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The calm 'before' picture
They didn't like being cold, wet and naked
Much happier now...
We had to paint Jack's toenail... just in case. Brandon wasn't too keen on the pink color.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jack & Cullen's First Bath
Much happier now...
We had to paint Jack's toenail... just in case. Brandon wasn't too keen on the pink color.
Monday, January 12, 2009
The first week home
It actually went better than I had hoped. The boys sleep a lot and eat about every 3 hours now. We took them to the doctor's office last Tuesday and they had lost a little too much weight. Jack was only 5 lb, 5 oz. and Cullen was 5 lb, 6 oz. The doctor recommended that we continue breastfeeding but then supplement with an ounce or two of formula after each feeding. That worked like a charm. We took them back the very next day and they each weighed 5 lb, 9 oz. They have been steadily gaining weight ever since and still don't have any 'nipple confusion.' They easily switch back and forth between breastfeeding and bottles without any trouble.
I know the doctors and books tell you not to leave the house for 6-8 weeks with newborns because of germs, but I honestly don't see how that is possible. I was going stir crazy after only a week and a half. So we took them on their first outing to the mall to get Daddy some new glasses. We kept them wrapped up in their stroller and didn't let any strangers get too close. Since they are breastfeeding at every meal and are perfectly healthy now, we just trust that they will be fine out of the house as long as we use common sense. Lots of prayers too!
My mom left on Saturday and Brandon's parents flew in later that night. My mom was a tremendous help while she was here. She took the first shift every night (which just happens to be when the boys are fussiest) and also did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry and errands for the entire week. I am so grateful she was here and got to spend time with her grandsons. I owe a HUGE thank you to my sisters who cared for Grandma while Mom was here. Without you girls sacrificing 10 days of your lives to take care of Grandma round the clock, Mom would never have been able to come. I know it was hard and that you all had to rearrange your schedules and wake up in the middle of the night and deal with the whole nursing home fiasco, so THANK YOU!!!! Mom and I appreciate it more than you know!
Brandon's parents are also a huge help now that they're here. It's funny how grandparents are overjoyed to change poopy diapers and clean up spit-up and wake up at 3 am for their grandchildren. I got 7 straight hours of sleep last night and it felt gooooood! The boys have somehow put themselves on a schedule where their 'awake time' falls between 1 and 3 am. We're working very hard to change this but having grandparents around is a lifesaver in the meantime! Thank you to all of our parents who have served us so well with such joyful hearts!
We gave the boys their first bath last week which they screamed bloody murder all the way through. They are getting better and better about baths now that they've had a few more. I've heard that eventually babies learn to love baths. I can't wait for that, soon they will be so fun! Both of them have a little bit of a diaper rash but with a little Butt Paste and old fashioned Corn Starch they are starting to clear up (thanks Mom!). They're too small for the cloth diapers right now so they're wearing the smallest paper diapers available. But even those are a little too small for them and they often leak out the sides. As a result, they go through 3-6 outfits a day... we've been doing a ton of laundry! They also seem to enjoy waiting until they have a clean diaper on and then soiling it within seconds. They often don't even make it off the changing table before it's time for another diaper change. If they keep this up, we'll be broke in a month!
And last but not least, on Saturday morning, the boys had their photography session that my sweet co-workers bought us as a gift. She is a wonderful photographer and I can't wait to get the pictures back and post them!
Anyways, that's a summary of their first week at home. Sorry I can't post any pictures, Brandon took his computer to work. I'll try to post some later tonight though!
P.S. I have major problems posting videos on Blogger, does anybody know how to do it? I get to the point where it says it's loading but then it never, ever finishes loading. I waited 36 hours and then finally gave up and started a new post.
I know the doctors and books tell you not to leave the house for 6-8 weeks with newborns because of germs, but I honestly don't see how that is possible. I was going stir crazy after only a week and a half. So we took them on their first outing to the mall to get Daddy some new glasses. We kept them wrapped up in their stroller and didn't let any strangers get too close. Since they are breastfeeding at every meal and are perfectly healthy now, we just trust that they will be fine out of the house as long as we use common sense. Lots of prayers too!
My mom left on Saturday and Brandon's parents flew in later that night. My mom was a tremendous help while she was here. She took the first shift every night (which just happens to be when the boys are fussiest) and also did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry and errands for the entire week. I am so grateful she was here and got to spend time with her grandsons. I owe a HUGE thank you to my sisters who cared for Grandma while Mom was here. Without you girls sacrificing 10 days of your lives to take care of Grandma round the clock, Mom would never have been able to come. I know it was hard and that you all had to rearrange your schedules and wake up in the middle of the night and deal with the whole nursing home fiasco, so THANK YOU!!!! Mom and I appreciate it more than you know!
