Well, these little guys have been keeping me very busy (hense the lack of blog updates). There is one thing I need to get off my chest first though... let me just say for all you moms-to-be out there, no one really told me how hard being a mom would be - I mean yeah we all know it will be hard, but I'm talking about all the moments where you feel completely inadequet and feel like you have no idea what your doing and are left wondering if you are the only new mom to feel this lost. None of your friends share their moments of weakness and insecurity, or talk about how they too have cried in the shower questioning whether they are going to be/are being a good mom. With as much as I lean on my own mom, cousins, books and the internet - I'm left wondering how on earth moms did it back in the day. I guess I thought I would have some kind of internal instinctual switch that would flip on the second my babies were born and I would just know how to do everything - and when I didn't, I felt like I fell short as a mom. I didn't have the "baby blues" or anything, it was just moments of weakness and insecurity - and I'm sure there will be more as I continue on this journey of motherhood - and now that I have talked to my friends and discovered that they too share in these moments, I wanted to make sure that I put it out there so no one else feels like they are the only ones. OK - now that I have that out of the way, here's what's been going on...
Emma has excellent head control, she has for a while - this child is strong - I swear is she like a tank! She can already sit in her bumbo like a champ, even though she doesn't really like it much - in fact she really only seems to like to be held - yay. Max however is still working on his neck strength, he's not quite there yet but he's getting there. Emma is a smiling queen, she loved to smile, especially when getting her diaper or clothes changed or when you make funny faces/sounds at her. She likes to talk too. She does most of her talking during tummy time and after she eats. Max on the other hand seems to be more of the quiet and serious type. He smiles occasionally (mostly for daddy) and will talk sometimes while he is playing on the playmat. I am hoping that he starts to smile more in the coming weeks. They both LOVE to stare at this canvas painting of a tree that is hung on the wall above the couch - I swear I think they could sit and stare at it all day! They also both seem to enjoy tummy time - which is apparently unusual - I guess most babies don't like it. I really think Max will be the first to crawls b/c he will just lay there and kick those legs like he's swimming, he can even scoot himself forward on the blanket! - whereas Emma just lays there like a log. Neither one are attempting to roll over just yet - but we'll keep trying. Another thing Max LOVES to do is stretch - I think it's his favorite thing. Every time we get him up from his nap, he likes to spend a good 5-10 minutes stretching. The only thing he loves more than stretching is kicking!
They are still on their schedule, eating every three hours (except for at night). They had been getting up around 6a, but recently have started extending the hours they sleep at night and instead of getting up at 3am and again at 6 - they have stopped the 3a feedings and are now getting up around 4/4:30 and then again around 8am - so now we are working on adjusting our schedule. They always have their last feeding between 9-10p and are now sleeping about 6-7 hours thru the night :) I have heard that 12 pounds was kind of the magic number for them sleeping thru the night - and that seems to be about right. They recently had their 2 month check up, here are their stats:
Emma
*Weight: 10lbs15.4oz
Weight Percentile: 55% (big jump!)
Height/Length: 22 in
Height/Length Percentile: 30%
Head Circumference: 38.5 cm
Head Circumference Percentile: 45%
Hair color - still blond
Eye color - still a bluish grey color
*we had to go to the dr. again last week b/c they were sick and she weighed in at 11 lbs. 15oz
Max
*Weight: 10lbs6.6oz
Weight Percentile: 25%
Height/Length: 22 1/2 in
Height/Length Percentile: 25%
Head Circumference: 38.5 cm
Head Circumference Percentile: 20%
Hair color - still brown
Eye color - still brown
*we had to go to the dr. again last week b/c they were sick and he weighed in at 11 lbs. 3.4oz
They have both graduated from NB diapers and have been in the 1's for a couple weeks now - in fact they will very soon be moving on to the 2's! I had a very sad moment a few weeks ago when I finally had to admit to myself that Emma did not fit into her NB clothes anymore and it was time to fold them and put them away :( Most of them she never even wore. Which reminds me... another tip for new moms... don't get a lot of NB clothes - they wore like maybe 10 different outfits - at least that was the case for me. Now we are well into the 0-3's for both Max and Emma. I emptied Max's closet of the NB clothes last week :( I didn't know I would be so emotional about it - but it was sad realizing that they were growing so fast! They are both up to about 4.5-5 ounces per feeding and taking 6 feedings a day. I am still pumping after each feeding and am up to 20 ounces a day - which comes out to the babies getting about 1/3 breast milk and 2/3 formula. My supply is still slowly increasing, so hopefully I can get up to half and half and maybe even catch up to them around 6 months when they start eating solid foods - we'll see! I'm still taking Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and Reglan everyday to help increase my supply. It's a lot of work, and I certainly have days where I want to throw in the towel, but I just keep telling myself that it's the best thing I can do for my babies - and that something is better than nothing. I really try to cherish the moments I have with each of them when I'm nursing them, since I know I will never get to experience it again.
Max still struggles with his reflux and is taking Prevacid daily to help control the acid in his tummy. As a result of the reflux, feeding times are very LONG - I pray for the day that it doesn't bother him anymore - there is absolutely nothing worse than seeing your little baby suffering and in pain and not being able to do anything about it :( Emma has a little reflux issues too - but nothing like her brother. Her biggest issue is spitting up. The doctor calls her a "happy spitter" since it doesn't ever seem to bother her. This girl can go through some bibs and burp cloths let me tell ya!
Sadly, the babies have been sick for about 2 weeks now :( They have both been congested and Max has had a cough which we found out was Bronchiolitis. Because of the congestion, they can't breathe very well, and when you can't breathe very well, you don't really want to eat - so feeding times have been really fun! They have been averaging about an hour each to eat - which isn't soo bad when Jason is here - but during the day it is brutal! I feel like all I do all day is feed babies, pump, feed babies, pump, etc... until Jason comes home. They are slowly getting better though thank goodness! Max was prescribed 2 inhalers, which he hates, and we have been using vicks, the nose frida snotsucker (look it up - it is a MUST HAVE), and saline spray. Luckily, neither have had a fever - I just pray that this ends soon - I don't like having sick babies!
I have more to write about my solo trip to my parent’s house with the babies and Lucy, their first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, our first time out without the babies, etc - but it will have to wait because it is time to feed babies again!
Here's a couple of pics:
