We Got A Rhythm Going...

Well, almost.

As we have hit the 2 week mark of the girls being home, I think we've hit a point where they are on a solid schedule and Jeni and I are more comfortable with it. We've learned a few things in these two weeks through trial and error...

1. The girls' personalities are drastically different and are showing in full force. While Olivia is content to hang in her swing or bouncy seat for long periods, Sydney is quite demanding on being held, picked up, or snuggled. Often she will be relaxing and then break into a wail that could wake the dead. She's unconsolable until she's picked up. She works herself into such a frenzy that even her usual best friend, her paci, won't calm her down.

2. Jeni's sling will be used heavily in the next few months. With 2 infants demanding attention and the things around the house still needing to be done, the ability to keep one girl close to you while keeping your hands free is vital. Yesterday, Jeni was exhausted and stressed from the girls' poor sleeping and eating habits the night before, so she was sent to bed by me in the middle of the day. Meanwhile, I had a ton of work I needed to catch up on. And, at the same time, Sydney decided that she needed some attention. So, I decided to break out the sling. Strapped on my chest, Sydney and I hung out at the dining room table, while I worked on the laptop. I can definitely see Jeni getting good use out of this in the near future when I go back to work.

3. While they are tiny, these girls can make HUGE messes. Following last night's feeding of Olivia, I sat her down on the ottoman in her boppy while I went to clean up her bottle and prepared to move her to the swing. However, as I stood up she proceded to erupt like a volcano of milk, shooting it in the air and a good foot to a foot and a half in front of her... She exploded like a mini geyser. Astounded all I could say was "OH CRAP!" Although I used a more colorful word... Only a couple of minutes before, Sydney had been seated on the boppy in front of Olivia and would have suffered a direct hit from the spew. Luckily we had just moved her to the swing. Needless to say, we spent the next 15 minutes with lots of rags and Frebreeze cleaning up this mess...

4. Both of the girls have bad cases of reflux. And when I say bad, I mean that Jeni and I were near nervous breakdowns and divorce on Thursday night and Friday. Sydney's reflux was causing her to have extreme crying fits in the middle of her feeds and refused to take a good portion of her bottles. Obviously in cases like this, it makes you feel helpless and stupid. Jeni even remarked at one point that she thought Sydney hated her. :( Luckily, we called our pediatrition who gave us some advice on what to do to try and make it a little better. We've moved Sydney up to a faster flowing nipple and upped both girls' Pepsid doses. Since then, both girls have done better. THANK GOD.

5. God must be bored. Why do I say that? Well, he's certainly given us the most challenging and difficult year of our lives. With us having kids around the same time as many of our friends, we can't help but compare ourselves and our experiences. I feel sometimes that He's sitting up there thinking of new challenges to throw our way that others might not have faced yet. As if it weren't enough that we have 2 infants to care for, one seems to fight us during feedings while the other we fight to keep awake. Getting them to both sleep enough for us to also sleep has been a constant battle and experimentation. Jeni's again asked me in a moment of frustration, "Why can't we just have babies that eat and sleep normally like others?!" Like her question a few months ago of why we couldn't have a normal pregnancy, I told her that things that are worth it are rarely easily attained... I hope God can just help us keep our sanity while we take this wild ride...

Anyway, sorry for the infrequent entries... As you can imagine, just finding time to eat and sleep in between baby duties has been a challenge. So we'll do our best to keep everyone updated.

In baby news, both the girls continue to get bigger. Sydney is now 6 pounds 12 ounces. Olivia is 7 pounds 6 ounces. The nurse said they are right on pace in their weight gain which is great news since that's something that Jeni is constantly concerned about...

Well, here are some newer photos from their first 2 weeks at home.

EDIT: Unfortunately I just discovered that it appears that our PC's monitor has died. Looks like I'll be heading to Best Buy to purchase a new one later today. Therefore, I won't be able to upload any new pics until the new monitor is in place...

Mama Sug and Papa Cash...

So, in our sleep deprivation lives, it's important to note that there are also 2 members of our household who are also struggling with THEIR sleep deprivation and their needs to WATCH over/CHECK on our babies...that would be the Boxers. IT's so cute. We've started calling Sugar Mama Sug because she is so obsessed with the babies and checking on them and has been like this since the day they came home..Cassius, well, he's more recently started being Papa Cash...he's taken to sleeping/napping in the girls bedroom. It's cute. Well, I figured before I went to bed for my sleep shift tonight (while Matt's watching the debate), that I'd post some pictures for our poor deprived readership...so, here Goes....only 3 more days (of the work week, the weekend doesn't count) with Matt home...the depression is setting in for me, and I am sure the girls when the realize that Daddy isn't home as much. :( These are all from photo shoots last week. Sometime in the next couple days I'll post this week's photo shoot pictures, including some from our choices for our Birth Announcements (yes, I am planning on sending those out)!

Olivia....

Olivia with Papa Cash....

Sydney...

Sydney with Mama Sug....NAPPING...their favorite past time!

The girls...together....

Well, those the pictures for now, we have more, but I'm being stingy and will post them another day!

Later!

J

A Never-ending Cycle

Needless to say, Jeni and I are extremely happy for the girls to be home. We were mentally prepared for the lack of sleep that we are suffering through currently. However, I don't think I anticipated how much this feels like we are on a never-ending cycle of feedings, diaper changes, napping, and starting over again on feedings...

We are living our lives in 3 1/2 - 4 hour segments currently. Since the girls eat just about every 4 hours, at about the 3 1/2 hour mark, we get reading for the next feeding which includes warming of milk bottles, changing a diaper (and sometimes an outfit) and picking a spot where they'll be fed... grabbing their boppy and spit up rags and checking the milk to make sure they are warm...

Then the challenge begins. The challenge is sometimes getting the girls to eat and eat well. Sydney starts off strong and eats like a champ but sometimes putters out. Olivia is a much slower eater so keeping her awake during the whole bottle is the goal. The more often we do this, the more we are learning their habits and what to do to get the best results. Unfortunately, these sessions take so long that it seems like by the time we finish, clean up, get the girls in their swing or bouncy seat, we have only an hour or so before we start over again...

This cycle is probably because we are trying to keep the girls at least 45 minutes apart on their eating times so it doesn't always have to be both of us taking one girl at each feed. With them staggered, one of us should be able to feed one and finish by the time the second girl should be starting... That's the plan anyway...

The overnights so far have been fine. We've worked out a routine that allows Jeni and I to get almost 6 hours of continuous sleep. During the overnight time, I let Jeni sleep straight through one of the feedings and feed both girls myself. Then Jeni gets up and takes over and I go to bed. She then covers the early AM feed while I sleep through it...

We are shifting the girl's schedules slightly to be on more convenient times. Currently we are on a 8 - 12 - 4 cycle. Basically 8 am - Noon - 4 pm - 8 pm - Midnight - 4 am are when the girls eat. However, we've decided that it would be better to do a 6am - 10am - 2pm - 6pm - 10pm - 2am cycle. This will allow me to be involved more when I go back to work. I can help with the 6am before I leave and be home in time to do the 6pm and help with the 10pm before bed. We'll see and we'll keep you updated.

Oh well. Baby crying so I gotta go.

Later all.

M