Twin Power

So I am completely convinced that our girls conspire against us. Yes, you heard me, I think our girls have this little world figured out already and they know how to manipulate mommy, daddy and Aunt Sara. The reason I say this is because we can' t have the girls on the same schedule now matter how hard we try. I think the girls get together and plan out who is going to give us the hard time. If it isn't one girl it is the other. Lately, it has been little miss Riley that wants to be up all night howling and giving Sara fits. Well yesterday Riley was pretty calm in the afternoon and evening and was sleeping so nice for us. So what does that mean? It means it is Addison's turn to be fussy. Addison didn't want to sleep when she has normally been the one sleeping so well and not getting up during the night. So you see, the girls get it planned out so they have one or the other givings us fits. They just can't be good at the same time. I know this is only signs of how it will be in the future. LOL

I think Addison just had an off night and Riley may have figured out that it is so much better to sleep during the night rather than screaming her little head off. Now if we could just get them on the same schedule, we could all get some decent sleep.

Tomorrow we are taking the girls to Sara's old childhood friend's baby shower. She is a lucky girl because we are giving her a bunch of the stuff the girls have outgrown, including extra newborn diapers for her little girl. We will buy her some new stuff of course but most of the girls' stuff is almost new since they grow so fast.

Sunday we are doing family pictures with the girls for their 3 month portraits and finally mommy and daddy will get in the pictures along with Aunt Sara. We have a busy weekend planned and I hope I will get my homework done around all of our plans. TGIF everyone!

I Broke My Phone

So last night I realized that Addison's heart medicine was running low and I need to call the cardiologist and get a refill authorized. I was supposed to get her Rx refill at her appointment but I completely forgot. So I decided to stick her medicine bottle in my purse to remind me at work to call the cardiologist. Well little did I know, the cap was not on all the way and spilled right on my cell phone in my purse.

Now the screen is locked down and the buttons are covered in the medication syrup. Luckily, I have insurance but in this instance I was actually eligible for an upgrade on my phone. So now I have to wait for the phone to be shipped out. They said it probably won't arrive until Monday so I will be using one of our old phones until then. I may have lost all the numbers in my phone book so if you are reading this and I have your number, you might want to get in touch with me so I can put you back in my phone book.

Now on to the girls. They have both been great in the evenings with little fussing. I think the increase on their feedings is helping. Riley is still all mixed up on her schedule, awake at night and sleeping during the day. We really need to work on getting that switched around to a normal schedule. This takes effort on Sara's part and she will need to flip her schedule around as well. Until some changes are made, Riley will continue to do the same thing each day and won't learn the difference between night and day like Addison has. Since I'm not there during the day, I don't have the ability to keep Riley up so Sara will need to modify her schedule and Riley's schedule in order for this to work. Wish us luck that we can get this fixed soon.

School is going fairly well I am getting the easy stuff done during the week but the homework is pretty intense. I enjoy finance and numbers but I am not good at the actual statisical math applications so I will be meeting with my brother Steven once agian to get some help on the formulas. Only 4 more weeks to go in this class, then it is on to "Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory issues in Healthcare".

Pictures

I just though I would share some recent pictures of the girls...

Riley Happy 3 months old

Riley later that day after she had a blow out and had to change clothes

Addison

Both girls int their Swaddle blankets

My dad holding Riley

Things have gone better in the evenings with the girls the last few days. I have increased the volume of milk in their bottles and I am still working on giving them time at the breast. It is a slow process to get them used to the breast again and I may have our lactation come out for a visit to see if she has any pointers for me.

Both girls seem to really love their swaddle blankets and they almost instantly fall asleep after we give them a bath, feed them and put them in their blankets. I have to say that the blankets have really helped their mood. They look like little mummies in the blankets and it is nice to have them drift off to sleep so quickly.

Riley also rolled over yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was an accident, but I wanted to document the occasion. Maybe she will do it again and show us she does know what she is doing!!!

Kreativ Blogger Award

I want to thank Tess for giving me this Blogger award. I need to list the 7 things I am thankful for, and the 7 blogs I want to pass the award on to.

My 7 things are:

1. My beautiful twin girls (they are my number 1 favorite). I waited and dreamed of them for so long, I didn't know I would be blessed with two at once and I am so glad we were blessed times 2. I can't wait to learn more about these precious girls.

2. My dh (dear husband). I am thankful for a man who loves me for who I am. He even still loves me after I got us into the mess of having two babies at once. (what were we thinking, lol)

3. My job. In the though economic times I am glad I have a good paying job that gives us free school and I am able to finish my education through my masters degree for free.

4. My friends. Both my in real life friends and my online friends from SK and blogger friends. Many have supported me through infertility, pregnancy, and they help with advice whenever I need some guidance. I don't know where I would be without you all.

5. My family. Many family members have stepped up with help and support while we raise these girls. They are quite the handful and we can always use some extra hands. My sister Sara for being their nanny and taking care of them night and day. For Linda for late night shifts she has put in. My mom for staying overnight shifts despite her epilepsy and my Dad for the emotional support and letting me bounce ideas off of him.

