The Wilhites Online

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful presents. Cooper and Charlotte are now techies. Between Santa and friends and family they now own 1 laptop, 2 cell phones, a blackberry, 2 stuffed puppies with USB ports and a portable dvd player. (Mostly Fischer Price and Leapfrog brands.)

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-01T11:52:00.001-08:00

Cooper and Charlotte celebrated their first Thanksgiving at Aunt Jill’s house this past weekend. Food was yummy, and they each had their first helping of turkey. I think they were also offered some pumpkin pie when I was not looking. Cooper is also cutting three more teeth. Two at the top and a third in the bottom.

There's a heatwave in Cincinnati....

2010-07-07T09:26:00.002-07:00

but we're so cool we have to wear shades.....

Happy 4th of July!!!!

2010-07-07T09:26:00.001-07:00

Cooper and Charlotte celebrated their first 4th of July this past weekend. We went to the neighborhood parade and cook-out and then had a few friends over for dinner. Cooper and Charlotte fell asleep before the fireworks began, but maybe next year they will stay up late enough to see them.

Two Months Old Update

2010-05-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Time flies….Cooper and Charlotte are already two months old. Both babies are sleeping in approximately 4 hour increments as of now. Hopefully by the 3 month update we will be sleeping for longer than that. The children are becoming more active each day. Cooper loves playing on his activity mat, while Charlotte thinks it’s stupid. Charlotte’s favorite activity is practicing standing which makes us believe that she will be mobile before we know it.
We visited the pediatrician yesterday and were given the following stats for each baby:
Cooper: 9lbs 12oz (10% percentile), 1 ft 9.5 inches (6% percentile), 15 inch head circumference (12% percentile).
Charlotte: 8lbs 13 oz (7% percentile), 1 ft 8.25 inches (1% percentile), 14.5 inch head circumference (7% percentile).

Here are pictures of them at 2 months in their Bumbo seats:

Bath Time!

2010-04-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight was bath night. If it's possible, Charlotte seems to dislike bath time even more than Kramer. But she sure seems happy when it's over. Pictures below of Cooper and Charlotte in their new bath towels. They're in bed now with full bellies and should sleep till after midnight.

First Photo Shoot!

2010-04-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

Things are going well!! Kids are eating and doing great. Will write again with more details soon but wanted to share some pictures from their first photo shoot.

Sitting in Dad's favorite chair...

One Week Old

2010-04-02T15:03:00.002-07:00

Cooper and Charlotte are already 1 week old. We had our first doctor’s visit (since leaving the hospital) on Monday. Both children are doing great according to the doctor. Cooper has gained almost 1 pound and Charlotte is back to her original birth weight which is great. We have learned a few things about our children already in this week as their personalities start to emerge. For instance, Cooper has a little Houdini in him. He tries to maneuver out of his swaddle any chance he can get. He also is a little jokester. He will let you believe that the coast is clear to remove the baby wipe or pee pee tee pee when you are changing him, and then bam! He creates a fountain that sprays everywhere!

Charlotte on the other hand is the hiccup queen. She just looks at food and she automatically gets these hiccups that shake her whole body and turn into this endearing pitiful little thing. One individual who has not surprised us is big brother Kramer. He is always the vigilant protector of the family and comes running at the slightest sign of crying just to ensure that everything is alright. He loves giving the babies kisses and sleeping outside their bedroom door at night. Here are a couple pictures of them at one week old.

March Madness Results!!

2010-04-02T15:03:00.001-07:00

I have tallied the scores from the Wilhite March Madness and am proud to announce the winner is: Great Grandma Jean Hannes with 7 points. She correctly guessed the weight of both babies and the length of Cooper.
Also an honorable mention goes out to Great Uncle Gregg Snyder. He submitted his selections late, but correctly guessed the birth order, length of Cooper and was the only one to select the birth date of March 23rd.
Both individuals should be receiving a present from Cooper and Charlotte in the next few weeks so keep checking your mailboxes!

They're here!!

