Abby and Amy: Eight Months

So many new things over the past couple of months.  It blows my mind that we are so much closer to 1 than we are to 0.  I feel like I need to start planning their birthday festivities already!

The girls started daycare last week at Primrose.  It was a rough start and they are still getting the hang of it.  It was much like the beginning of anything and there were some things that needed to be sorted out the first few days.  I'm still learning how to juggle their bottle bags, my purse and Allie's backpack while carrying them both in their carseats.  Neither has taken longer than a 30 minute nap at school since they started.  They still sleep great at home but they have been a disturbance to the other kids in their class.  Since they started at 8 months old, they're a little behind on learning nursery etiquette.  It probably doesn't help that at home, they almost always sleep with a noise machine, a blanket and a lovie at this point.  Unlike Allie, who was attached to nothing as a baby, Abby and Amelia's quality of sleep seems highly correlated with what is in their crib with them.

I started back at GE at the very end of December.  It is so bittersweet for me and I think the tugging on my heart will always be there.  I want to be home with them, but at the same time I think that this is what is right for me and our family right now.  The 8 months that I got to spend at home with them was absolutely blissful.  I don't feel like I was ever content during my maternity leave with Allie.  I really don't know why...maybe just being a first time mom.  But this time, I was so comfortable.  I didn't care if we barely left the house and they didn't care if my hair was clean or if I had makeup on.  I feel like the time away from work was really good for me and I'm really happy that I was able to have such an easy transition with returning to a place where I can just jump back into the swing of things.

Abby and Amelia both got their bottom teeth right around 7 months old.  Amelia right away got her 2 top teeth so she has a total of 4.  Abby's top teeth don't even look swollen so I don't think she's going to get them any time soon.

Amelia barrel rolls around to get where ever she wants to go.  A couple of weeks ago she started sleeping on her stomach at night and I think it's so cute in the mornings when I go wake her up and she POPS her head up and smiles.

Abby is obsessed (OBSESSED) with tags and silky things.  My mom gave the girls a ball covered in tags for Christmas and Abby will find the actual tag (like with the cleaning instructions) and will suck on that.  If I put a blanket in her crib, I know that the tag will be soaked when I get her in the morning.  And her lovey has to be washed fairly regularly because it is not spared from her tag sucking obsession.

They are both sitting up splendidly!  Abby got the hang of it a few days before Christmas and Amelia was about a week behind her.  Now that they are sitting up through a good portion of their days, they have started having constant blow outs in their size 2 diapers.  I'm trying to blow (ha) through the rest of our giant, value-sized package of 2s (aka sending them all to daycare where they change them 7 (!!) times a day) so I can move them up to 3s full time.  They've been in 3s at night since Christmas.

Amelia can still fit in size 3 months clothes pretty well but it's getting a little tight on Abby.  Most of our 6 month clothes fit Abby pretty well.  They both still seem to have the shortest legs and the smallest feet.  They both actually still fit in some newborn sized pants that we have.

I stopped pumping the week before Christmas.  Once the girls started getting 6 oz bottles, I was only ever able to get about half of what they needed at each session.  Once I knew I would be returning to work, I decided to finally retire the ol' flanges and tubes.  It was NOT easy this time around like it was with Allie.  After two painful weeks, 5 minutes of draining, a whole cabbage and lots of chest compressions, I finally felt back to normal.  My hair isn't falling out anymore and I don't feel the urge to dip 4 flour torillas into a jar of cookie butter each day to eat as a mid-day snack.  I felt a lot of guilt about it initially (just like I did with Allie), but I'm really proud of myself for making it nearly 7 months.  My goal was to get them to 6 months and I achieved that.  I'm so very sad that it didn't work out that I could nurse the twins like I did with Allie but I'm thankful that I was able to pump for as long as I did.  Now I'm thankful that I can buy formula in bulk from Costco.

Anyway, the girls get five 6 oz bottles each day starting at 7 am.  We're trying to figure out how to handle the evening feed right now.  We typically get home between 5:30-6 and we've been feeding them solids.  But then there hasn't really been enough time to put them down for another nap (even though they're exhausted from not sleeping all day) before their evening feed.  We fed them their last bottle at 6:30 tonight and Amelia fell asleep with her bottle in her mouth.  I'm sure it will get easier...or we will figure something else out.  But for right now, it has been just trial and error to figure out what will work best for them and us.

