Life at Our House....These Days....

Hey! So I thought that since it's been awhile since we've been rather regular with the blog that I'd update it and maybe if I have some more time this weekend it will get done twice!

Since we last wrote, we now have a new president elect...Mr. Barak Obama. HOPEFULLY he will be able to make some positive changes in the US and help our image abroad. I have to say as a counselor and teacher I am so happy that we finally have our first African American president. This is HUGE for my kids, now instead of just wanting to be a rapper, basketball or football player, my kids will realize that they too have the ability to become president someday...should they want that. NEAT. Now we just need to get some more women in DC...preferably some on the Supreme Court, I was rather upset when Bush didn't replace Sandra Day O'Conner with another women, so Barak, hear me now...we need some more women on the supreme court, when some of those old fuddy duddies retire...you know who they are! :)

Okay..off the political soap box...back to babies, the point of this blog! Since our RSV shots on Monday we've been on a hunger strike. Apparently we don't feel well since our shots and eating is NOT our favorite thing, which makes Mommy unhappy because I need them to gain more weight and FAST...I want 10 pounders by THanksgiving if possible. :) Poor Olivia is so congested from her shot, it's pitiful. Sadly Matt took out our humidifyer to plug it in and found out that the darned thing had been USED and returned and resold to us. I am NOT HAPPY about this. We're exchanging it tomorrow come heck or high water. Hopefully this congestion goes away soon. :(

The girls are starting to interact more and more, it's cute. THey laugh, smile, cry real tears (esp. when getting their boogers sucked...that's a tragedy of GRAND proportions in our house), and are starting to play more and more. My favorite game is who is the baby in the mirror. THey look so confused when they see that baby! :)

The Boxers continue to love on their babies...bath time is a family event with the BOxers helping as well...it's cute. We have bath time every night now, to get the girls used to a bedtime routine, which is really helping. Shockingly enough they now sleep at least 6 hours a night...which is cool, but sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't still be waking them up to eat in the middle of the night. But, our pediatrician says no, so she's the expert!

As a side note...I had to break in the middle of the blog to feed a baby....so here's the footnote from what happened during/after that!

So, tonight I had my first emergency trip out for something for the girls....I ran to Walmart to get a cheap vaporizer for the girl's room...until we can get our humidyfier we need something for Livi...she's a mess. Poor kid...it sucked to run out, and it MORE than reminded me how scary our Walmart can get 'after hours' so to speak. I swear the man in line in front of me (who practically told me his whole life story) was on something good...or he's just a freak...or both.

Well, that's really all that is going on...here are some pictures of the girls from their GrandDude's birthday.....GrandDude was a sailor...so we wore our Sailor suits for his birthday! :)

Olivia and Sugar...

Sydney and Cassius....

Hope all is well!

J

Our First RSV Shot & Election Day!

Well, actually we had our first RSV shot yesterday, but we were so crabby that Mommy didn't have time to update the blog until today. Currently we are sleeping...we'll see how long that lasts!

WEll, since I last posted...things have been going. Pretty well actually. Despite Matt's brush with a cold, which freaked us both out, since we were terrified that he'd pass it on to the girls. He was so sick that he missed Thursday and Friday last week of work. No fun. For all of us. He felt horrible and sounded horrible and I, well, I had to do both Mommy and Daddy duty. It's hard taking care of 2 babies by yourself. Tiring too. I'm very glad that he is feeling better AND even happier to say we were successful in keeping the girls from catching his cold! GO us! :)

At the girl's pediatrician appointment yesterday Olivia weighed in at 8 1/2 pounds and 20 1/2 inches long...she's still not on the charts for her weight and length, HOWEVER she is in the 5th percentile for her big giant head (as we call it)...so go Olivia. Sydney isn't on the charts at all...she weighed in at 8 pounds and 20 inches long...so she's catching up! Our pediatrician has asked us to continue to house arrest and wants us to get the girls to eat more....good luck with that...but we're working on it. Their biggest issue continues to be eating. :( Poor girls. They do now however sleep for 6 hours after their night bottle, for which I am profoundly greatful! :)

Today is election day and hopefully by tomorrow we'll know who our new president will be. Either way, I can tell you I am going to be so happy to have all these darned commercials over and no more phone calls from pollsters. They act like all we have going on in our lives is the election...um hello, we have babies to raise too! :)

Hope all is well...I'm including a collage made by Grandma Carol!