2010-03-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:39p.m. Cooper Gary entered the world (19 inches and weighing 5 lbs 13oz), followed a minute later by his little sister Charlotte Rose (17 inches and weighing 4 lbs 7 oz). The entire family made it home on Saturday after a long stay at Good Samaratin Hospital in Cincinnati.

Here they are just minutes after being born. Charlie is on the right...

Here they are getting ready to head home from the hospital...

Here they are at home with brother Kramer...

Jennifer will post the rest of the details soon!

Still Pregnant!

2010-03-18T16:55:00.001-07:00

Yes, many of you have called or e-mailed in the past week to check on our progress. We are still pregnant and have done everything we can think of to prepare for the arrival (except decided on names). We've set up the nursery and both cribs, placed the baby tub in the bathtub, washed the first load of baby clothes and bedding (including the crib mattress pads which FYI melt in the dryer), bought a new car...

installed the car seats, and even sold my sports car...

We have about 20,000 diaper wipes, 55 bottles, and 500 diapers on hand. And yet they still have not arrived!!!
Many of you have also asked how I am feeling. All I can say is that everything I do is uncomfortable. It hurts to breathe, eating is bland as I try to avoid sodium and sugar, getting a full nights sleep is out of the question. Our next doctor's appointment is Monday. Hopefully the doctor will want to discuss possible eviction procedures with me!!

34 Week Appointments

2010-03-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

Ob/gyn appointment
We hobbled into our ob/gyn appointment this past Tuesday. I say hobbled due to the fact that I have no feet or ankles anymore...just tree trunks supporting myself and two little ones. It is a site to see!
The first thing they have you do at the appointment is get weighed. I am not going to disclose any total weight gain here or anything, but since my 32 week appointment (2 weeks ago), I gained 12 lbs! Oh my goodness, I could hardly believe it. I mean seriously, how can this happen?
After that shocking news, the doctor examined me and discovered that I am dilated 2cm. Which means we are on our way!! She was not concerned about my tree trunks and said that everything else looked great and to just take it one day at a time. So, we continue to wait.....

Perinatologist Appointment
Today, I visited the perinatologist for an ultrasound. The babies are packed in there like sardines, so it was pretty difficult to get any good pictures, but they seem to still be moving and growing and doing quite well. Speaking of growing, I inquired as to the current estimates for the weights of each baby due to my recent extreme weight gain. The baby girl currently weighs 4 lbs 13oz and the baby boy weighs 5lbs 10oz for a grand total of 10lbs 10oz of baby. Holy cow! When people say "They grow up so fast," they are not joking!! Next appointment is March 18th..... if we make it that much longer.

March Madness Wilhite Style!!

2010-03-10T17:48:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone who entered the pool. Everyone's guesses are interesting to read. Click on the chart below to review everyone's picks!

Also, to answer a few questions: Tyler, we will work on making sure they both have dimples; Alfred, we can not just automatically assume that you are the winner; Busia and Dziadz, no they can not call you Aunt and Uncle; Grampa, we realize that you may think it would expedite things if they had the same names, but we already have way too many duplicate names in the family; and Dziadz, these babies better be here long before tax day!

New Baby Girl Picture

2010-03-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

As part of the specialist appointment a couple of weeks ago we were able to obtain a few 3D/4D pictures. Unfortunately, our little boy was staring straight at the back of his sister's head, so we were not able to obtain any images of him that actually looked human. Here is our little girl's face though. Any thoughts on who she looks like??

We're Experts Now!

2010-02-23T17:17:00.000-08:00

We attended our Baby Safety Class today. It was pretty enlightening. Each couple was given a baby (doll - not real baby). We were given two babies and the couple behind us who are expecting triplets was given 3 baby dolls. We were told that someone had to be holding the babies at all times until class ended. We also practiced diapering, swaddling, dressing, and placing the babies in car seats properly. It was a pretty good course overall. I wish I had brought my camera though so that you could determine who had the best swaddle and best diaper change between Jeff and I.