We haven't been super adventurous with solid foods.  I made two trays of sweet potatoes, which they really seemed to like.  Then we've done carrots and broccoli.  They've had a decent amount of store bought food also.  We typically will split one of the 4 oz packages between the two of them.  They both have gotten a lot better with puffs over the last couple of weeks but there is no doubt that the majority still end up on the floor.  (The dogs LOVE the twins.)  There's a good chance that we are not feeding them enough solid foods and I definitely miss the guidance that we had from Cristina when Allie was an infant. 

I'm really hoping that they start crawling soon but I should probably be careful what I wish for!  Right now, it sure is nice that they stay where I put them when I am trying to get all 4 of us ready in the mornings.  We might have to start actually baby proofing once Amelia turns her rolls into forward motion!

So much to look forward to!  So much to be thankful for!

Abby and Amy: Six Months

We survived the first 6 months!  I'm so excited for these next couple of months.  I feel like we are now coming out of the newborn fog and are going to start returning to normalcy.  The holidays are right around the corner and I know it's going to be so much fun with the girls!

 Abby - left Amelia - right

After their 4 month check up, the pediatrician actually called me later that night and told me that we needed to add in a feed because they weren't getting enough volume.  For most of the past 2 months, we have fed them about every 3 hours starting at 5 am and ending at 10 pm.  Just in the past couple of days though, we have bumped them up to 5 oz bottles of mixed BM and formula and we have cut out the 5 am feed.  I am still pumping.  Usually every 3 hours but if I miss a session, it's not that big of a deal.  Now that they are getting such large bottles, there's no way I am able to keep up so we are probably at about 60/40 BM to formula.  We will keep transitioning slowly to just formula as the weeks go on.  Right now, it's not that big of a deal for me to keep pumping.  The longer I go, the more money we save on formula!  So far, we haven't had to purchase any--we have just been using the samples that we received from the doctor and in the mail.

Abby

We have been putting rice cereal in their bottles for the past couple of weeks and as a result, neither of them have been pooping very often anymore.  Because of this, they have had their first solid food experience--prunes!  They both did pretty good.  Amelia was much cleaner.  Abby was a bit more of a mess.

 Abby - left Amelia - right

Right before the girls turned 5 months old, we transitioned them from their Rock N Plays to their cribs with no issues.  I was so nervous about it, but they did wonderful.  They did come down with RSV in October so we moved them back to their RnPs for about a week. Once they were over it, we put them right back in their cribs and they have continued sleeping through the night with no issues.

 Amelia - left Abby - right

We spent 2 nights at Pappy's farm with the girls in Pack n Plays.  We made sure to take the sound machine this time and they both slept great!  We took turns relaxing inside during the day while they napped and the other one hung outside with Allie.  This upcoming weekend, we are dropping Allie off with Gigi and Carson and the twins are going up to the lakehouse.  

 Amelia

I've started taking them on walks in the jogging stroller.  They have done amazing lately.  I had tried about 4 weeks ago and they were not ready.  I don't think they liked being so exposed.  I ran with them once but it was tough!  I need to get stronger so I can push that heavy stroller.  Now that the time has changed, I'm really hoping to be able to get my runs in during the day so I don't have to run in the dark.  Hopefully over the next couple of weeks it will get easier.

 

Abby: loves being naked, prefers her toes to toys, sucks her thumb, has a dimple on her left cheek, still a cuddler
Amelia: loves her lovey, giggles when you take her onesie off, prefers toys but does play with her toes
Both: lick everything, drool constantly, look at each other and smile, hold hands, working on sitting up, more comfortable during tummy time, 3-6 month onesies, 0-3 or 3 month PJs, size 2 diapers

Abby and Amy: Four Months

Four months old!  The girls are doing so wonderful.  Carson and I were talking the other day and I said something along the lines of, "we might have two, but they sure are easy".  Hopefully I don't end up kicking myself for saying that.  Our schedule is super predictable and they are still sleeping through the night.  I'm excited for the next couple of months because I know it's just going to get better and better.