Brandon's parents are also a huge help now that they're here. It's funny how grandparents are overjoyed to change poopy diapers and clean up spit-up and wake up at 3 am for their grandchildren. I got 7 straight hours of sleep last night and it felt gooooood! The boys have somehow put themselves on a schedule where their 'awake time' falls between 1 and 3 am. We're working very hard to change this but having grandparents around is a lifesaver in the meantime! Thank you to all of our parents who have served us so well with such joyful hearts!
We gave the boys their first bath last week which they screamed bloody murder all the way through. They are getting better and better about baths now that they've had a few more. I've heard that eventually babies learn to love baths. I can't wait for that, soon they will be so fun! Both of them have a little bit of a diaper rash but with a little Butt Paste and old fashioned Corn Starch they are starting to clear up (thanks Mom!). They're too small for the cloth diapers right now so they're wearing the smallest paper diapers available. But even those are a little too small for them and they often leak out the sides. As a result, they go through 3-6 outfits a day... we've been doing a ton of laundry! They also seem to enjoy waiting until they have a clean diaper on and then soiling it within seconds. They often don't even make it off the changing table before it's time for another diaper change. If they keep this up, we'll be broke in a month!
And last but not least, on Saturday morning, the boys had their photography session that my sweet co-workers bought us as a gift. She is a wonderful photographer and I can't wait to get the pictures back and post them!
Anyways, that's a summary of their first week at home. Sorry I can't post any pictures, Brandon took his computer to work. I'll try to post some later tonight though!
P.S. I have major problems posting videos on Blogger, does anybody know how to do it? I get to the point where it says it's loading but then it never, ever finishes loading. I waited 36 hours and then finally gave up and started a new post.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Home!
Sorry for the lack of blogging, we have been very busy now that we're home from the hospital. We checked out Saturday afternoon and got the boys home safe and sound. My Mom also came Thursday and has been a tremendous help to us! She stayed one night in the hospital with me so that Brandon could go home and get a good night's sleep. She has also helped with the middle of the night feedings ever since we got home.
Nursing Update (males may want to skip down to the pictures):
Good news! My milk finally started to come in on Saturday. Very, very slowly at first but I think the supply has been steadily increasing. My colostrum started to dry up on Thursday so I didn't have really anything to feed the boys for a day and a half. They were also losing weight so we had to supplement with formula during that time. They haven't had any problems at all adjusting to breastfeeding or any of the 'nipple confusion' that I was warned about. However, the formula has had some bad side effects such as giving the poor boys bad gas and constipation. We had two nights in a row where they barely slept and were up all night in pain and discomfort. Their poops weren't looking the way the books said they should (this is how I know I'm a mom now, I'm blogging about my kids poop) and they were shrinking up their legs every few minutes and writhing in pain.
So we've been working very hard on building up my milk supply so as to avoid any further formula for the boys. Unfortunately the only way to build it up is to nurse and pump as often as possible. I now spend the majority of my days on the couch with my EZ to Nurse pillow nursing and pumping. I am still learning how to do it so I nurse each separately. I also let them go as long as they want which is usually about 30 minutes each. I try to nurse them every 2 1/2 to 3 hours so by the time I nurse both and then get them burped and changed I usually have about an hour break before it's time to start the whole process over again. My mom and Brandon help as much as possible with this but it's still very time consuming for me. It seems to be working though, it's been 36 hours since we've had to give either of the boys any formula. Their poops are getting to be the right consistency and they appear to be in a lot less pain and discomfort. I am also getting more and more milk out at each pumping session and have even started leaking a few drops here and there if I wait too long to nurse or pump.
All in all, the nursing is alot of work but totally worth it and love getting to spend some quality time with each boy curled up next to me for a few hours each day. We are hoping that they might sleep for at least 3 hours in a row tonight as long as they don't have gas. That would be wonderful!!
Other than the nursing, things at home are going great. My mom cooks delicious meals for us and I've been getting a little more sleep since she stays up with the boys and their gas until the 3 or 4 am feeding. The cats also seem to like the boys so far. They have thoroughly smelled them have even tried to come over and cuddle with us while I'm nursing. While we're relieved that the cats seem to like the boys, we don't want them to get too comfortable around them. We're very careful to close the door to the boys' room while they're sleeping and not let the cats around us when we're sleeping with the boys. Hopefully, we can find a good balance between the cats and the twins where the cats aren't jealous but also mostly leave the boys alone.