In other news, tonight we have our baby safety class (reschedule from before due to snow). Also, the doctor today said that everything looks great, and she is expecting that the babies will be born between 35 to 36 weeks. Next appointments are: Birth Class March 6th (rescheduled due to snow) Ob/gyn March 9th and March 10th perinatologist ultrasound.

Hospital Tour

2010-02-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

I was so excited yesterday. Our hospital tour was not canceled!! So, far our birthing class and baby safety class were both canceled and rescheduled in the past couple of weeks due to the snow here causing us to feel a little unprepared. So, when our multiples hospital tour was still a go, I was elated. First thing we learned is that we hope that I do not go into labor during rush hour. The hospital (called Good Samaritan http://www.trihealth.com ) is only a few miles from downtown, but the traffic is horrendous during rush hour. It ended up taking us 30 minutes to get to the hospital when usually it takes us about 5-7 minutes to get to the medical building (attached to the hospital where the obstetrician appointments are located).

The tour was specialized for parents expecting multiples and there were a few other couples on the tour with us including women who were already wheelchair bound. (Jeff was laughing and pointing at them.) Stops on tour included delivery room (for normal people, not special people like us who will deliver in the operating room…sounds comfy right) the recovery rooms, postpartum rooms, nursery, and NICU. We learned that so far the hospital has delivered over 550 babies this year (average 11 a day) including 21 sets of multiples. We also learned alot about the logistics of the delivery process and what area of the hospital mom and babies will be and when. For instance, we learned the hospital is a level III NICU http://www.trihealth.com/whe/mat/mat_Neonatal_Intensive_Care.aspx?id=01.00.00.01.01 and that if one or both of them are in the NICU then they would not be in the room with us, and visitors would be limited in number and time and would need one of us present in order to access the NICU. If the babies are delivered before 34 weeks (March 10th) they will definitely be admitted to the NICU at least for a little while for observation. We also learned that the majority of the postpartum rooms are tiny so if you plan on visiting, it may be standing room only. The tourguide did mention that there are about 10 rooms that have two beds and usually they like to put the multiple families in those rooms due to the room needed for both babies. So, we are hoping that these kiddies are our ticket to some upgraded accommodations.

If you intend to visit our new family at the hospital here is some relevant information that we learned last night. I figure that I will share this information with all of you now to eliminate calls and questions later and as I will probably forget all the information by tomorrow.
Due to flu season at this time no visitors under the age of 14 are allowed.
Visitors should park in the visitors parking garage attached to the hospital. I would recommend parking by either red or blue elevators depending on what postpartum floor we are placed in (most likely 13th ). Use the red elevators to go to floor 13 and the blue elevators to go to floor 7. The parking garage is free even though it has a ticket taker machine and the black/white flags down.

Wilhite Family Shower

2010-02-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

Jeff's family hosted a shower for the babies this past weekend. Many relatives attended traveling from as far away as Columbus and Toledo in the snow. The guests dined on a fabulous spread of food including Aunt Terri's famous punch and yummy cupcakes (both blue and pink). After a few games and socializng, our relatives again were so generous and showered the soon-to-be kiddies with gifts galore. They are so lucky to be loved already by so many!!

If you have any pictures from this event, please e-mail me a few to add to this blog. I better hurry up and finish this post now....Jeff is trying to assemble the carseats and stroller...there have been a few four letter words already....and an "Oops I don't think that piece was important."

28 Week Appointment

2010-01-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Our 28 week appointment went well. Not too much to report. The doctor wanted to make sure that I knew bedrest of some sort could eventually become a reality in the next couple of months. She also emphasized that the average twin pregnancy lasts only 35-36 weeks (which puts us in the middle of March). We then had the following conversation:

Dr: Have you been experiencing any contractions.
Me: No
Dr: (Placing the Doppler on my abdomen to check the babies’ heartbeats which sound great). Do you feel how hard your abdomen is right now?
Me: Yes
Dr: That’s because you are having a contraction!
Me: Oh, well, then yes, I guess I have been experiencing contractions.