Two weeks ago, we had a checkup at the doctor.  Abby was 11 lb 2.5 oz and Amelia was 9 lbs 13.5 oz.  We see the doctor again next week for their 4 month well check.  (On 9/12, Abby was 11 lbs 12 oz and Amy was 10 lb 8 oz.)

Nothing has changed size wise--both girls are still wearing size 1 diapers.  Abby is in 0-3 & 3 month clothes.  Amelia still fits into newborn sizes but she is almost too long for them.  We will probably retire all of the newborn clothes this month.

We went to the lakehouse for a long weekend with the girls and they did great in a different environment!  The roadtrip up there was great.  We stopped about 2 hours in to feed the babies and take a pitstop for everyone else.  Their schedule got a little messed up on days 3 & 4 when we were there--I think they were able to hear us in the house and that woke them up early sometimes.  I should have taken their sound machine but that was the one thing I forgot.  They still slept great at night.  The roadtrip home was not quite as easy.  I think we ended up stopping after just an hour on the road and we had to listen to about an hour of crying.  All in all though, the twins are MUCH better in the car than Allie ever was so an hour of crying was no big deal.

(Amelia - left, Abby - right)

Their schedule is pretty much the same.  For the most part, they are still getting their first feeding of the day at 7 am and their last feed of the day at 10 pm.  They HAVE slept from 7-7 but I don't like doing that because I still want them to get that extra feed in the day since they are still so small.  It's nice to know that they can do that though just in case of a situation like we had this last month where it seemed like one of us was sick for about 2 weeks straight.  Nice to have flexible babies that will allow us all to get some extra sleep.

(Amelia)

We introduced formula a couple of days ago.  The girls hadn't had "seedy" poops for a long time and when I mentioned it to the doctor, she said if we didn't see it after about 4 days it might be a good idea to try some formula.  We mixed a BM & formula bottle for both girls and the very next day, they both had a seedy poop.  Now we are giving them one mixed or straight bottle of formula each day.  I am pulling from my freezer stash every day at this point but I am hoping to get the girls to 6 months with breastmilk.  I will probably stop pumping at some point in the next 6 weeks.  There is still SO much milk in the freezer that I think if we slowly transition to formula, they should be able to get to 6 months.

(Abby)

They are smiling all the time--Amelia is more of a morning baby and Abby is more of a night owl in terms of their happiest times.  Amelia still loves to stand a lot and Abby is still my little cuddler.  Abby has rolled over twice now.  Carson has gotten them both to laugh.

I lost about 7 pounds last month doing Whole30 + running 4x per week.  I can officially fit into all of my clothes comfortably!  My body is definitely different and I still need to work on toning up.  But I'm so glad to not be limited on what I can wear anymore. 

Abby and Amy: Three Months

Another month older!  I feel like we are starting to see their personalities blossom a little bit at this point.  Abby is a cuddler.  She loves resting her head on my shoulder and is content to just stay there.  Amelia is a bit squirmier.  She prefers when I help her stand and likes to look at me.  She's also a pro scooter!  Just like Allie was able to, Amelia can scoot herself around the crib and can wiggle her way out of her swaddle.  Then she will repeatedly hit Abby in the face until they are both awake.  Needless to say, we are avoiding this situation for now.  More on the sleep situation below.

 We had their 2 month visit about 3 weeks ago--Abby was 9 lbs 13.5 oz and Amelia was 8 lbs 7.5 oz.  They are both officially on the regular growth chart now!  Amelia is just BARELY on there at 0.5% percentile but she made it!  Their height and head circumference are pretty much the same at 20" and 14.6".  Because they are still small, we are having to see the doctor again in a couple of weeks instead of just the normal 4 month visit.

Neither seemed to handle the pain of getting their shots very well.  Once we got home, before either of them would eat, I had to give them Tylenol.  They slept FOREVER and then finally took a bottle again.  It is very unlike Abby to not eat anything so I knew it was really bothering her.  Thankfully, once the medicine kicked in they both seemed okay.

Both girls are still in size 1 diapers and are wearing the same size clothes they were last month--Amy is still fitting in newborn and Abby is in 0-3 or 3 month.

