Officially Unemployed

Hello! Lots has changed and happened since the last blog. Some big news is that I am now unemployed! Charlie and Louis turned 6 weeks yesterday, so I went into work and packed up my belongings and said I would not be returning. It was hard to do. Its definitely the right decision for me and the Zimbric family, but I worked hard through college and the past five years in my career, and to let it all go just like that is hard to do. The head of R&D did tell me that I was welcome to come back, so that makes me feel good, but didn't make the day any easier. Anyway, I have my new job now of stay-at-home-mom, and I wish I got paid for it because I could be a millionaire. These guys do not start at 8 AM and they are definitely not done at 5 PM! Here they are sleeping and holding hands (sort of).

As I mentioned, Charlie and Louis are now 6 weeks old! They both smile now (though not too often yet), and are falling somewhat into more of a predictable routine. They wake up around 8 AM and are awake for a little over an hour. Then they enter a pattern of sleep for a few hours, and wake up to eat which is repeated until sometime in the mid-late afternoon. Usually around 5-6 PM they wake up for more awake time, then they crash for the night, I mean the next three hours, around 8 or 9 PM. They still only sleep for three hour blocks during the night. I'm sure the next month or so their routine will get even more predictable, but this is a start. I am finally learning that they seem to get a bit overstimulated in the afternoons, causing them to become quite cranky if this is not prevented. I hauled up two swings from the basement and they work wonderfully to help them fall asleep in the afternoons, in combination with pacifiers. Yes, we finally caved in and gave them pacifiers. It was better than the constant feed one, get him settled for a nap, then feed the second, get him settled for a nap only for the first one to wake up right away and need attention. Those were some looong afternoons. Newborns look hideous with pacifiers in their mouths. I'll try to take a picture this week and post it soon.

Charlie and Louis are looking more and more different, so I am suspecting that they are indeed fraternal. In these pictures, Charlie is on the left and Louis is on the right. I spoke with my doctor today, and she said it still remains somewhat of a mystery. She had my ultrasounds pulled and they insist that there were two separate placentas (fraternal--likely). I even saw them with my own eyes. But the results of what I delivered are still the same--only one placenta (identical). My doctor said they probably don't

have my placenta anymore (that would be

disgusting if they saved it this long, seriously) to examine it again, but that would be the next step. As a logical person, I'm thinking whoever examined it failed to notice that it was two placentas fused together, and not just one placenta. My doctor is still digging into this, but for now I'm still using it as an experiment and letting time determine if they are fraternal or identical. If for some reason they really look similar down the road, we'll just do the DNA test because I need to know for certain one way or the other.

We hope everybody had a wonderful 4th of July holiday! Ours was pretty busy. We went to a parade on Friday and also braved the fireworks Friday night at Lakeside Park. One gift we received was bug/UV screens for the car seats. Without those, we almost would never leave the house. They are awesome! Saturday we cleaned the house (cleaning the house is an event that is worthy of mentioning these days), and had our friends over that stayed with George the morning Charlie and Louis were born. Matt and George also washed the cars, George proving exceptionally helpful as always. He also wanted to wash some windows! Sunday we tried to relax. Tried. Monday it was back to work for Matt as usual.

This week besides the visit to work and my doctor appointment, George had gymnastics class, we went to the park, to the YMCA, and tomorrow George has his first dentist appointment! I'm not sure how well that will go, it could be interesting! This week was also a big one for birthdays. Happy Birthday Maggie, Angie, Dad, and Matt! Matt's birthday is tomorrow, and George already helped make him a cake and picked out his birthday present.

What else...I think that is the major stuff. It is hard to believe that Charlie and Louis are 6 weeks old. It seems like so long ago that they were born, yet at the same time it was only 6 weeks ago. I am guessing they are nearing the 9.5 lb range. Their next appointments aren't until 7/28 so they have a few more weeks before we know. Some of their newborn size clothing doesn't fit anymore, so we're entering into the 0-3 month range. Exciting! Besides their smiles and lifting their heads up, they haven't accomplished any other developmental milestones yet. Not cooing or babbling, and certainly not sleeping through the night yet. We're working on that one hour at a time.

Writing this, I realize I didn't take any pictures of Charlie and Louis and George this week. The last pics were taken 7/4, which is what I have posted. Oops. I'll have to work on that tomorrow and over the weekend. We STILL do not have a family picture of all of us. Another thing to work on. Have a great weekend!