6. Peanut Butter M & M's and Rolos. A girl has to have her chocolate and I hide these little treats in my desk at work. The pumping and breast feeding affords me the ability to eat as much as I like without gaining a pound.

7. Lastly, I am thankful for Zantac, Gripe Water, Tylenol and any other baby medication or aids. Without them I think I would lose my mind.

The blogs I would like to pass the award on to are:

Life With Boys

Just Multiply by 2

Missing Moira Mae

Twins and a Toddler

Loving Rylie, Missing Sophie, Loving Finn

The Bones Family

Love him

So come on blogger friends, what are you thankful for???

Three Sets of Arms and Progress on Breast Feeding

Jesse and I were completely exhausted after the fuss weekend we had with the girls. We were both looking forward to being back at work to get a break from the girls (as bad as that sounds). We both had little time for homework and our assignments are due on Monday nights so we pushed out to our deadlines and we had no idea what to expect from the girls once we got home from work.

Luckily, my mom came over to clean our house when we were at work and that was a big help for me when I came home. She had all the bottles cleaned and ready to be refilled so I was able to sit back with the girls and hug and kiss them rather than worrying about getting the house in order. I was even able to finish my Finance paper at work so I could help watch the girls while Jesse finished his homework. My mom didn't want to fight the rush hour traffic to go home so she stayed and helped me take care of the girls. The extra pair of hands really helped and the girls were well taken care of and comforted with my mom helping out. Addison was pretty fussy and wanted to be held and wanted to eat every hour. Maybe she needs more ounces in her bottle in the afternoon to feel satisfied because she was finishing each bottle fairly quickly and then wanting more. So I think I may up her bottles from 3 ounce to 4 ounces in the afternoon and see if that helps.

Riley and I had some bonding time. Finally I was able to get her back on the breast now that our Thrush is close to being gone. We may not get rid of the Thrush completely but at least it isn't bothering us very much anymore. Riley latched on to both sides and did fairly well at eating from the breast. I still think we both have some learning to do to make the feeding more efficient but she seemed to enjoy herself and I found the breast to be a good mommy weapon at calming her down. She seemed more content and calm eating from the breast then she does with the bottle. I hope we can keep it up and I can feed her through the breast at night and on the weekends and let Sara keep feeding through the bottle and maybe she will learn the difference between mommy and other people that feed her. I have tried Addison at the breast a few times but she has been too hungry to wait for the let down and didn't latch very well so we need a few more practice times where maybe I pump through my let down to help her feed better. That child does not have much patience so we will see if I can retrain her a little bit. Unfortunately, both girls have been spoiled by the bottle flow and it may take a while to get them used to eating from the breast but I am determined to do my best and give it a good effort.

I'm glad I have made it 3 months of pumping and my girls have had my milk since day 1. I really want to keep them on mommy's milk for another 4-6 months if I can. Maybe I will go longer but 9 months was really my ultimate goal, so we will see how things go. I do miss my sleep but I don't want my supply to drop since I have two mouths to feed so I continue to pump during the night. Part of me wonders what a long stretch of sleep would feel like but part of me is so used to broken sleep that my body doesn't even remember what 8 hours feels like.

My plan this week is to get my homework done early throughout the week at work so I don't feel so stressed and rushed at the end of the week. So if you all see me online, remind me to get back to my homework. Thanks for listening!

3 Months Old

The girls turned 3 months old officially yesterday. They are now 13 weeks old if you are counting that way. I'm hoping to get in and get some family pictures done for their 3 month pictures. Jesse and I have been too tired and stressed to get ourselves primped and dressed up to do family shots so we have just done the girls by themselves for pictures. I'm hoping we can get in to do those pictures this weekend. I still haven't scanned their 2 month pictures...tack that on to the "to do list" also.

Jesse and I were on our own this weekend with the girls. My sister had a friend in town and enjoyed some time off from the girls. Friday night my mom Linda came out and helped Jesse with the girls until 12am while I got a good couple of hours sleep before I had to pump. From then the girls were pretty good. Addison has been consistently sleeping through the night. Riley was a little fussy but I was able to calm her down and hold her while she went back to sleep. I spent most of Saturday running around and doing our grocery shopping, laundry, and house cleaning. Right when I was ready to start some homework, the girls decided to be fussy. They were fussy all afternoon and into the evening. Jesse got Addison to sleep around 9 while I got my 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Riley went down as well but decided to get up at 12:30 with me pumping after daddy went to bed. Riley then proceeded to fuss from 12:30 until I finally got her to sleep at 5am. She had a bottle an hour from 12 to 4am and just seemed upset about everything. I tried the gripe water, gas relief, and finally Tylenol to help her feel better. Finally after the Tylenol, she was able to fall asleep. During that 4 hour stretch of time, both mommy and baby cried together. I was over tired and stressed out about the paper I needed to write the next day. I needed a good night sleep in order to be productive and Riley was just making that impossible. I'm not sure why she is so fussy at night. We keep her up during the day in hopes of her be able to sleep during the night but nothing is working. She is capable of sleeping 5-6 hour stretches once she falls asleep but that is usually in the early morning to late morning hours.