Future Appointments: Jeff and I are attending our Child Birth class on February 6th, and the next appointment is February 8th and our next ultrasound is February 10th. The ultrasound appointment is with a perinatologist (this is a high-risk obstetrician , not to be confused with a person who studies dinosaurs) so we maybe will be able to see the babies in 3D.

Toledo Family Babies Shower

2010-01-21T16:51:00.001-08:00

This past Saturday one of my dear sister’s hosted a wonderful shower for her soon-to-be niece and nephew. Many family members and friends were in attendance. After eating a wonderful lunch of soup and salad the party moved to the living room to play a few games. The games included who can measure the soon-to-be Mom’s waist the closest. The winner was Aunt Candy who just barely beat out Aunt Nancy and in last place was Uncle Gregg who was a good 2 feet off. (Good thing he doesn’t have to measure anything at work….oh, wait a minute Dad, you better doublecheck that last window and cabinet order).

Another favorite game was the diaper game where everyone had to guess what the baby ate to produce such a disgusting diaper. A picture says a thousand words:

The babies received many wonderful gifts from some too generous friends and relatives. Their little wardrobes have grown exponentially.

I can't wait to dress them in all the new outfits!!!

See more pictures at the following link: http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=140289&id=646284753

Also, if you know of any other shower pictures circulating around or sitting on a memory card please forward me a link or a few pictures to add to the blog.

3 Hour Glucose Test

2010-01-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

Monday (Martin Luther King Day) also known as a company holiday I spent the majority of the day at the testing center. I arrived at 9:30am sharp (after fasting all morning) and had my blood drawn at 9:50am. I was given the fabulous orange drink, but this time it was double the strength of the test before and I had half the time to drink it (5 minutes). Then I sat in the waiting room and read the latest Danielle Steele novel (Southern Lights - save your money ladies, it was not up to par with her usual romance novels).
I subsequently had to have my blood taken again at 10:50, 11:50 and 12:50 . My arm looked like I was a druggy with all those needle marks. By 12:50 the kiddies and I were starving after not eating for so long. So, we stopped at Taco Bell which was a few doors down from the testing center on the way home and ate a burrito before we even had time to leave the parking lot. After arrriving home, we fell asleep until dinner time…….not a good sign at all, and I was pretty sure we failed again, but.....

The doctor called yesterday and we passed all four blood tests with flying colors!!!! Yeah!!!

26 Week Appointment

2010-01-13T18:41:00.000-08:00

The kids studied last night and the grades were better today than yesterday. The children are weighing in at 2lb 3 oz (boy) and 2lb 1 oz (girl). Thier weight, amniotic fluid levels and other measurements put them in the 60% percentile for babies at 26 weeks. So they are beating out at least 60% of all the other kids (including singles, not just twins). Both babies are postioned head down and are getting ready for their big debut.

The doctor was not too worried about all the F grades that we received earlier this week. She changed the thyroid medication dosage, prescribed an over-the-counter iron supplement and scheduling a follow-up glucose test for next week. For the glucose test I have to go to the testing center after fasting for 8 hours, have my blood drawn, drink the orange drink again, and then have my blood drawn every hour for 3 hours. Hopefully we will be able to get a grade better than F on the next test!!

First Bad Report Card!

2010-01-12T15:26:00.000-08:00

At our last appointment I was sent home with the dreaded orange drink to take home. For all of you that don’t know what the dreaded orange drink is, it is a glucose substance that you have to drink and then have your blood drawn to test you blood sugar levels and determine if you have gestational diabetes. We were told that I should take my blood sugar test sometime before our next appointment (which is tomorrow). So, this past Saturday I finally bit the bullet and drank the orange drink. It wasn’t so bad, kind of like flat orange soda, but then it just sits in your stomach, and you feel like you’re a kid (or an adult) who just ate way too much Halloween candy. After I finished the wonderful orange tonic Jeff drove us to the testing center and I had my blood drawn. We thought all went well until we arrived home last night to a blinking light on the answering machine with an ominous message from the doctor’s office wanting to discuss my bloodwork….

