Delia & Elsie
Lonnie & Elsie
Elsie's Feet
Delia's Goofy Face
These are just a few of the photos my friend Mona took of us and the babies recently. Aren't they great? Elsie and Delia were about two weeks old when they were taken. She is an awesome photographer and also a hilariously funny blogger, as well. Thanks, Mona!
There is literally no time to post around here, sorry all. I have sat down to work on a post at least 20 times in the past few weeks , to no avail. My "free time" (ha!) comes in 5 minute chunks at most, and if it is longer I try desperately to do things like shower, tidy up the house, make and/or eat food, etc.
I do get a fair bit of reading/computer/TV time (but its one handed, not at all good for typing!), so its not like I don't have some kind of down time, its just that the time that I don't have a baby or two in my arms is close to nil. I bet it adds up to an hour or two during the day, but that is still not much. Luckily, they don't wiegh much and are pretty cute, so its not so bad.
Nighttimes are killing me, though I suppose it could be worse. Our current arrangement is Elsie and Delia with me in our bed (with crib attached, though they refuse to sleep in it) and Lonnie in the guest bed, dealing with Emma wake ups, if there are any. The babies current nighttime trend is to sleep from 10 or 11pm to 1 or 2 am, and then be awake for 3 hours after that. They will nurse and fall asleep, but as soon as I transfer them down to the bed, they wake and cry. I can nurse one down from there, but the other cries, then I switch, and they switch. The 2 or so hours of crying is HARD to deal with! Its not even really bad crying, sometimes just fussing as they are gearing up, or complaining while I try to nurse one and hold a pacifier in the others mouth, but still, definitely not sleeping.
Eventually, around 4 am I give up and pile up the pillows in a ridiculous arrangement to support them in my arms so they can both nurse to sleep, while I am flat on my back. It works, but its not all that comfortable and really not what I want to get them used to. But what else to do? I think they would fall asleep hard enough to transfer if I walked them around, or bounced them, but I can't do it for both at the same time. So one would have to cry, for quite awhile, by themselves (they tend not to fall into a sound sleep if the other is screaming in the same room -- and if I go into screaming babies room with sleeping baby, to transfer, that one will wake up again). Luckily, though, I am able to get a few more hours with them sleeping on top of me, and can even move them down onto the bed at some point when they are in a deep sleep.
Ah, this too will pass. I hope?
On the upside, they are finally gaining weight! About an ounce a day, which is good, though more would be welcome as well. They both reached their birth weights again this week (which is pretty late, as they are 4 weeks old today!), and will hopefully continue that trend. We are supplementing with formula as well as TONS of breastfeeding, and I am still on the meds, which seem to be doing pretty well. My doctor again reinforced how I really ought to be pumping since I am taking these meds (guilt guilt) but I Just Cant. Not enough minutes in the day!
They are also getting more alert all the time, and they are doing lots of head raises to show off their strong necks. They look like little turtles! I can't believe its almost been a month since they were born, holy cow. Gotta write up my birth story before I forget!
Ack! The girls are already beyond two weeks here (3 weeks on Tues!)
and while I have intended to write a whole ton of blog posts, they
sadly haven't materialized. Mainly, because when I have "free" time
(ha!) there are about a hundred things I want or need to do. And when
I do have time on the computer (which is, admittedly, more often than I
expected!), I still am mostly just reading, since typing requires more
hands (and energy) than I usually have available. But! I know you want updates, so here are a few bits and pieces of whats happening.
Breastfeeding: Since this is basically all I do all day, it merits top mention. Having gone through so many troubles, for so long, with Emma, it was definitely a worry of mine as to how it would go. With twins, no less! Initially, in the hospital, both Elsie and Delia were able to latch and nurse pretty well, in the hour after birth. Hooray! By day two and three, however, things were really painful (VERY similar to Emma, and OMG that was bad). I was able to tell that it was Elsie, more than Delia, that was sucking weirdly and hurting me though, and that was helpful to know.