I spent Sunday trying to work on my homework and get the house work completed. I was sleep deprived and the girls were fussy through out the day. I was able to get part of my paper written but I have about half of it left to get done today. Then I can breathe a sigh of relief until next weekend when it is time to complete another assignment. Having newborn babies, working, and going to school is more work than I thought. I just hope things get easier as the girls get older and Riley gets on board with the sleeping at night thing. Wish us all luck.

Addison's Cardiology Appointment

I was entirely too tired to post this update yesterday. By the end of the week I am completely exhausted and I just need some sleep to catch up on everything.

So Addison's appointment went really well. She weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces and she is now 22 inches long. I thought she was a little closer to 10 pounds but that is still great weight gain according to the cardiologist.

Addison had another EKG done and all looked normal. The doctor said that all was normal on the Holter Monitor so we are inclined to think that she hasn't had another SVT episode since the one in the NICU. The doctor listened to her heart and everything sounded perfect. Here is Addison looking a litte upset that they needed to listen to her heart:

Addison was a pretty good girl. She doesn't like her blood pressure taken but she did much better with the EKG this time. The assistant waived her fingers in the air and Addison was completely enthralled with the movement which allowed her to stay still and get a good reading.

We discussed the medication situation and the doctor agreed that we should not have to wake a sleeping baby just to give her medication. Her medication scheduled has been changed from 0.3 ml every 6 hours to 0.6ml every 8 hours. This will allow her to sleep and drop a whole dose out of her schedule. Since Addison has not had anther episode, the plan is to keep her at the same dose even though her weight has gone up. Normally the medication would increase with her weight but the doctor wants to try and wean her off of it eventually so we will keep the same dose and as Addison gains weight the dose will become smaller and smaller for her weight until she doesn't need the medicine at all.

This is all great news and we are happy that she may outgrown this condition.

Three Days in a Row

So are we on to something here? I think so. Addison slept through the night for the 3rd night in a row. And for the 3rd night in a row, Riley has wanted nothing to do with sleep. I'm sure that Riley's problem is that she stays up at night and has proven she can sleep long stretches during the day so all we need to do is flip her little schedule around and we might have two sleeping babies.

Addison also had a rough afternoon yesterday. When I got home from work she had just had a bottle and was starting to cry in her swing. I picked her up and held her for a while. We rocked and talked for a while until she finally fell asleep. I thought...finally I can get some stuff done around the house. Sara has been having a rough time with Riley sleeping at night so she has been dead tired during the day and that leaves my house a total disaster area when I come home from work. I enjoy holding the babies and spending time with them but they normally fall asleep after a little while and I can have a couple of hours to get my house presentable again. Well Addison only slept for 30 minutes and then woke up crying again. She didn't want to allow mommy to pump or get anything done. All the while, Riley was sleeping away. Apparently she thinks the afternoon is night time and she doesn't wake up to eat or anything. I was stressed and tired and I just wanted to get the house in order and get the bottles made for the night, but no dice there. Jesse finally relieved me when he came home and I got some work finished.

Addison proceeded to cry the entire afternoon into the evening and was still crying when I went to bed. Jesse had to hold her and take care of the crying from there. I got a report from Sara that Addison finally calmed down at some point and was asleep by 10pm. Addison didn't wake at all during the night and was still sleeping when I left close to 5am this morning. Riley did fall asleep while I was getting ready this morning but Sara is going to try and keep her up as much as possible today so she will be tired tonight and will allow mommy and daddy to get some sleep since Sara is off baby duty on the weekends. Sara did say that Riley was not fussy last night, she just wanted to be awake so maybe she isn't having trouble with Acid Reflux but I will keep and eye on her.

I take Addison to the cardiologist today at 3:00pm and I hope we get a good report on her heart. I will also ask about what to do with missing her medication as she sleeps. I will post an update when we get back.

Another long sleep for Addison

So my little sleeper girl has done it two nights in a row. Last night I gave the girls their bath and bed time bottle at about 7pm and put them to bed. Addison slept from 7pm all the way until 5am this morning. I am so proud of her. My only concern is she missed a dose of her heart medicine. I have a follow up appointment for her at her cardiologist tomorrow and I will ask about this because she is supposed to take her medication every 6 hours but I don't want to wake a sleeping baby to give her the medicine. I wonder if we can give a bigger dose at night or something that may allow her to sleep all night if she learning how to do that.

Riley on the other hand was a monster in a baby costume again. She slept from 7pm until 12am. Woke up for a bottle and a fuss session. Sara got her back to sleep around 2am and she slept until 3:30 and woke again for a bottle and a fuss session. She was still fussing when I left the house at 5am. I'm starting to wonder if she is having a little bit of reflux because she is crying more and having the hiccups. She is also swallowing weird after she eats like she is trying to keep her food down. I'm thinking we need another peds appointment to have her checked out. Of course she is sleeping a bunch during the day because she is up all night so maybe she just needs to get her schedule figured out.