Sleep has improved dramatically this month but it's going to be confusing to try to explain what we do.  We didn't really follow a set schedule for most of the month but we did make sure to stick to feeding them every 3 hours until the evening time.  We try to feed them twice between the hours of 5-8, whether that is at 5, then 7 OR at 6, then at 8 it doesn't matter.  Then, we let them decide when they will eat next.  Sometimes they sleep until 3-4 the next morning, sometimes they wake up around 11 pm.  If they do wake up again at 11, they will sleep FOREVER.  I typically have to wake them up to take Allie to school.  The first night they slept through the night, they were wearing matching footie pajamas.  So now we refer to them as "the magic PJs" and try to put the twins in them as much as possible.  The amount they are eating has increased since longer sleep=less opportunities to feed.  We give them a little more than 3.5 oz in each bottle.  They are sleeping in their Rock N Plays exclusively right now because every time I lay them in their crib, they spit up all over each other.  Until we can get their reflux under control and until we get them a second crib, they are doing just fine in the RnP.

**Update** So, I drafted this post a couple of days before they turned 3 months old.  Over the weekend, Thursday-Sunday, I started feeding them every 3 hours starting at 7 am and stopping at 10 pm and every night they slept all the way through!  We are loving it and are going to do everything we can to keep it up during this next month.

(Amelia)

Amelia is finally eating her full bottles every time and doesn't give us any issues when we feed her.  She used to always squirm around and just have the hardest time with eating from her bottle.  Up until about 10 weeks old, then everything changed and she did just fine.  She sometimes eats faster than Abby at this point.

Their fussiness is also much improved now!  It peaked around 8-9 weeks and everything has been smooth sailing since then.  We are finally starting to get some smiles.  We have to work really hard to see it though.  We get a lot of leg pumps and it seems like they are trying to smile.  They sometimes 'coo' but mostly it's still just crying that we hear from them.  They hate tummy time and are just now starting to actually lift their heads when they are on the ground.  Amelia is better at it than Abby currently.  Abby just tends to fall asleep and then she gets so so mad when you turn her back over.

(Abby)

I feel 100% recovered at this point.  Over the past month, I lost another 10 pounds so I am just working on the last 10 pounds and then I will be back at my pre-pregnancy weight.  I did sign up to do a half marathon in March and Carson and I are currently doing a Whole 30 this month.  I'm pretty sure with those 2 things going on, I should be back to where I was soon.  My Aggie ring fits, but barely and can be difficult to take on and off.  I occasionally will put it on but if I try to take it off at the end of the night, I need to use lotion to get it over my knuckle.

Abby and Amy: Two Months

The twins turned two months old yesterday!  It was impossible to get a picture of both of them not moving and not crying.

We had a random 6 week checkup where Abby was 7 lbs 10 oz and Amelia was 6 lbs 8 oz.  We won't see the doctor again for another 2 weeks.  (I'm not sure why we're on such a silly schedule but I think after this next visit we will be back on track.)  We moved Abby up to size 1 diapers this month.  Once Amelia finishes out this last pack of newborn diapers, we will move her up as well.  Amelia still fits in newborn clothes but, for the most part, we're putting Abby in 0-3 or 3 month clothes now.

We also had to visit the eye doctor to check their eyes and we had an ultrasound to check out their hips.  Thankfully everything checked out okay and now we just have regular well checks until they're about 6 months old.  We will have to have their hearing checked and their eyes checked again in November/December.

The girls ate on the same 3 hour schedule for MOST of this past month.  Typically, one or both of them would wake up an hour early in the evening, so we changed their schedule to 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm, 10pm, 2am, 5am.  Carson is able to get an extra hour of sleep now and they have no problem doing a 4 hour stretch after eating twice in 2 hours.  They are still eating about 3 ounces at each feeding.  We have gotten more efficient with feedings now and can complete the whole process in about 30 minutes.  During the day they sleep swaddled in their crib and at night they sleep swaddled in their Rock N Plays.  We always have white noise going while they're sleeping, especially during the day when it seems like someone is constantly having their lawn mowed.

