Category Archives: Houston

Two Heart Beats

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Stephen and I went to my 12-week prenatal appointment yesterday and heard the twins’ heartbeats. They were both nice and strong: 160/minute and 155 respectively! I cannot use a midwife this time around due to my having multiples, so we met with one of the five doctors at the practice. I will eventually meet with all of them (there are four female and one male obstetricians) and then use whatever doc is on call when I go into labor. The doctor said everything is looking good thus far, although I’ve only gained a pound and am still not showing that much — all stuff to look forward to (yeah, right), I suppose! I told her that I thought I felt the kids move when trying to fall asleep on Mother’s Day night, but she said she’d be surprised if it wasn’t just gas, since they’re still so small. I’m telling you … it felt like the real “fluttering butterfly” sensation to me, so I’m sticking to my story.

Houston experiencing a post-food high in May 2008.  

Here are some May happenings on the Houston front: 

  • The family went to an outdoor neighborhood party on 5/3 and he had a ball playing with all the kids there.
  • Houston played in a sandbox for the first time on 5/4. It belongs to his best buddy, Dixie, and although he didn’t like it when his binky got tainted by falling into the sand, I think he enjoyed the new adventure. Plus, it’s good practice for our upcoming beach vacation next month.

Houston playing with Dixie in her sandbox in May 2008.

  • He spent time all alone with Daddy from 5/10-5/11, so that I could go to a wedding in Wilmington. They enjoyed having some quality guy time together, without having Mommy hovering around. Stephen says it went off without a hitch, although he was exhausted from the experience.
  • Houston said “Mama” for the first time on 5/13. I don’t think he has put it together that I am indeed his Mama, but it’s fun to here him say it nonetheless.
  • A fourth tooth popped through his upper gums on 5/14, so he now has six total. The teething sometimes really gets to him when the drooling and runny nose seem to occur at a nonstop pace. But other than those few bad days, Houston has handled what I can only imagine is intense pain like the big, strong boy that he is. We’re very proud of him.
  • Houston is still into sniffing fabric and often carries around a burp cloth with him while he’s crawling about the house and yard. He must find comfort in the scent. But he has also taken to holding out his arm into the air and then looking at it with great pleasure. Sometimes the gesture is flat-handed, as if he is Caesar and has just made a declaration of some sort; other times, he will pump his fist, like he is leading a “Power to the people” chant. Our Houston Lee is a strange bird, for sure!

Houston doing the

As you can see by the photo above, Stephen finally decided to chop his hair, which he has had long since his high school days. Looks fine, don’t it?! Houston was a tad concerned about the change at first, but has now gotten used to it. And Stephen is loving how easy it is to manage. 

To see all the most recent photos from May, click here. 

Stephen and I just started watching a reality show on TLC called “Jon & Kate Plus 8.” If you’ve never seen it, Jon and Kate had twins (now age 7) and then four years later had sextuplets (now age 3). The show documents the family’s day-to-day activities and gives us a glimpse into how the parents cope with having eight young kids. Kate is type-A and extremely organized, so she comes up with lots of innovative ideas that I think help out parents of multiples and other stay-at-home moms in general. But she is also not Super Mom and has her occasional breakdown, just as every parent will do, so the show provides that reassurance that parents so often need: moms and dads should never strive for the unattainable perfection, but should only aim to do the best they can with each day. Sometimes we’ll fall short, while other times we’ll far exceed our expectations. But as long as we do everything out of love and what’s best for our children, we cannot fail. Moreover, I figure if Kate can handle eight youngins, I can surely handle three. For more info on their amazing family, visit http://www.sixgosselins.com/.

Houston & Mommy Hit the Road

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Houston poses with Gramsey & Papa in late April 2008.

Houston and I went up to Virginia to see family and friends for a few days in late April. We missed Daddy a bunch, but we had a great time seeing Gramsey and Papa, Aunt Lisa and Dina, and cousins Casey, Rick, Meredith, David and Kara.

Houston with family up in Virginia in late April 2008.

We also got to see Mommy’s oldest friend, Ingrid, and her children Quinn, Ellie and Mia. Houston immediately loved Ingrid and had a blast swinging with her and playing with the kids. We hope to see all of our Virginia loved ones again soon. 

Houston with Quinn, Ellie, Ingrid & Mia in late April 2008.

Use these links to see the photos from our Trip To Virginia and pics of Houston crawling in Late April 08.

Speaking of crawling, Houston continues his crab-like crawling using the one knee. However, other times he uses no knees and both feet instead, looking more like a monkey than a crab. His speed has improved, too, wearing out Mommy and Daddy in the process.

Houston crawling like a pro in April 2008. 

Houston is busy practicing other skills, like trying to stand from a sitting position, standing with no hands once up and just increasing his all-around balance and agility. Seriously, he will be walking soon, which will make me happy, since crawling is such a dirty thing; it’s as if he’s a little mop, picking up every speck of dirt and goo on our floors, no matter how clean. 