J

PS...sorry I was so late in getting this on the blog, between computer issues and a bout with the stomach bug I wasn't able to get on the internet until today (Friday). :(

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Sydney & Olivia!

And also from Matt, Jeni, and the boxers...

A Long Overdue Update

Happy Saturday everyone. Unfortunately its been two weeks since we last updated our blog... Needless to say, these last 2 weeks have flown by as we are kept constantly busy.

Since our last update, here's what's been going on...

On Monday 10/13 I returned to work after working from home to help Jeni with the transition of the girls to being home. It was odd going back to work after being home for nearly 2 weeks with the girls. I missed being with them all day. And I never realized how quickly your day flies by when you are kept busy with two hungry and growing little girls. At home it was nearly a perpetual pattern of warming food, changing diapers, feeding, putting down for naps, and starting over again. The day totally gets away from you... Back at work, the day definitely seems to flow slower.

Upon my return to work, Grandma Pat took some time off from work to help Jeni out for the week. It was really great to have some help for Jeni. While we have schedules worked out, the girls are still not easy to take care of, even one at a time. Sydney continues to have extremely fussy times, especially around feedings. Its a fine line of feeding her when she's hungry enough to eat all of her bottle and not waiting too long that shes so hungry that she cries during her feed. In addition to helping out with the daytime duties while I was at work, Grandma Pat supplied some much appreciated dinners. Not having to cook was a lifesaver.

On Thursday of that week, Jeni made one of her first trips out of the house alone in a while. She attended the monthly meeting of the Mothers Of Twins Club. She was able to enjoy a full dinner and adult conversation without interruption of a crying baby or two... I took care of the girls and Nana Sharon came up to assist.

On Saturday, Jeni took another trip out and met her friends for their regular Girls' Breakfast. Aunts Tiffany, Michelle, & Nancy met Jeni at their usual place in Clayton where they enjoyed some coffee and crepes. Again, Nana Sharon came over to help me out with the girls. She needed to get in some more quality time before she went on vacation to Florida. I think she's afraid they will learn to walk, talk, sing, and dance all while she's gone for the week.

Saturday also marked the arrival of the Seattle contingent of Grandparents: Grandma Carol and The Grand Dude (aka Jeni's Stepmom & Dad). They got in town in the early evening and quickly earned the nickname of "the paparazzi" due to their nearly non-stop flurry of photo-taking. We'll give them a pass, since until now they've only been able to enjoy the girls through this blog or through emailed pictures. It was very cute to see both Jim and Carol fawning over both girls. Good thing there are two of them because I'm not sure how they would have coped with having to fight over who got to hold them...

So this past week Jeni had help every day from Jim and Carol during the day, which was nice. I had some work travel scheduled and had to leave on Wednesday morning to go to Truman State. Again it was nice that Jeni didn't have to be at home alone with the girls.

On Friday night, The Grand Dude & Grandma Carol volunteered to watch the girls so that Jeni and I could have a much needed night out on our own. The last time that we had had a night out to eat together on our own was way back in July on our anniversary. This time we headed to our favorite place, Roberto's in Concord Plaza. Jeni had the Filet Roberto and I had the Veal Chop. The highlight of the meal was the shrimp. Delicious! We highly recommend. Very nice evening in general, even with the long wait at the restaurant because of the 2 rehearsal dinners being held there.

As for the girls, they are doing quite well. Both have had 2 trips to the pediatrician and are right on track in their growth. They are still small for their actual age, but are in the lower 30th percentile for their adjusted age (judging their growth from their due date versus their actual birth date). We weighed them today and Sydney is 7.6lbs and Olivia is 8.2lbs.

Well, that brings you up to date. We'll try to stay more current in keeping you up on the girls' progress.

The girls together....

Sydney....

while Grandma and GrandDude babysat...

wonder what they did?

Olivia on the way to Children's for her hip ultrasound b/c she was breech...All is well!

The girls with Grandma Carol and GrandDude Jimmy...

A family picture...aren't we cute!?

Take care.

M

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

Welcome to RSV Season....

It started today and as prepared as I thought I was, I wasn't prepared for what our pediatrician had to say about it yesterday.

Basically it's a look don't touch policy. No visitors but immediate family ONLY. NO family gatherings (we're going to have to recheck on that for the holidays). If you've been by someone who has a cold/flu in the last 7-10 days do NOT come over. There have already been 2 confirmed cases of RSV in STL.