Random Thoughts

So today we get a phone call from the hospital where the girls were born saying they have some problems getting some of the insurance claims paid on the girls. Apparently our insurance only had one of the girls on the policy, newborn Prather. The billing person at the hospital says that our insurance company has trouble understanding twins. After some investigation I found out that the girls were added to Jesse's policy that we had switched to when my insurance ran out in the end of April. So the time period from the day the girls were born April 26th to the 30th, the insurance company was only paying claims on one baby. I then had to contact our HR and add the girls to my termed policy to make sure those claims were paid. What a headache!

I had to take my car in for an oil change and a look at the brakes. I had the brakes completely redone about 20,000 miles ago and the brakes have never felt right. I found out that the right side was almost completely worn while the left side had only 10% wear. How does that happen? I have no idea so I replaced the other side with another $200 dollars down the drain.

School is already giving me stress because I can't find as much time to do my homework as I used to. I have to find some time at work on break where I can have some quiet time to read my text books and work on my papers. I sure hope I can make it out of this finance class alive.

On to the girls, Addison slept almost all night starting at 7pm after her bath until well into the night where she had a feeding and then went back to bed and didn't wake again until about 5am. Riley on the other hand slept until 12am and thought it was time to get up and play and fuss off and on until after 7 in the morning. So we can win with one baby but not the other. So because Riley was up all morning, she slept all day and we all know what is in store for tonight again. Ugh...we are trying to get them on a better schedule and help them separate night time from day time. Addison seems to be getting that concept much better. I think the increased Zantac is really helping her out. We did give her some Maalox in the evening when she appeared to be having a little acid attack but she recovered quickly and went right to sleep after her bath.

More like Twins

Riley being sweet

Addison all upset

Addison being sweet

For the last few days the girls have been looking more alike than they have since they were born. Jesse commented about this about a week ago, then my father held Addison for 20 minutes and the whole time he thought he was holding Riley. We can easily tell the girls apart when we look at their hair. Addison has considerably darker hair but their faces are starting to look alike. Riley used to have a more narrow face but she is filling out and getting a rounder face liker her sister. The have some of the same expressions now which also makes them look more alike. I've even started thinking that they look more alike and I have always thought they looked very different. I wonder how close the girls will look as they get older. I see that Riley's hair is getting a little darker so they may have less differences than we originally thought.

Sara had another fun day dressing up the girls. They had cute little corduroy dresses with tights, bloomers, head bands, and little slippers when I came home from work. I just loved how cute they looked but Addison didn't want to pose for her pictures. She was really hungry and didn't want to be held up for any photo sessions.

The girls were good throughout the evening allowing me to get the dishes, laundry, and house work done. They even gave me extra time to do some homework. I'm sure I won't be so lucky to have extra time for homework like this very often. I just have to take it one day at a time and get as much done each time I get on the computer.

The girls went their first 6 hour stretch between feedings today. The only bad part was the stretch was from 4 am to 10 am. It would be better if they could go from 10pm to 4am, eat, and then go back down for another 3 or 4 hours. We would all get more sleep around here if that was the case. I guess we will keep working on the sleep routine and hope for the best.

Fun with Family

Today the girls had many visitors. I was at work until 2:30 so Sara got the girls all dressed up because my Aunt Joan was coming out to visit the girls. Aunt Joan had not seen the girls since the welcome home BBQ and the girls have grown so much since then. We had a nice visit and Aunt Joan got to hold and help feed both girls. During that time my parents showed up. Dad and Linda were in California again this weekend for my dad's comedy. My dad performed at the Irvine Improv so that required another short trip out to LA. They both passed the girls around and got lots of hugs, kisses, and smiles from the girls.

I'm now in my third week back to work and our routine is getting into place more and more. I'm learning to live with little sleep as I still get up in the middle of the night to pump and help Sara with the girls. We are making progress on the girls sleeping in their cribs and so far the adjustment is going very well.

I start another online class tomorrow, Finance for health care. Now that sounds like another rousing good time. I will have to balance my school work while I am at work in order to maximize my time with the girls when I get home. Wish me luck that I will survive another 6 weeks of math. My graduation date is now set and I will be finishing my MBA/Health care Administration in March 2010! Then that is it, no more school as I don't plan to pursue a doctoral degree.

Here are some more fun pictures of the girls.

Mommy and the Girls

Riley's Sweet Face

Addison showing off her pretty outfit

Riley showing off her outfit as well

See, we like sleeping in the crib together

12 Weeks Old Today

Addison acting hungry

Aren't you going to feed me?

Sorry mom, I don't take cute pictures today

More pictures again mom?

I'm falling over

Riley making faces and showing her double chin

I am still in shock that the girls are 12 weeks old today. They are almost 3 months. The time is flying by so fast that I feel like the next thing I know, they will be off to kindergarten. I know it will not be that dramatic, but it sure feels that way. Things have changed and I am back to work and we are getting used to Sara watching the babies.

