Our two little ladies are one month old today. I would like to say that this month flew by but it didn't. Two is hard work y'all. Just when you think you have one taken care of, the other one starts freaking out. Thankfully this only happens a handful of times. Nonetheless, it's enough to stress a new Momma of twins out!
Not going to lie though, I often think back to my maternity leave with Jamison. It was relaxing. It was easy. He was easy. I was comfortable going anywhere and taking him wherever. I knew while I was pregnant there would be some challenges. I had fears of how to take care of two newborns at one time. I still have those fears but now I have new ones. I've taken the girls out a few times and it hasn't been too bad - just a whip getting them in and out. We get stopped a lot too. I never realized the fascination people have with twins until now. It is pretty interesting and I'm happy to talk to anyone that chases me down (true story, happened twice in Target our first trip out).
The girls are fairly easy though. They eat every 3 hours, we play (reality: I try my hardest to keep these crazies awake) and then they go down for a nap. They do a lot of napping. They don't necessarily like to nap though. They cry and fuss when I first lay them down. Actually - one of them does. And they take turns each nap on who's going to be the difficult one. This typically only last a few minutes but it could go on almost every 15-20 minutes until their nap is over. Eat, Play, Sleep, Repeat.
I go back to work in two weeks. I'm very fortunate that I get paid leave with my job and I love the time that I've gotten to spend with the girls. Watching Jamison with them too has been such a blessing. He absolutely loves those two. He asks almost every morning if they are going to school with him and acts pretty bummed when I tell him not yet. I'm looking forward to going back to work though and the girls to start at Sweet Peas. I'm ready for our lives to get back to the routine of the every day. It'll be different for sure, more challenging as they grow, but it's our normal and the girls will fit right in.
Enough rambling, let's get to the update :)
Weight: We've been weighing them at home because they don't have another doctors appointment until they're two months old. I'm not exactly sold on how accurate our scale is but according to it today, they're weighing in at a little over 8lbs. The last three times we've weighed them, they have weighed the exact same too.
Eat: The girls each take 4oz of formula every 3 hours. Sometimes they suck that bottle dry and other times they leave an ounce or so. This is totally different from Jamison - he was a vulture from birth! They are also very messy (or lazy) eaters. Milk dribbles down their chin at every feeding. Plus side though - they are not spitters. Jamison had pretty bad reflux that we figured out when he was about a week old. Knocking on wood that the girls don't develop this. I switch from feeding them together to doing them separate. Each of them take about 15-20 minutes to eat so the easiest (time wise) is to feed them together. But it's not that simple doing that. I either put them in my lap with a boppy or I put them in their twin z pillow on the floor which kills my back. They'll soon be too big to share the one boppy so I'll have to figure out another way to do it. For their middle of the night feeding, I will typically feed them separately unless they both wake up at the same time.
Sleep: I try and put them down for a nap 1.5 hours after they start eating. Some days I'm lucky to even keep them up for 45 minutes to an hour so they are consistently getting about a 2 hour nap, 4 times a day. They stay up for a longer stretch after their evening bottle around 6pm and then we've been trying to put them to bed between 8-9pm. After their last bottle around 10pm, they sleep a 5 hour stretch - wake up to eat - then another 3 hour stretch before they're up for the day. I tell you - it's been nice only having to get up once in the middle of the night to feed. We very much enjoy our sleep :) They nap and sleep in their rock n plays. This is what Jamison slept in too for his first 12 weeks until he could roll over. I'm a big fan of the rock n play. It's deep enough to make them feel snug and secure and it's inclined to make them more comfortable. Once they roll over, we'll transition them to their cribs.
Breedland "Bree": This girl is going to be the cuddler. She is also our roller. Girlfriend has rolled over a few times from her front to her back while doing tummy time. Everyone says she resembles me. I don't see it quite yet, but I'll take it! She is also the one that mostly leaves milk in her bottle. She's not as ravenous as her brother and sister. I'm pretty sure she will be the petite one.
Camille "Cami": She reminds me so much of Jamison. Mostly because of those cheeks she has. She does not like to be swaddled, hates life most of the time when I put it on her. But she seems to be the one that can be settled best once it's on. She has started to focus on me and it melts my heart. Bree does this too but Cami does it more often.
Jamison: Big brother is a role that he is awesome at! Just today, he was woken up from his nap because they were crying. When I went in there to get him he immediately asked for them and was genuinely concerned about their crying. He sings them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and gives them such sweet kisses. He's a little loud and gets all up in their business but he is accpeting all the crazy a lot better than I expected! He's definitely has had his moments of acting out - especially at school but it seems to be getting better.
Momma: I'm doing good. I've had a few breakdowns, more than I like to admit, but I'm getting through it. Having the girls has made me so happy but it has also been a huge change for me. With Jamison, I had nothing to compare him to. I just enoyed every minute of his infancy and got excited with each milestone reached. With the girls, I find myself obsessing over what's coming next. I'm also slightly going crazy at home. I was on bed rest for 5 weeks before so I'm really starting my 10th week at home. No fault of theirs but I definitely need to take advantage of these next two weeks and take the girls out every day if I can. I know it'll make me feel better and they'd love the fresh air I'm sure! Taking care of them has been great and with the schedule we started early on, it's been easier. I still get overwhelmed though and those are the times I just need to step back and tell myself that I'm doing the best that I can. I'm still amazed that we have these two little ladies. And it's a blessing to be their Mom.
Daddy: I can't ever stop saying enough awesome things about J. He's a great Husband and an incredible Father. Not only was he Mom & Dad during my 5 weeks of bed rest but he's been my biggest supporter this past month. He was my birth coach and my cheerleader getting these girls into this world. He's my 10pm bottle feeding partner and has never complained once about anything. Even the lack of sleep and him still having to work has not stopped him from being the awesome Dad to these girls and Jamison. God has truly blessed me.
One month down and a lifetime to go!
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