(Abby)

I am still pumping and bottle feeding.  At this point, I'm not sure if we will attempt to breastfeed and I'm okay with that.  There is a certain peace of mind that comes with knowing how much they are getting and being able to control that aspect of their day.  I don't think it would be possible to keep them on such a good schedule if I was breastfeeding and the schedule has been a lifesaver.  Pumping might get to be more of a struggle as they get older but right now it isn't a big deal.  Even when I'm on the go, I can use the manual pump.  That's super easy to toss in my purse and I have pumped in the car multiple times now.

They've gotten much fussier this past month, which we expected.  What we didn't expect was the VOLUME that they would have.  I don't ever remember Allie being as loud as Abby can get.  I'm really hoping that in the next couple of weeks they will calm down a little bit.  When I'm alone during the day, sometimes it gets a little tough trying to give them both the attention that they need.  Right now I can pick them up with one hand but I don't know how easy that will be as they get bigger.  Both girls love staring at the fan (their fan is black so it stands out very well against the white ceiling) and are terrible at keeping pacifiers in their mouths.  Something about our children and pacifiers just don't mix--Allie never took one either.

As for my recovery--I feel a lot better now!  There are still times when I move from a laying position to a sitting position that I get a funny feeling over my right hip.  I talked to my doctor about it and she just said that even though my incision on the outside is healed, I still have a lot of healing to do on the inside.  Since she wasn't concerned, I haven't been worrying too much about it.  I have been walking every evening, which has been wonderful, and just a couple of days ago I went for my first run!  I lost 30 pounds super fast the first month but I still have 20 pounds hanging around.  I've been trying to make some good changes to get rid of those extra pounds.  (Like maybe have an apple instead of an entire sleeve of graham crackers...)  The wrist pain that I was experiencing at the end of my pregnancy and right after delivery is now gone, thankfully.  I am now wearing my engagement and wedding rings but I haven't tried yet to put on my Aggie ring.

Abby and Amy: One Month

The girls turned one month old yesterday!  (And today was my due date!)

We brought Abby and Amy home after 15 days in the NICU.  We are so thankful that even though they needed some extra time in the hospital, that it was mostly for observation.  They were off all of their IVs and tubes by the end of their first week.  It was devastating not being able to see them or hold them right off the bat but we knew they were in excellent care with the nurses and doctors and it gave me the time I needed to recover from my C-Section.  I can't imagine coming home with a newborn after having major surgery.

(Amelia)

The NICU had them on a great schedule that we have stuck with since bringing them home.  They eat 3 ounces every 3 hours:  8, 11, 2, 5, 8, 11, 2, 5.  We wake them up, feed them, burp them, change them and put them back to sleep after about 45 minutes.  When we first brought them home, it was taking us a full hour to do everything (even when we were together) but we have all gotten much more efficient.  There is typically 1 or 2 times during the day when one will wake up early and will stay awake until the next feeding.  We have started tracking their day a little closer to see if we can find a pattern.

(Abby)

We saw our pediatrician a couple of days after bringing them home.  Abby was 5 lbs 8 oz and Amelia was 4 lbs 12 oz.  We will go again in about a week and I can't wait to see what Amelia is now.  When we brought them home, they were taking about 2 ounces each feed and they are now regularly taking 3 ounces or more.  We are still bottle feeding.  I really need to be more diligent about trying to breastfeed but I'm so terrified that they will start losing weight.  I also really love the convenience of our schedule and I know that will likely change if we lose the bottles.

(Abby)

We are going through diapers at an astonishing rate.  The NICU sent us home with 2 bags of Preemie diapers and we bought 2 more ourselves (Preemie diapers ONLY come in small bags with 27 diapers from what we can tell).  Once we ran out of those bags, we moved Amelia up to Newborn diapers and we haven't had any issues.  Both girls are starting to really fill out their Newborn onesies but I don't think they'll be moving up any time soon.

(Amelia)

We are being a little more cautious with taking the girls out since they are still so small.  We have taken them to Target once (without Allie) and all 5 of us went to Carson's cousins house once without any issues!  Once they get their shots, we will start taking them out more.

My recovery has been going well.  The first couple of days after they were born were much harder than I was expecting.  I wanted to be able to walk around right away and that was really not an option.  (Recovering from Allie's birth was SO much easier.)  I slept on the couch for the first week and a half and had to take the pain pills they prescribed me for about that long as well.  I lost about 30 pounds in the first 2 weeks but I am still having significant pain in my wrist and fingers on my left hand.  My rings still do not fit.  I have been going on walks in the evening, which has been wonderful.