We are working out the kinks and we have decided to start having the girls sleep in their cribs at night. They need to learn where their beds are and the difference between night time sleep and nap time. We tried this for the first time last night and the girls were pretty good. I hope they liked sleeping next to each other in the same crib since they really haven't spent too much time right next to each other since they were born. The girls slept well until 4 am and then they were fussy and acted like they wanted to be up for the day until finally falling back to sleep at 6am. They have been extra sleepy today so I'm not sure how the night will go. I hope they just needed some extra zzzz's and they will start getting used to the nursery. We also put in a sound machine to help drown out the rest of the house noises. They seem to like the white noise option. The girls were not awake at the same time today so I only got solo pictures of them. Enjoy!

It didn't take long...

It didn't take long once Riley heard her sister was smiling. We knew she would be showing off her beautiful smile very soon. My parents were out of town for a long weekend and they came over to visit last night after getting back into town. As soon as my Dad got Riley in his lap, she started smiling like crazy. My dad was blowing air in her face and she was just loving it. He used his camera phone to catch the moment and we were all so proud of her.

Riley seemed to be more alert last night and more awake. I hope that meant she would be up for a while and be ready to get some good rest at night. I will have to check with Sara and see how the night went. Riley isn't usually the one who likes to be up and fussy at night, but the bath time relax routine seems to be helping her to have a solid relaxing routine before she goes to bed. We just need to get Addison on board and help her understand the difference between night and day.

Oh grandpa...you are so funny!!!

Pretty girl

Sentimental Thoughts....

Normally the direction of this blog is to dictate the events in our lives. It is a way for me to look back on previous events and capture the growth of the girls. I usually spend more time talking about our days and activities and I spend little time talking about the way I feel.

I want the girls to know how much I love them. It was a long journey to get them here safe and sound. I can still remember how overjoyed I was the morning I saw that positive pregnancy test. I was starting to feel like the cycle was a bust. The money, hard work, and hormones were down the drain. Part of me didn't even want to test that day to see another negative test, but I went ahead and tested anyway. When I finally picked up the test and saw the two most beautiful lines in the world, I could not be any happier. I cried and cried and stared at the test in disbelief. FINALLY it worked, finally we were going to have a family and a child I had wanted for a long time. Little did I know, we would be having two children.

My pregnancy started off beautifully with little morning sickness with only some early fatigue. At 16 weeks we started to realize that the pregnancy was high risk and there was a real chance that I wouldn't carry the girls to term. After I was put on bed rest, I remember wondering if I would even get my girls to a viable state. I was hesitant to have my friends and family plan the baby shower because I didn't want to jinx the situation. Would buying clothes and things for the girls be a bad idea. We didn't even know if my cervix would hold up. Luckily I got the girls past the "24" week viability stage and I could sigh a breath of relief. I still worked hard to get one more day and one more week past that point.

In my third hospital admittance, I was annoyed at having to stay in the hospital for the 3rd time. I was 30 weeks and 4 days pregnant at that point and I was past the 28 week mark where premature babies do much better. When I really sat down to think about it, I couldn't live with myself If didn't do what the doctors asked of me and I had the girls too early and something happened that I could of prevented by staying put. Sometimes I even wonder if I should have accepted magnesium one last time to keep the girls baking longer than the 32 weeks 6 days that I did. Would another week or two inside my womb made a difference in their NICU stay? All in all, I think I did a good job considering the circumstances. The girls are here and healthy when there are many mothers out there who lost their children earlier than I did or those that made it to full term but still didn't take their babies home. Why was I blessed to get 2 beautiful healthy girls (aside from Addison's heart trouble)? I thank God for what he has given to our family and I have to remind myself not to complain about the lack of sleep or constant crying, because I am lucky to have my girls and lucky to be a mom.

Addison and Riley...you have made mom so very happy and I can't wait to learn more about you both. I can't wait to see your personalities and learn what you like and dislike. We are learning and growing as a family and I am very happy with the path we are all on.

Fun with Aunt Sara

The girls have been having a good time with their Aunt Sara during the day. I feel good at work knowing that the girls are at home rather than a day care and they have their aunt to love and take care of them. We were a little unsure how it would be to have Sara watch them all day, but all seems to be going well so far. Sara has been having fun with the camera and she actually got Riley to smile a little bit today. Here are a bunch of pictures of their fun with Sara.

Addison and Sara

Riley with Sara...got to love that face!

Look....I really want to smile

Who doesn't love that face?

Twin Power

Addison's naked baby bum

Tummy Time

I'm also pleased to report that Addison seems to be doing better with the increased Zantac dosage. She went from 0.6ml to 1.0 ml and she seems more calm an happy today. I hope she continues to feel better.

Holter Monitor Results

We got the call back from the Cardiologist finally and the results from the Holter monitor on Addison came back as normal. This is good news and it sounds like we haven't had another SVT episode since she was 2 weeks old in the NICU. I was wondering what was taking so long to get the results so I am glad to hear all is well with her heart at this point. We do have a follow appointment for the 24th of this month. She will probably get the dosage on her Propranolol increased since her weight is going up.

I also called the pediatrician finally regarding the dosage on Addison's Zantac for her acid reflux. Thanks to a good online friend (Tkeys), we learned that the dosage should continue to go up with her weight. Addison seemed to be having more issues with the Acid, so the extra dosage should help alleviate her symptoms again.