I called bright and early this morning, and my results were less than stellar. It appears you can’t cram for blood tests like you can for exams in college. Who knew? First, I failed the blood sugar test. The acceptable grade to receive a grade of a D- ore better would have been a 130. I scored a 167 which =F. Thank goodness they give you a make-up exam. I also had my thyroid level tested (as I have had Hypothyroidism since my high school days), and the individuals who have taken up residence in my body started turning my Hypothyroidism into Hyperthyroidism about 6 months ago. I scored a big fat .28 on that test. The acceptable range is .5 to 5.0 ( huge range) so I have now gone back to having too low levels instead of too high levels. Finally, I was given the results of my iron levels in my blood. I didn’t even know I took this exam. My iron levels are a little low causing me to be anemic, so once again, the twins and I were given a big fat F!

All these are common in pregnancy especially with multiples. Stay tuned to see what the doctor recommends at tomorrow's appointment and to see if the kids get their grades up anytime soon.

Pack-n-Play Training

2010-01-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

We had dinner at our neighbors' home a few weeks ago. Their brother and sister-in-law were visiting from out of town, who are also soon to be first-time parents. Mike and Beth thought it would be amusing to have the two soon-to-be Dads practice putting together a pack-n-play (also known as a playpen). Click on the link below to watch them in-action. It should be noted that the manufacturer advertises that it can be assembled in less than a minute!
http://sharing.theflip.com/session/8b6325445689bb10f1a35921f2bf54b9/video/8741824

Glider and Crib....Nursery in Progress!!

2009-12-22T16:38:00.001-08:00

Jeff and I visited a few stores around Thanksgiving in search of furniture for the nursery. We soon realized how two of everything can take up major space and also can be a bit costly. The first store we visited was called Room to Grow. They had a wonderful selection of beautiful furniture, but the prices were a little bit more than we wanted to spend on everything. Before we left the store, we entered a drawing being held raffling off a crib. Our next stops (not including the mutiple bathroom breaks and a trip to the mall food court) included Babies'r'Us and Burlington Coat Factory Baby Depot, but alas we returned home tired and empty handed.

The next day though, I was searching around on craigslist looking for a bargain (must be in my genes) and found a woman who was selling a beautiful upholstered rocker/glider and ottoman. We quickly set-up an appointment to see what would soon be our first baby purchase. The rocker/glider was in almost new condition and a butter yellow color. We snatched it up quickly and drove it home before the seller could change her mind. The glider and ottoman have been sitting alone in the nursery until recently....

Remember that drawing we entered (in the first paragraph) well whad'ya know, I received a call from the store saying that our name had been drawn and we were the lucky winners of a top of the line crib! We were so excited. Jeff left work early the day after we received the call so that he could pick up the crib. See pictures below of Jeff and Kramer assembling our beautiful new crib. Now if we could only win another matching one......

Assembly Begins

Confusion Sets In

Time to Read the Directions

The Final Product

Relaxing on the Glider

December 22, 2009 Appointment

2009-12-22T16:29:00.000-08:00

We had out latest appointment today. My blood pressure, protein test, and weight gain are right on target. We did not have an ultrasound today (next one scheduled for January 13th, 2010), but we did hear the heartbeats. The little boy is positioned low on my left side while the little girl is positioned high on my right side right under my ribs. These positions make sleeping on either side (sleeping on back or stomach is already a no go) not the most comfortable thing in the world. So overall the family received an A grade for our appointment today. The next one on January 13th includes an ultrasound and the results of the glucose test (testing for gestational diabetes).

Team Blue and Team Pink!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

Today was the bid ultrasound day. We were going to learn if our little ones were boys or girls. Thw technician started the ultrasound with Baby A. Baby A knew it was his time to shine and was not modest at all. He gave the technician a nice look at the goods. She was able to say without hestitation that, "Baby A is a Boy!" She then moved the ultrasound wand to Baby B who was not too sure about the situation. She proceeded to start hiding from the technician. The technician moved the wand back to Baby A and measured his head, heart, bladder, legs, arms, etc. After about 30 minutes the ultrasound technician went back to Baby B. Baby B was still jumping around and would not easily allow the technician to see anything nor measure anything. Every measurement became a challenge for the technician. Finally, she guessed that she "Looks pretty girly." She was not sure though and called in another technician. With both technicians squinting at the ultrasound machine, they determined after a few minutes that Baby B was indeed a girl.