While RSV is dangerous for ANY baby and toddler, it is important to note that it can KILL our premature babies who both have CLD (Chronic Lung Disease due to their premature birth).

So, what is RSV you ask? WEll, here goes (this information comes from Children's Hospital):

Respiratory Syncytial Virus:
-RSV is a virus that causes infection of the lungs and breathing passages. RSV is often mistaken for a cold but it can cause pnemonia and other serious lung problems.
-Symptoms of RSV include: coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, sore throat, low fever, wheezing, and tiredness.
-RSV occurs most often in infants and children under 3. OTher children of higher risk for RSV include: premature babies or children that were born prematurely, children born in a multiple birth (twins, triplets, etc), children with chronic lung or heart conditions, and people with weakened immune symptoms. If your child falls into one of these categories, he/she may get a medicine called Synagis which CAN help prevent RSV. Yes, the girls qualify for these shots that are $1500 a piece in a series of 5 or 7, depending on how long RSV season ends up lasting.
-Your child may continue to cough, sneeze, and have a stuffy nose for a few weeks after going home. Your child may also get RSV more than once but the symptoms are usually not as bad as the first time.
-The best treatment for your child with RSV is rest and fluids. Antibiodics won't work against RSV since it is a virus.
- It is easily spread from person to person through coughs and sneezes, and can also be spread by touching someone with the virus. THe virus can LIVE for many hours on objects and surfaces such as toys, towels, blankets, tissues, doorknobs, and sinks. A person can get the virus just by touching an object that has germs on it.
-Your child may spit up after eating because they have more mucous production.
-RSV is most common in the fall, winter, and early spring.
-RSV is most contagious during the first 2-4 days of the infection, however, it can be spread up to 3 weeks after the start of symptoms.
-Handwashing is the most important way to protect the entire family from RSV and other infections.
-Keep your child away from people with a cold.
-If your child has RSV keep them away from other children.
-A smoke free environment is best for children, as it will make their coughing/breathing worse.
-Your child may need more rest than normal. YOu may need to feed them more often because they will tire easily during feedings. Your child may sleep more comfortably sitting up in his or her carseat.


SOunds like fun. Well, it's not and it's scary and I am SURE we are going to offend TONS of people because they cannot hold/touch/visit with our children like they can normal babies. It sucks, trust me.

BUT you know your DR means business when they give YOU, the parents flu shots and a tetnus shot with whooping cough prevention shots...yes, you heard right, I visited MY children's pediatrician and I received shots. How odd. Convenient though. ALL of our parents need to get flu shots as well, as will the girl's daycare provider. God I wish I could keep them out of daycare this winter, but we're just not that lucky. Just pray they don't get RSV. :(

Yesterday was a rough day...Matt traveled and was gone on business all day (well, after the pediatrician's appointment), so Matt's mom and then my mom came over the help feed the girls in shifts, since I cannot do both girls at once as they aren't far enough apart on their feedings that I can do it by myself. Needless to say I was TIRED at the end of the day, not that Matt wasn't after all his traveling, but the stress of pumping all the time and exhaustion got to me, so Matt was fabulous enough to let me sleep from 10-12 and then 1-4. It was heaven! I felt like a million bucks today!

Today our housekeeper came. God my house looks nice! She's so so sweet! WE ran out to lunch (no we didn't take the girls in, that's against the rules...we ate in the car), THEN we ran to Babies R Us...well, I went in, Matt stayed in the car with the babies.

This afternoon, little Miss Fussy Pants, also known as Sydney was awake from 5-8:30. CRAZINESS. As planned, I gave the girls their baths this evening before dinner time. WE're attempting to start a routine with them...bath, bottle, book, bed. WELL, everything but the book happened, right now that's replaced by the swing so that they are elevated after eating...and so that Mom and Dad could eat their dinner before Dad went off to sleep and mom had mommy duty and baby duty for the evening. :)

I hope all is well...tomorrow morning I"ll download and post our pictures from today...they are CUTE CUTE CUTE I tell you!

J


DISCLAIMER: Last night I posted this and we were having internet issues so I was unable to edit the post. I apoligize, I really am not illiterate. :) I have since fixed and edited my post!

First Pictures from home!

So instead of posting pictures on Jeni's previous entry, I decided to just post the new pictures here.