Yesterday was a strange day. Addison slept most of the day, only waking for feedings and we tried to keep her awake but our efforts didn't work. Riley on the other hand, was a pill to say the least. She was cranky most of the day. She wanted to be held and wanted to scream and at about 7pm she screamed and cried for 3 hours straight. She finally got to sleep 11. So here is where the flip flop takes place. Because Addison had slept all day, she needed to be awake and scream through out the night while Riley went to sleep and slept until 5am this morning. So what an achievement to have one baby sleep for 6 hours for the first time, but the other baby wanted to be awake and cry. Why can't we get both girls on the same page. Didn't they each get the memo that they needed to be awake during the day (with little crying) and sleep during the night??? Maybe once we increase Addison's Zantac dosage, she will have some better nights here soon. I'm excited that we might be eliminating one of the night time feedings if this pattern continues.

The Best Smile in the World

First Addison Smile Caught on Camera

Riley Trying to Smile

Riley in the bath

Addison in the bath

I posted earlier that the girls are starting to smile. Addison has been smiling a lot the last few days but we haven't been able to catch it on camera. Today, Riley started giving us her big smiles as well. I never thought such a normal human action would bring such extreme joy to my life. I am almost in tears each time my girls look up at me and give me those big toothy grins. Riley was just in love with Jesse earlier today. He was talking to her and asking her what was wrong because she started crying and she just looked up at him and started smiling and almost laughing at her daddy. I think she forgot why she was crying and she just sat there and smiled at Jesse for a good couple of minutes. We are just so happy that the girls are developing so well despite their prematurity. They bring such joy into our lives. Finally we got Addison's smile on camera and Riley tried to give us a smile but she didn't quite make it on camera.

I really enjoyed this weekend more than most weekends after returning to work and not seeing the girls during the day. Riley slept on my chest in the early morning hours on both Saturday and Sunday morning. I missed feeding them early in the morning and then falling back asleep with them on my chest. My weekends are no longer about sleeping in and being lazy, they are now filled with time at home with the girls, and maybe a little extra house work. As the weekend comes to an end, I am faced with another week at work. I think each week will get easier and we will all get into a routine that works for the whole family.

Another Milestone

I am sad to report that my girls are no longer in newborn diapers. After many unnecessary blowout diapers I realized that the newborn diapers were not cutting it anymore. Addison's thighs were getting too big for the diapers so I moved her up to size 1's but I thought Riley could use up the rest of the newborn diapers that we had open but she had a very nasty blowout diaper today that required me to throw her in the bath again. The only problem with the upgrade had to do with the fact that we still had 4 cases of newborn diapers that we got for our shower. I didn't even realize we had so many in the closet. I just figured we would be in newborn size for a while since we go through 16-20 diapers a day between the two girls and they were so small when they were born that it would take a while to go up to size 1's. Luckily, I was able to take the cases of diapers back to Target and Babies R Us and exchange for bigger sizes without the recipts.

Now the size 1's are a little big on the girls and I am glad because they can spend a while in the size 1's and use up the large stock we have in those diapers. The only diapers we have bought for the girls were the few packages of preemie ones in the beginning. We didn't know how early the girls would be so we asked people not to buy that size. I am so glad that many friends and family purchased such a practical item such as diapers and it will be a long while before we have to purchase our own diapers. We have several several several cases of all the sizes all the way up to Pampers Cruisers. Thank you friends and family!!!!

On to another milestone. Addison is smiling like crazy now. It is so nice to see my baby girl recognize people and smile when we talk to her. I about cried the first time she did it and I could tell that it was a social smile rather than an involuntary one. Now she is doing it all day long and I just can't get enough of her beautiful smile. Now I haven't been able to catch one on camera yet but I hope to get one soon. Riley is not quite there, she even likes to stare at the wall instead of the person holding her, but I'm sure she will bless us with her smiles here soon.

My first week of work went well but I have to say I was completely exhausted on Friday night. Working full time and being a mom is a tough job. I hope to find a good balance here soon so I can enjoy Friday nights instead of walking around my house like a zombie.

Long Day

I have had a long day today. I don't think I even had 10 minutes to myself. I only had 20 minutes to sit and hug my girls when I got home, then I was off to clean the house, make the girls bottles, do the dishes, and clean up after my sister made dinner. My team at work is coming to my house to do a team builder tomorrow and I didn't think about how hard it would be to get the house ready while taking care of the girls. We are doing a BBQ swim party at my house since I live close to work and the team wanted to meet the girls. I'm looking forward to a half day at work and spending time with the team but I know I will be dead tired after everything is over. We also have some good friends coming over to meet the girls and for us to meet their son Jack (Cougar) later tomorrow night as well. I can't wait for Saturday when I can sleep a little more and spend the day kissing my girls.

Here are some pictures of the girls that Sara has taken over the last few days. I'm glad she is catching their moments while I am at work. Enjoy!

Pumping at Work

Part of my fear of returning to work had to do with how I was going to be able to keep up with my pumping at work. Prior to going out on my leave I didn't know if we had a private room and I never heard or talked to any mom's at my job that were trying to pump at work. Well, when I got back to work I found out we have a private "Mother Room" that has a quiet space for us to pump and even a refrigerator we can store our milk in. The room is so convenient and I like the fact it is locked and private.