Houston showing off his 5 teeth in April 2008.

Houston has sprouted another tooth on his upper gum, so he now has three up top and two on the bottom. He enjoys showing them off with his dazzling snaggle-tooth grin, as well as biting on anything he can get his hands onto and ripping the item through his pearly whites. And he can usually get his hands onto anything he sets his mind to. We like to call him Stretch Armstrong, since his arms and hands seem to reach well beyond their tiny dimensions. 

Meeting baby Matthew in April 2008.

Houston’s spring has been full of fun. He still likes taking walks with the neighborhood mommy brigade and their respective kids; he plays with Dixie as much as possible; he got to meet baby Matthew, the newborn of our pals Alan and Beth; he looks forward to going nuts at the church nursery every week; and he just adores being outdoors, like during a recent impromptu cook-out we had with our next-door neighbors (click here to see those pics), at an annual party our neighbor Kay threw on Saturday night or just when Mommy attempts to get some yard work done.

Houston & Heather having fun grilling out. 

And to view all the updated images in Early April 08, including lots of new crawling photos, click here. 

“What?!?!?!?”

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Some of you may not already know what we at Clan Dillingham were considering some pretty big news: I’m pregnant again. No, we’re not insane. We planned this pregnancy to grow our family and fill the house with even more love (and the ensuing chaos, of course). We always knew if we were blessed with more kids that we would want them to be fairly close in age. It’s of our opinion that that provides for more efficient child rearing, since the closer the stages the kids are, the more they will have in common and thus keep themselves busy and out of trouble. Plus, I’m no spring chicken; at 36 years old, we knew we didn’t have too much time to spare.

Ever since we decided to have kids, Stephen has always said that he wants an “army” of rug rats. That way, he will finally have the musicians he needs to start his dream band. They’ll be like the Partridge Family of the Carolinas. Moreover, he is an only child, so he would get to fulfill his fantasies of living in a multi-sibling household. But I, on the other hand, knew that my aging and increasingly tired body didn’t have what it would take to birth and raise the aforementioned army of tots. So, I had always thought two would be the logical number for us.

Houston during his first professional pics back in November 2007.

Well, the title of this blog was my reply yesterday to the (internal) ultrasound technician at my first prenatal visit when she notified me of some shocking news. Here’s how the exchange went …

Tech: “Hi, I’m Tammy. Just sit back and relax. This will be a little cold at first.”

Me: “Okay.”

Tech: “Everything looks good. Oh, there’s a heartbeat.”

Me: “Wow, that’s amazing.” 

Tech: “Ooh, and there’s a heartbeat.”

Me: “How awesome,” I said calmly, assuming she was showing me one heart from two different directions.

Tech: “No, you don’t understand. There are two heartbeats. You’re having twins!”

Me: “What?!?! Oh my God … Lordy … are you sure … how can that be … man … oh God … but there are no twins in my family … what?!?!” 

Tech: “I take it this comes to you as a surprise.”

Me: “Uh, yeah!” 

 HL's hamming it up in November 2007.

According to my midwife, these two rascals were the result of pure chance. They are what is known as monozygotic twins (a.k.a. identical twins), “when a single egg is fertilized to form one zygote, which then divides into two separate embryos,” says Wikipedia. “Division of the zygote into two embryos is not considered to be a hereditary trait, but rather an anomaly that occurs in birthing at a rate of about three in every 1000 deliveries worldwide. Most of the time in monozygotic twins, the zygote will split after two days, resulting in a shared placenta, but two separate sacs. These are called monochorionic diamniotic (mono/di) twins. Monozygotic twins are genetically identical (unless there has been a mutation in development) and they are always the same sex. There are estimated to be approximately 125 million human twins and triplets in the world (roughly 1.9% of the world population) and just 10 million monozygotic twins (roughly 0.2% of the world population and 8% of all twins).” 

Houston sporting his cowboy boots in November 2007. 

I am eight weeks along in my pregnancy, due approximately November 24. However, it is common for twins to come a little early. But since “Pancho and Lefty” (our current nicknames for the kids in utero) are not sharing an amniotic sac, the chances of them making it close to or all the way full-term are much better than if they were sharing a sac. We will find out the gender in about 10 weeks.

Poor Houston, he has no idea what’s in store for him — pure double trouble! But we here at Clan Dillingham are firm believers that big families are happy and fun families, and I’m sure he’ll be the best big brother ever!

I’ve included a few pics from Houston’s professional pics back from November because I didn’t have time to download and edit any recent photos and post them with this breaking news, but also because these adorable images are just a reminder that our family has been triply blessed. No matter how much sleep deprivation, nausea, sore nipples, stress-induced headaches, hormonal breakdowns, lack of adult time, massive debt, cramped quarters I/we experience, we are the luckiest people in the world: not only do we already have one angel to call our own, but we now have two more on the way!