I'll probably jinx myself by saying this, but so far it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be to have the twins home with us.  Right now they are on such a great schedule that the predictability of it has made it SO much easier than when we first brought Allie home.  I really think nothing will top the difficulty of being a first time parent.

TWINS!

On Friday, May 6th at 1:00 pm and 1:01 pm, our baby girls were born.  Abigail Jean (Baby A) was 4 pounds 11 ounces and Amelia June (Baby B) was 4 pounds 1 ounce.

To back up a little bit...once I hit about 32 weeks, our weekly scans with the specialist revealed that Baby B's growth had slowed significantly.  For most of the pregnancy, the girls hovered between 10-20% on the growth charts.  At this appointment, B had dropped to 5%.  2 weeks later, I had another growth scan and she had dipped below 5%.  The specialist changed their recommendation for a 37 week delivery to a 35-36 week delivery.  I met with my regular doctor at 34 weeks and we scheduled my C Section for Monday, May 9.  I would be 35 weeks, 6 days.  The following week, at 35 weeks, I went for another NST and the babies did not look as good as they had previously.  The nurses hooked me up to an IV and did an ultrasound to check on the babies.  Both babies looked okay enough that they allowed me to go home but my doctor gave me the option of delivering that day if I thought that would be best.  I left it up to her (since she was the doctor, after all).  She told me to come back again on Friday and to make sure that I had my bags packed.  If the babies didn't look stellar on Friday, they weren't going to play around, we would be having the babies that day.

On Friday, Carson and I went to the hospital for the NST.  We had talked about it and decided that if the option was given to us again, we would go ahead with having the babies that day.  When they hooked me up to the monitor, I was having somewhat regular contractions and that was actually causing Baby A distress.  Since A had shown no previous signs of problems, it concerned the doctor enough that they decided to admit me and push me to the front of the line to have a C-Section.
Everything after that was a whirlwind.  By 12:30, I was in the operating room getting prepped.  Just 30 minutes later, both babies were out!

Both babies were breech and Abigail came out feet first.  Once Abby was out, Amelia's arm started coming out first so the doctor actually gave me a shot to relax my uterus and performed a version so she could pull Amelia out head first.  It turns out that Abby's cord was in between her legs, which was causing her to not respond well to the contractions I was having.  It was really a blessing that we had come in on Friday and not waited until the weekend to have another NST.

When the babies were born, Amelia was actually doing much better than Abby despite being significantly smaller and got much higher APGAR scores.  They wrapped them up and showed them to us.  All I could think was how small their little faces were.  Carson got to hold them briefly, then they were whisked away to the NICU.  (Little did I know, I wouldn't see them again for another 24 hours.)  Once the doctor was finished with me, they wheeled me into an observation room where I could not stop shaking.  I felt like my teeth were going to break from chattering SO much.  Carson was able to check in on the babies as they got settled in the NICU.  He had to leave once they started working on placing the IV in their cord and came back to check on me.  I was still shaking uncontrollably.  After about an hour, they took me to a recovery room.  About this time, another patient started hemorrhaging so no one checked on me for about 3 hours.  Thankfully I had brought my own pump, and I was able to pump around 4 o'clock so the babies would have something to eat in the NICU.

 Amelia

Abby

All through that first night, I pumped every two hours.  Every two hours, Carson would take milk over to the babies, then he would wash my pump parts.  Every time I pumped, I got less and less.  By about midnight, I wasn't even getting a drop.  I hadn't had anything to eat since 6 AM on Friday.  After almost 24 hours of not eating, my body didn't have anything left.  I was finally able to eat breakfast at 9 and that made a significant difference in my production.

It wasn't until 1 PM on Saturday that I was able to get out of bed.  I took a shower and Carson grabbed a wheelchair so he could take me over to the NICU to see the babies.

The girls were born at 35 weeks, 3 days.  They stayed in the NICU for 15 days.  While a C-Section and NICU stay might not have been my ideal way to start their lives, I'm so thankful about how everything happened.  As a mother, I'm constantly being reminded that this is all in God's hands and he really does know what is best.  The girls are here and are healthy and that is all that matters.