My pumping schedule now consists of pumping at 12:30am, 4:30am, 8:30am, 12:30pm, 4:30pm, and again 8:30pm. Instead of pumping 8 times a day like I used to, I am getting the same if not more milk out of 6 pumping sessions a day. At each session I get around 8 to 9 ounces. So I am averaging around 50+ ounces a day. The girls are only taking 2.5 ounces per feeding and they are down to 6-7 feedings a day. At the end of the day I have close to 8-15 extra ounces that I can freeze. At work I only have to pump 2 times which works out great in my schedule. I hope things continue to go well and I am still taking the Fenugreek to make sure my supply stays up. If I could ever get rid of this Thrush, I would put the girls back on the breast, but for now I have to be an exclusive pumper.

Better night, Better Day

Sara had planned on coming home late in the night Monday or early in the morning Tuesday from her trip to LA. The girls were driving home after a day at Disneyland so my step-mom Linda came over to help with the night shift again. Since we have been having so much trouble with Addison sleeping and her reflux I decided to add the 1 teaspoon of rice cereal to her bottle to see if the thicker liquid would alleviate some of the pain and help her sleep longer. I know there is some debate as to whether rice cereal should be used in a baby's bottle when they are so young, but it appears as though the rice cereal helped because Addison slept for 3 hours during the time she was normally fussy, had a bottle at 1:30 am and then didn't have another bottle until after 6am. I left the house at 5:30 so I'm not sure what time Linda fed her the bottle but that was a much better night than we have been having with her. She did get a little cranky from 1:30 to 3:00 but not as bad as before. I don't know if it was the rice cereal or she just decided to sleep better, but either way, I am happy.

I was able to get more sleep therefore I felt more rested at work today. We had more of a normal routine and I wasn't so stressed out by our childcare situation. I'm still missing the girls while I am at work, but as sad as it sounds, I am enjoying the little break I am getting away from the girls. The Adult interaction at work is nice and I have missed some of my co-workers so overall I am having a good time at work and getting back into the swing of things. Since my body is so used to little sleep, It is easier to get out of bed to go to work in the morning. Pre-children, I hated getting out of bed and I counted the days down until Friday knowing I would be able to sleep in on Saturday and Sunday. Now, sleep is not as important but I would love a long 8 stretch to sleep, but my pumping schedule won't allow for that. Or should I say, my bbs won't allow that to happen. I get engorged pretty easily since I have such a great milk supply. I am pumping an extra 8-15 ounces of milk each day that gets to go in the freezer so I should have a good amount frozen when I do decided to wean off the pumping. As it stands now, I would like them to get my milk at least until they are 9 months and maybe I can keep it up until they are a year old. That would be 10 months corrected age and I would be satisfied with that.

All in all, the whole family is adjusting to the changes of mommy and daddy back at work. Jesse has been staying up later at night to help with the 11pm feeding so he has been needing a nap when he comes home but the girls seem to want to nap at the same time so that gives me time to get the housework done and get myself prepared for the next day of work.

I get my new vacation time in September so maybe I can take a day or two off with the girls here and there and we are taking the girls on their first vacation to Wisconsin in December. We have some good things to look forward to.

1st Day back to work

I was fairly rested for my first day back to work despite our scramble to get child care in place. I was sad to leave my girls all day and I missed them terribly. I brought several framed pictures of them to put on my desk so I could stare at them all day.

In a way it was nice to be away and have a "break" from the girls. I have a different set of stresses at work but they can be more manageable. My day started with getting through my emails. When I opened outlook I had 1471 emails to get through. I guess when you are out of work for 6 months, your email really piles up. Luckily our phones had been reset several times at work so I only had 1 lonely voice mail to listen to. So after getting through the emails and showing off the pictures of the girls, I was able to get back to work. I quickly got back into the swing of things and got my first student registered for class. I felt like I hadn't missed a step.

Tonight may be rough as Linda will be tired from her night with the girls and her day at work herself. I hope we figure out a way for us both to get some sleep and we will have Sara back for tomorrow.

Crazy Turn of Events

I knew that going back to work was going to be stressful but I was not prepared for things to get really stressful. My sister is out of town on a planned vacation that just happened to fall on the weekend before I go back to work. She isn't due home until late tonight. So knowing this I enlisted my mother to help me over the weekend so I could get some sleep and get things done before heading back to work. My mom came over on Thursday night and was staying at our house through Monday to watch the girls until my sister got home.

So Thursday night through Saturday night were complete disasters. The babies didn't want to sleep for anything and Addison was being a complete pill. My mom wasn't prepared for the lack of sleep at all. Now to back track, my mom has Epilepsy but she doesn't have seizures often unless their is an increased stress in her life. Well, 3 nights of no sleep spells stress for my mom and she had a seizure late Sunday morning. At least she had gone to go take a nap and she was in bed when it happened. I don't know what would of happened if she had one while taking care of the girls. Anyway, she is doing okay now but I couldn't have her watch the girls on Monday after what happened.