I don't have much to add since Jeni's message since not much has changed. We are attempting to work out our schedule (or the girls' schedule to be accurate) so that we can both get at least 4 hours of sleep at a time... unfortunately, not at the SAME time...

Oh well, we'll get this adjusted and figured out soon enough.

So, here are some pictures of the girls' arrival home.

First, we strapped the girls in to their carseats for their trip...

Upon arriving home, it was time to introduce the girls to the Boxers. Sugar and Cassius were very interested in them. Lots of sniffing went on. Sugar snuck in some licks here and there. Don't worry, dogs mouths are actually cleaner than humans' mouths...

As Jeni said, the girls love their Pack 'n Play.

They also enjoy their swing!

Finally, there have been a few requests for pictures of the nursery... So, here they are. Jeni took shots from just about every possible angle except possibly hanging from the ceiling fan...

More updates to come in the next few days... In between naps, we'll try and be a little more regular with info and pictures!

M

Shopping has been successful!!!!!!!

I cannot believe that I do not have to haul my tush to Children's Hospital today. Instead I can stay in my tank top and shorts all day if I want too!

And amazingly, FINALLY we have a full house! :)

It's so amazing to finally have them home. Not that Matt, Cassius and Mama Sugar (as we've come to call her), or I got much sleep, nor really did Miss Sydney. Olivia slept like a champ, but Sydney is I think having some issues with how quiet our house is. She's sleeping right now like a champion through dogs barking and some football tv show. The NICU was noisy, esp. compared to what it's like here.

Mama Sugar gets VERY concerned whenever the babies cry. It's cute. She'll come and 'tell' us that they are crying and will lay outside their pack n' play, which ROCKS by the way. I ADORE our soothe and sway pack n' play...so do the girls, it vibrates and plays music, all around a great product. Thanks Aunt Nancy and Uncle Drew, the girls love love love one of your many gifts to them! NOt to be outdone, Mr. Clay slept in the nursery last night when the girls were actually sleeping. Too bad the room doesn't have enough free floor space for a dog bed, but he didn't seem to mind. Right now he's sleeping in front of their pack n' play and keeping an eye on them for us!

There were some challenges in getting the babies home:

1- Our used stroller that was such a great deal doesn't fit our carseats. WHY we didn't figure that out before yesterday I'm not so sure, it's probably my fault, but I'm cool with that. Matt went and bought us a new one today.

2-Apparently infant pepcid is HARD to find, but we found an awesome pharmacy clerk at the Shop n' Save we stopped at (we can only get perscriptions for Matt's insurance through Shop n' Save or Dierbergs), who called around to all the other stores and found one that had their meds for us. Talk about customer service.

3-Our car is EXTREMELY cramped with the babies carseats in it. Meaning, Matt cannot put the seat back as far as he needs to so that he can drive. That stunk. I so just want to pay it off and not have a car payment for a long time, and it's ALMOST there, I think we only owe $5000 on it. :(

4-Our house is a disaster AGAIN. Oh well. Poor Juanita (our house keeper that Sharon found for us and I love). Probably the greatest thing to happen to our home in a long time! :)

5-We don't have enough bottles, but that's being solved right now. Thank GOD we live close to Babies R Us!

6- We need a nightlight.

Other than being tired, all is well. Our babies are adorable and we're VERY happy.

We'll post pictures of the Meet and greet with the dogs later, the nursery, etc.

Hope all is well for you!
J

PS...Laura and Angela...I loved your sign. It will go in one of the babies memory books. :) WE were however slackers and didn't take any pictures of your sign when it was up or the signs that Matt's mom and stepdad Rick put up. :( WHen Matt came in with all of them I said, didn't you take pictures of them...poor guy. He forgot and feels bad. Hopefully Rick and Sharon took pictures and knowing the scrap bookin' Queen, she probably did! :)
J

They Have No Idea What They Are In For...

And when I say they, I mean our loveable, spoiled, pampered boxers.

Jeni and I have discussed many times what will happen when the girls come home and our 2 oldest "kids", Cassius & Sugar, are no longer getting all of the attention. We've been trying to ease them into the girls coming home by bringing blankets and clothes home so that they can sniff and smell them to get used to it. However, I have a feeling it is going to be shock to their world when two loud, needy, and sometimes stinky girls come into this house that they used to rule. I am actually really looking forward to how both dogs will react. I'm not worried at all at how they will react, just mainly curious. I know they will be great with the girls as I have seen them around other kids (who they love). And honestly, the nature of the boxer breed around small children is one of the reasons I was attracted to getting one long ago.