Ok and now for some pictures :-)
Here's the boys being dressed for their ride home from the hospital
Their outfits were waaayyy too big (even though I grabbed the smallest clothes I could find) and they looked a little ridiculous, but still insanely cute!
Here's the classic 'leaving the hospital' shot
They didn't seem to like their car seats too much. I don't blame them, they were so small that they didn't fit well in them and the straps were hitting them in the face.
Here's one of them crying on the couch, I honestly don't know which one though.
Don't know which one this is either... it's hard to tell in pictures unless they're right next to each other
Snuggled next to each other their first night in their crib
Ok, now I'm off to nurse again!!
Nursing Update (males may want to skip down to the pictures):
Good news! My milk finally started to come in on Saturday. Very, very slowly at first but I think the supply has been steadily increasing. My colostrum started to dry up on Thursday so I didn't have really anything to feed the boys for a day and a half. They were also losing weight so we had to supplement with formula during that time. They haven't had any problems at all adjusting to breastfeeding or any of the 'nipple confusion' that I was warned about. However, the formula has had some bad side effects such as giving the poor boys bad gas and constipation. We had two nights in a row where they barely slept and were up all night in pain and discomfort. Their poops weren't looking the way the books said they should (this is how I know I'm a mom now, I'm blogging about my kids poop) and they were shrinking up their legs every few minutes and writhing in pain.
So we've been working very hard on building up my milk supply so as to avoid any further formula for the boys. Unfortunately the only way to build it up is to nurse and pump as often as possible. I now spend the majority of my days on the couch with my EZ to Nurse pillow nursing and pumping. I am still learning how to do it so I nurse each separately. I also let them go as long as they want which is usually about 30 minutes each. I try to nurse them every 2 1/2 to 3 hours so by the time I nurse both and then get them burped and changed I usually have about an hour break before it's time to start the whole process over again. My mom and Brandon help as much as possible with this but it's still very time consuming for me. It seems to be working though, it's been 36 hours since we've had to give either of the boys any formula. Their poops are getting to be the right consistency and they appear to be in a lot less pain and discomfort. I am also getting more and more milk out at each pumping session and have even started leaking a few drops here and there if I wait too long to nurse or pump.
All in all, the nursing is alot of work but totally worth it and love getting to spend some quality time with each boy curled up next to me for a few hours each day. We are hoping that they might sleep for at least 3 hours in a row tonight as long as they don't have gas. That would be wonderful!!
Other than the nursing, things at home are going great. My mom cooks delicious meals for us and I've been getting a little more sleep since she stays up with the boys and their gas until the 3 or 4 am feeding. The cats also seem to like the boys so far. They have thoroughly smelled them have even tried to come over and cuddle with us while I'm nursing. While we're relieved that the cats seem to like the boys, we don't want them to get too comfortable around them. We're very careful to close the door to the boys' room while they're sleeping and not let the cats around us when we're sleeping with the boys. Hopefully, we can find a good balance between the cats and the twins where the cats aren't jealous but also mostly leave the boys alone.
Ok and now for some pictures :-)
This is the nurse cutting off their hospital bracelets before we go home
Here's the boys being dressed for their ride home from the hospital
Their outfits were waaayyy too big (even though I grabbed the smallest clothes I could find) and they looked a little ridiculous, but still insanely cute!
Here's the classic 'leaving the hospital' shot
They didn't seem to like their car seats too much. I don't blame them, they were so small that they didn't fit well in them and the straps were hitting them in the face.
Here's one of them crying on the couch, I honestly don't know which one though.
Don't know which one this is either... it's hard to tell in pictures unless they're right next to each other
Snuggled next to each other their first night in their crib
Ok, now I'm off to nurse again!!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Day 3
Some of you may get tired of baby picture after baby picture, sorry but my sisters are begging for more! Here you go girls!
I love this one!
Jackson
Jackson again
The boys both like to cuddle with me while I blog, and I wouldn't be blogging if it meant sacrificing cuddle time! So we kill two birds with one stone :-)
I love this one!
This is Cullen wide awake. I love his precious blue eyes!
Brandon taking a nap with Cullen this afternoon
Jackson taking a nap next to me
Napping together, they have spent most of yesterday and today fast asleep
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