Introducing...

Leo and Sam had their bris on Thursday morning and we announced their names to a gathering of about 30 family members and friends. Our local friends were fiber artists and crafts people, academics, biologists and folks from the Jewish community--a mix of the wonderful community of friends we've made here in just under 2 years. Each of the boys' names, first and middle, English and Hebrew, has significance and meaning but I'll leave that for another time.

The bris is usually done 8 days after birth but was delayed until Sam came home from the hospital and was big enough for the procedure to be done. Both boys are gaining weight like champs and now these photos are already out of date. Leo has topped 7 lbs as of his last weight check and Sam has topped 5. We're eating like it's going out of style around here.

The family members who came included 3 grandparents and a significant other and 2 out of 3 of our brothers. One of our brothers even showed up as a surprise! Wednesday night, there were 8 people and two dogs sleeping in 4 different places in our house. It was a busy time.

On Saturday, the last of the relatives left and the new "normal" commenced. (Normal means our household of two grown ups, two newborns, and two dogs) We do have some local friends visiting most days and other help coming by but it is definitely challenging keeping up with everything right now. I am very tired out as I am still healing and trying to nurse some and of course, getting up every 2-3 hours at night for feedings. This has made posting to the blog a difficult endeavor...sorry for the delays.

To add to our complications, Canada Post and Air Canada were on strike this past week. Luckily, my brother managed to fly here and home again on Air Canada...and my parents were happy to bring thank you notes to the USA to mail them via USPS to US addresses. There has now been a sabbatical from thank you notes as we try to figure out who will fit in times to write them, when they will be written and--whether we're going to send them via email or wait for the mail service to start again...stay tuned!

Leo and Sam have gotten some truly amazing knitted presents as part of the baby gifts. I look forward to sharing that with you in the days to come, as soon as I can spare a few more moments to sort through the photos and think of what to say. As my mom, a lifelong knitter, said, "Most people get one handmade baby gift at their baby showers. You've gotten more than a dozen. Think of all the hours of work and love that went into all those stitches!"

She is right. I am truly honored by this labor of love and am struggling with what to say. I guess the short version would be: Thank you.

twin B comes home

from a couple of somewhat manic/tired parents:

On Wednesday, June 8th, our younger twin came home from the neo-natal intensive care unit at the hospital. He weighed 4 lbs, 5 oz then. We've been working hard to keep everybody fed, clean, and happy here. This is no small feat. Three adults (two parents, and my mom) working round the clock, still sometimes do not have enough hands to feed, change, and comfort two newborns. (Due to the small size of the babies, long labor and unexpected drugs and c-section I had, the babies need to have formula supplementation along with breast milk, so that means everyone feeds babies, not just me.) Needless to say, I haven't been able to keep up with my email, blog comments, or even phone calls. Sorry!

The dogs are working full time as well. Sally alerts us right away when someone starts crying. She starts alarm barking and pacing until someone picks up whichever of her babies is unhappy. Harry is thrilled but not as involved--he seems like a very enthusiastic and laid back uncle. He wants to be right near by but does not mind or attend to the crying at all.

Tomorrow, more relatives start to arrive...we'll be busy with baby festivities through next weekend. Then, all the out of town relatives will leave and the professor and I will be left on our own to figure this twin thing out. I'm hoping by then Sally will be able to give a bottle and change diapers on her own. (just kidding? I wish it were possible!)

Hopefully next time I'll be able to update you on the amazing knitting present I received this week...a baby shower in a box, filled with beautiful handmade knitted and sewn presents! Lots of photos to come, I hope! Truly this was a labor of love and I am honored to receive these gifts. I hope to write thank you notes to everybody soon.

Thanks again for all your warm wishes. Thanks so much for being part of my cyber community. It's wonderful hearing from everyone.

Fondly,

Joanne

birthday

The professor and Joanne Seiff -and Harry and Sally, the dogs- are very pleased to announce the arrival of their twins!
(written by the professor, with small contributions from Joanne)

Note that we have chosen to follow Jewish custom and will not formally announce the names of our two baby boys until they are circumcised a few days after they are released from the hospital (in Yiddish, a circumcision is called a bris). Until then, we're calling them Lokshen and Kugel. (Lokshen Kugel means Noodle Pudding in Yiddish. When they get old enough for solid food, we suspect that the Kugel twins will love this stuff.)

Joanne went into labor at about 7 pm on Monday, May 30, we reported to St. Boniface hospital soon afterwards. After laboring naturally for about 10 hours, they began inducing Joanne. After 24 hours of increasing dosages, we concluded that the induction was not working, and Joanne decided that she was ready for a C-section after 36 hours of labor. Our two boys joined the world as we know it on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 just before 9 am.

Baby A weighed 5 lbs, 15 oz. and was 20 inches long.
Baby B weight 4 lbs., 3 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.

Baby A was released from the NICU within 2 hours of birth, and roomed in with Joanne in the hospital. Baby B is almost as long as his brother, is extremely active, and their heads are the same size, but Baby B is very thin. They are watching him carefully in the NICU to make sure he is feeding well and gaining weight, but everyone is encouraged by how vigorous he is. Joanne is recovering well. Her mother took turns with the professor when it came to staying in the hospital with her. Joanne and Baby A were released from the hospital on Saturday. Baby B may remain in the hospital a little longer, depending on how quickly he gains weight. So far, all signs are very encouraging! We hope Baby B will be able to join us at home sometime this week.

The dogs are thrilled by the new arrival and will be in for a surprise when Baby B comes home to add to their litter of puppies. Harry likes kissing babies and Sally points out (by barking, of course) every time when her baby is crying. They are quite the nannies.

As might be expected, Joanne is really worn out from the long labor and c-section, but is slowly trying to respond to emails and other online comments. Please don't be surprised if it takes her a while to respond to you.

Thanks to everyone who has shared their well wishes and congratulations with us!