After the ultrasound we met with the doctor who said that each baby currently weighs 11oz and everything looks great. I also received a H1N1 shot at the doctor's appointment. Next appointment is a couple days before Christmas.

Thank you for all yout voting and your support. We will be taking any and all name suggestions now in the comments section of this post. We can't wait to hear your suggestions!

Starting to show

2009-11-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

I felt it was my responsibility to also contribute to the blog and provide you all with another update on the children. I snuck the picture below while Jennifer was cooking dinner. You can clearly see that the children are growing - and at a rapid pace as Jennifer’s Bengal’s jersey is starting to fit a bit snug. With another win today, the Bengal’s playoff chances improve - which unfortunately for the Jersey, could mean a longer season than usual. I’ll try to provide another update soon as long as my camera is still working. -Jeff

15 Week Appointment

2009-10-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

October 29, 2009

The little ones are doing great according to the doctor and the ultrasound technician. They are positioned one on top of each other as you can see in one of the pictures below. Each baby is approximately 4 inches long and everything looks great with each of them! The ultrasound technician determined that they are each in their own placenta so they are most likely not identical twins. The doctor said today that they will not let us deliver beyond the 38 week point which is April 7, 2009 so there is a chance that the babies may be born on either their grandfather or great-grandfather’s birthday as previously requested.

Telling the Family
October 10, 2009

This weekend we began spreading the news to the family. Let's just say everyone was very excited and very surprised. Below are some of the memorable comments:

Grampa Jeff: "I'm glad I was sitting down. I need to pour myself a scotch."

Grampa Gary: "When it rains it pours!"

Uncle Ryan: "I am still in shock....can you believe it?"

Gramma Linda: "Is this one of your buy one get one free deals?"

Gramma Janie: "Still has her mouth wide open in disbelief"

Great Gramma George and Jean: "Yes, twins run in the family. We haven't had any in the family for a few generations. We are probably due some soon." (Information that may have been helpful previously.)

Surprise!
On October 8, 2009

At 8am we went to the ob/gyn for our 12 week check-up appointment. We were very excited because at this appointment we would be able to listen to our baby's heartbeat for the very first time. After this appointment we were going to begin to tell our family that we would be adding ONE person to our family.......or so we thought!

Our appointment was going as planned that day. We were called by the frontdesk to go back to the examination room. Before we entered the examination room I had to take care of a few routine things such as being weighed by one of the assistants. We were placed in the examination room which just also happened to be the ultrasound room. The doctor entered the room and began discussing how the pregnancy was going. She also inquired as to what I had been eating recently because the scale read that I had gained 8 pounds in the past month....Ooops.

After the lecture concerning proper diet concluded the doctor placed the doppler on my stomach and we heard a loud and strong heartbeat. We listened to the heartbeat for a minute or two and then the doctor said "So it seems you are in the one and only examiniation room with the ultrasound machine. Would you like to get a sneak peak of your little ONE?" Jeff and I replied "Yes."

So, with the monitor facing Jeff, the doctor turned on the ultrasound machine. All of a sudden, I heard, " You've got to be kidding me!" and I turned to Jeff whose mouth was hanging open in disbelief, and then I turned to the doctor who flipped off the monitor. She then said, "Well it looks like we have a surprise for you two." Apparently, I was the only one in the room who did not know what we were talking about. The doctor flipped on the machine again and showed us two little blobs with heartbeats. She said "Looks like you are having twins!" After that I don't really remember too much of what was said. The doctor scheduled an official ultrasound for the next day (see pictures below) and we both left the doctor's office with a whole new found respect for how life can change in a heartbeat.