Also on day 3, we found they had lost more than a pound each, getting dehydrated, and my milk had not come in yet. Ah, memories. We had to start supplementing with formula, though instead of bottles we did syringe and finger feeding, and cup feeding. Since this was all totally familiar, it was not half as stressful and emotional for me as it was with Emma, but still it is Not Fun to see your babies getting smaller and smaller and thirstier and thirstier.
So, I started on the Domperidone, a galactagogue (milk increasing) med I took with Emma, and also Metformin, something new to me that is supposed to help people with PCOS and low milk supply. I am working both with a lactation consultant and a breastfeeding doctor, who is a specialist and very well known in the lactation community. SO glad to have that support this time around. Luckily, my milk did come in, and I think has been getting more plentiful. Both babies are now hydrated and gaining, but as of last Thursday, not gaining enough, and not back to their birth weights yet. To help me keep track of how things are going better, I rented a baby scale -- instead of making me obsess more, it helps reassure me that we are on track, and that I am not supplementing too little or more than necessary. We have moved to bottles for supplementing, and they are getting that (with formula) 2-3 times a day. I should be pumping, and am supposed to do it at least once or twice a day. I think thats doable, though I didn't get it in today....
Luckily, the horrible nipple pain subsided (after taking a break and exclusively pumping on one side for a few days) SO MUCH faster than with Emma -- during the second week, instead of going on for THREE LONG MONTHS. I am feeling so so thankful for that. If it were that painful and hard this time, I am not sure how long I could take it. Because we nurse A LOT around here.
Both girls LOVE nursing, and, like Emma did, nurse very frequently and for long chunks. They would prefer to live on the boob, especially at night. Part of this, I am sure, is because my supply and flow is low and slow, so it takes awhile to get enough. Partly, its because I tend to try nursing to soothe before anything else, because its so easy and takes no thinking/work on my part. I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing, but I realize I need to help them learn other ways to soothe (like the pacifier!!!) so that we have a few more options. So that is currently on the agenda. Will keep you posted. Send any pacifier vibes this way, if you have them.
We are, however, on the upswing, as for the past few days, Elsie has gained around 2 ounces a day! Thats huge! Delia is slower and gaining a bit less than an ounce a day. Elsie is now really close to reaching her birth weight, and also close to catching up with Delia. I am pretty sure this is happening because she wakes up and wants to nurse twice as often as Delia. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, I guess! I try to wake Delia when she has gone longer than 2 hours or so without eating, but she still eats less often and for shorter periods than whiny Elsie. Ha!
All in all, I do feel like my supply is quite a bit larger than it was with Emma, which is good, since I need twice as much! I likely will not get to a full enough supply to feed them both exclusively, but I am feel lucky and happy to be giving them as much as I am currently...
Sleep -- My second favorite thing to obsess about, as you all know! So, Elsie and Delia are both so much sleepier babies than Emma ever was, which is, admittedly, quite nice. Part of this is due to being a few weeks "early", but I am hoping it is also because they are just better sleepers. One can hope, right? During the day, they can sleep a lot, and we can even put them down, OMG. However, they often seem to think that nighttime is for fussing, crying, screaming, complaining, or just being awake, and held, continuously. It is quite unfortunate.
We do have successes, though! Once they are finally asleep, they can go a good 3-4 hours! This is way better than Emma was for ages. But it often it takes hours and hours of me nursing (or bottlefeeding) them, burping and helping them deal with gas, nursing, changing diapers, bouncing on the ball, nursing, trying to ease them into the bed or crib, nursing again, did I say NURSING?!?!? Just like Emma, they Will Not Transfer and tend to wake upon any kind of putting down. This is where nursing to sleep in our bed (cosleeping) worked wonders with Emma, but its really hard to simultaneously nurse to sleep two babies (while also getting any kind of sleep myself!). In desperation I have figured out a few tricks and can actually do it, but I hope we can move away from this soonish. They have got to get the message that sleep is doable, at night, while not being in contact with Mama (or Daddy). Hopefully, the above mentioned pacifier lessons might help with this? Come on, pacifier love! If you have any other ideas, feel free to send them my way!
Well, I have more to say but am going to save it for another post. Next up -- specifics on Delia and Elsie as we get to know them better, their differences and funny quirks, etc, etc. Also, funny Emma-isms. Stay tuned!