Your Peaceful Days of Laziness are numbered...

And from the news today out of the NICU, the boxers could be meeting the girls as early as Saturday! :)

So, because of my trip to Florida for work, I wasn't able to see the girls on Tuesday. I did stop by the hospital in the morning on Monday to see them on my way into the office before my trip later that day. So, this afternoon after work was my first time seeing them and getting to feed them since Sunday morning.

Since the girls are on an ad lib schedule, its harder to predict when they will eat and thus when I get to feed them. However, I made it down to see them about an hour earlier than usual. I hung out and visited with Jeni while she fed Olivia.

Olivia taking her bottle from Mom

Then when Sydney woke up and announced she was hungry, I changed her diaper and fed her. About 1/2 way through her feed, Sydney proceeded to dirty her diaper. She took her entire bottle (yay!) and then I changed her again. Jeni returned from pumping and came in just as I finished changing the 2nd diaper. Since I hadn't had a chance to burp Sydney at the end of her bottle, Jeni volunteered. During this, Sydney then dirtied a THIRD diaper... The girl was full of it!

Sydney is our Paci girl.

Sydney was quite entertained by her new Tiger that Dad brought home from his trip to Mizzou.

We tucked the girls in and headed home a little earlier than we had in a long time. Since our days of free evenings are about to end, we decided to go out for some Mexican food tonight. It was nice not to have to cook...

We relaxed most of the rest of the evening in between loads of laundry and pumping sessions.

Well, looks like 2 more nights of good sleep left!

Take care.

M

The Rollercoaster Ride.....

AKA the NICU is back!

Going shopping or not this weekend? It's an ever changing story.

So yesterday, was a super busy day for me with Matt out of town. I stayed at the NICU until 7:15pm, so I didn't get home until pretty late (b/c I picked up our Chinese) and was tired. So, I ate, pumped, talked with Matt, pumped, napped on the couch, pumped, went to bed, pumped...I'm sure you get the picture.

One of the things we talked about was WHEN the girls were officially coming home. You see, Olivia still hadn't pooped and wasn't eating the best in the world yesterday. So, I was basically told, Sydney and Olivia MAY not be coming home together this weekend. :( Which made me pretty unhappy. Dr. Saunders and NP Michelle told me that if Olivia didn't pick up her feeds, that she'd have to get her NG tube back in because they were worried about her getting dehydrated. SO, we were put on urine watch. So, Olivia and I had a couple 'conversations' about how she had to go shopping with her sister this weekend and pickup her feeds so that she could do that AND that she needs to poop so that she is hungry.

First off, we have 3.5 hour babies. That's how often they are hungry. So, when Olivia started barking (she lets out little shouts when she's hungry) versuses Sydney's screams of hunger, at 5:45, I got her ready (changed her, no poop) and warmed her milk. She ate ALL of the 50 mils I offered her (Okay already more than she'd eaten at one time all day), and she continued to act hungry, SO we warmed another 15 mils and she ate all that. YAY. You go girl. Sydney of course screamed at 6:05 and demanded that our awesome nurse Michelle (not to be confused with NP Michelle) feed her, and like a champ she ate all of her 60 mils.

Overnight, Olivia (threatened with the NG tube), ate really well, she continued to wake up every 3.5 hours and took 75, 75, 65. AND even more importantly after 6 LONG days she finally pooped. THANK God. I was super worried about that. Sydney of course pooped and ate like normal..which means all of her bottles all night long!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it still sounds like they may be shopping this weekend, but who knows, on the rollercoaster ride of the NICU things could change in an instant. However, I guess I'd better finish up around here and make sure I'm organized for this weekend! YAY. WE.CAN'T.FREAKIN'.WAIT. Give me my babies people and we are outta here...I cannot wait to say that! :)

Daddy's home, I slept MUCH better last night for probably one of the last nights in a LONG time (not that 4 hours of sleep in a row is great, but it's good).

Here are photo shoot pics from today....

Mommy holding the girls.....

Mommy with Sydney (holding BOTH girls)...

Mommy with Olivia (holding BOTH girls)....

Olivia....




Sydney....


Hope all is well,
J