally finding some time to update it. I think I repeatedly say this, but life has been crazy and a lot has happened since my last update.
Our house officially sold and we have moved into a 2 bedroom apartment. Moving seemed a bit hectic as it was just Steve and I, though we had a little help from a friend. But I am glad that is over! Or, it’s not really over yet…our closing day for our new house is October 31, so we get to do it all again in about 4 weeks! But this time friends, if you live in AZ, I’m calling on you for help!!

Some would think that selling and buying a house is enough exciting news for a summer. But we’d like to let you in on some more exciting news… WE ARE PREGNANT!! We are currently 3 months along and baby Mooney will be making his/her appearance at the end of March. We are all really excited. Makenna would like a little sister and Noah would like a little brother. We’ll see what happens:) This pregnancy has definitely made me very tired the last couple months and morning sickness has definitely been worse than the first 2 times and I’m turning to my maternity clothes a little earlier. BUT, I’m entering the 2nd trimester and am starting to feel much better!

Noah is loving preschool and his teacher, Miss Barb. We got to see Noah sing in preschool with his class, on Circus day, and you can tell how much fun he is having. He started up his fall season of soccer and it’s amazing how much difference a few months makes. He’s listening to coach (dad), running up and down the field, he seems to be a bit aggressive on the pushing side but it’s a contact sport, right?? He’s been on a waitlist to move up a level in gymnastics for a few weeks. Noah is very excited about the new house and wants to drive by it and see what’s going on with it all the time.

Makenna is Makenna. What can I say? Talkative, girlie, and always has an opinion. She’s watching Noah do all his activities this year, preschool and soccer and says: “I get to do that when I get bigger.” She is still enjoying gymnastics and is actually ready to go to a class all by herself when there is an opening for her. She claims to be excited so we will see how it goes. We started a potty chart for her that she filled up and she was so excited to go to the store and pick out her first Barbie! Pretty soon we will have 2 potty trained kids!

I’m going to sign off now. Enjoy the pictures from August, September and our new home progress!

New House pictures
August pictures
September pictures

Holy Cow!! It’s the middle of August and I’m doing the July Mooneyweb post. I know I’ve said we’ve had a crazy busy month before, but the last 6 weeks for us has been CRAZY!! I am tired just thinking about it and even looking through the massive amounts of pictures we have was exhausting. So here goes…

We started off July by heading to Minnesota to visit Auntie Karen. She kept us busy there and we had A LOT of fun! We went on a steam boat ride for lunch, took Noah’s favorite dog, Tucker, to the dog park, walked down the street for a great view of fireworks, went to the Minnesota Children’s museum, and took the train the a Minnesota Twins game…all in the span of 4 days!! It was a very memorable trip and it was great to see Auntie Karen.

Directly from Minnesota we headed to Seattle. For the past 6 months, my brother’s and I have been planning a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom. Unknown to her, Justin and his family flew in from S.C., my Grandpa flew in from CA, and we flew in. We had a friend of my moms’, Mrs. Grytting, plan a 2 day trip with my mom so we could arrive undetected and plan the finishing touches of the party. Kelvin planned a delicious gourmet buffet and several friends traveled from afar…CA, OR, and Spokane for the surprise. When my mom arrived at her house, 70 of her friends yelled out “Happy Birthday” for the surprise of her life. This was then followed by Justin and my Family surprising her just after she realized what was happening. It was great seeing just about every family member and friend we hadn’t seen in a while.  It was also great pulling off the surprise. We stayed in Seattle for 10 days and did a lot of activities. We went to Children’s museum in Factoria, Museum of Flight, Pacific Science Science Center, went on a duck boat tour, the ladies got a pedicure (it was Makenna’s first and she loved it), the guys went to a Sounders game, and we topped off the week with lunch at the Space Needle. The kids had a great time with their cousins… until next year.

It was nice getting home after being gone for 2 weeks. But it was time to get ready for Noah’s birthday party!! He turned 4 years old and it was the first time he requested specific people to be at his party. His theme was transportation (cars, trucks, boats and space ship). Not only did he turn 4, but he starts his first year of preschool this week!!

Right after vacation we also had to get the house ready to put on the market…we moved some furniture, deep cleaned, planted some flowers (so much fun in 100+ degree weather), finished up some random projects that had been neglected and got the carpets cleaned. Our new house won’t be ready until Mid-October/beginning November and we know how horrible of a market it is these days. Well, we put the house up (for what we thought was an aggressive price) on August 4th. 36 hours later we had 2 offers at full asking price!!! Crazy, I know. So, we have accepted an offer and are currently in escrow. Our house closes on Sept 19th which means we had to go apartment hunting to find a place to stay for 4-6 weeks. We’ve found an apartment and have slowly started to pack up our house.

So, other than all I have mentioned above, the kids finished up a music class through the city, they also finished swimming lessons (Makenna did 2 sessions in classes all by herself), and Noah met his teacher that he will be having for preschool and I’ve some how gotten the position of President of my MOMs club. My mom also visited for Noah’s birthday and brought Julian along with her. We went to the AZ Museum of Youth, we saw Cinderella at the Mesa Dinner Theater, and Julian even got to join Noah for a gymnastics class. There has also been some excellent progress on our new house; they’ve poured the slab, started framing and windows are in!

I’d write more about how the kids are growing but I’ll let you take in our active month of July and catch you up in the August update that is just a couple weeks away. Sorry for the mass amount of pictures, but it was really hard to cut it down (especially with pictures from 4 different cameras in Seattle):

July 2011
Minnesota 2011
Seattle 2011
Noah’s 4th Birthday
New house Progress