So after the seizure, Jesse and I went into freak out mode trying to figure out how we were going to get through the night and get some sleep before going to work and who was going to watch the girls on Monday. My step mom volunteered to come over and help with the night shift (bless her heart) and my friend Brea could come out at watch the girls. So we got the plan in motion and my step-mom came over and let me sleep all night so I could be awake and work the next day, but in the process, she didn't get much sleep. Addison is still cranky at night and isn't going much longer than a 2 hour stretch without crying or needing to feed. Riley can go 5 hours without waking up but Addison is making it hard for anyone to get sleep. I wish we could figure out what to do to help her sleep more.

Happy 4th

I feel as though we should do something special to celebrate our country's birthday with the girls, but they are too young to really enjoy anything about today's festivities. For one, it is 110 degrees here in Phoenix and little babies don't need to be out in that heat, nor do they really want to hear the loud bangs of the fireworks. The girls did get cute little 4th of July dresses from their great Gram and Aunt Sarah. We planned on putting them in those dresses today but we didn't want them to ruin the dresses early in the day so right now they are just wearing onesies. We are taking the girls to JC Penney's tomorrow 2 month/4th of July pictures so we may save the dresses for tomorrow.

Speaking of clothes, the girls were wearing preemie size clothes for the longest time and I couldn't really find preemie clothes in the stores so we rotated the same few outfits. Recently they moved out of the preemie diapers and out of the preemie clothes and into the newborn ones. Now all of the sudden they have grown out of their newborn clothes, especially the Carter's ones that run really small. I just went through my giant bin of clothes that I got from my shower and some other twin familes in the area and I found a a ton of 0-3 month clothes that they can now wear. I was sad to see some clothes that they never wore that they have already outgrown. I guess that is common when you have children and people give you all kids of clothes, and many don't fit the season. I wish I had someone to pass these clothes off to since we don't plan on having any more children. Maybe I can put them up for sale on Craigslist or donate them.

Now on to the girls' problem with sleeping at night. We had another semi-bad night with them. They started their fuss session at 10:00pm and this lasted until 2:30am. The girls take turns screaming their heads off, eating several bottles, and eventually falling asleep once grandma and mom are exhausted. So once again I had very little sleep and I am wondering how I am going to survive going back to work. Sara plans on doing the night shift with them but I hate to put her through nights like we have been having. I just hope we are on the tail end of this growth spurt and the girls will begin to go to sleep earlier and sleep longer here in the near future. Someone tell me this gets easier.

Now for some cute pictures:

Addison just spit up on Riley
We are just hanging out

Addison with my Mom

Riley falling asleep in her swing

Growth Spurt?

Riley Sleeping on Brea's chest

Addison

I have been wondering why the girls have been so cranky over the last few days and I have come to the conclusion that they are going through a growth spurt. Sara left on Wednesday afternoon to spend time with her friends in LA for the 4th of July weekend so I have been left to take care of the girls by myself. After one night alone, I called in my mother to help me out. Sara had indicated that the girls were not having very good nights and they were extra hungry and not sleeping as much as they normally do. So on Wednesday night I had full duty by myself and lets just say, I only got about 2.5 hours of broken sleep. The girls were fussy starting at 9pm and this last until 5am. Jesse had to go to work the next day so he was only able to stay up with me until 11pm. The girls took turns being fussy and needing to eat almost every hour instead of their nice 3-4 hour stretches that they normally do. I was very exhausted by about 1am but the terror night continued until finally I was able to get them to sleep from 5am to 7am and then again until 10am. I wasn't able to continue sleeping with them because the developmental specialist was coming to the house at 12 noon to take a look at the girls and explain the Best Fit program.

The girls checked out great because developmentally they are still newborns and aren't doing much besides sleeping, eating, and pooping. The girls are only 2 weeks old adjusted age yet they do some things as though they are somewhere between their adjusted age and their chronological age. Addison is holding her head up very well and is beginning to socially smile. She tracks people with their eyes and looks in your direction if you speak to her. Riley is getting better about holding her head up and she also tracks people with her eyes and looks at you when you speak. The developmental specialist will be out to visit the girls every month until 6 months of age and then they will be on a 2 month schedule. The specialist is also going to go with me to the girls 4 month peds appointment in August to ask questions about the girls development and help me with my questions as sometimes we can forget some of the questions we want answered.

After the rough night Wednesday, my mom came on out Thursday night to help out. She is going to stay at the house for the weekend and help me transition back to work on Monday. The girls were much better last night. They fussed from 11:30 until 1 am and both took a couple of bottles each. After the 12:30 feeding they both slept until 2:30 ate and went back to bed until 5:30 am. I was able to pump and my mom and I fed the girls and they went back to sleep until 9am. I feel much better after getting some solid sleep but my mom is a little tired because she isn't used to the broken sleep.

We had a few visitors today. My friend Adam from work and his wife stopped by and brought some diapers for the girls. We go through about 20 diapers a day so diapers are always appreciated. Adam and his wife have a 1 year old daughter and Naomi is 3 weeks away from delivering their second daughter. Shortly after Adam and Naomi got here, Brea showed up as well. The girls were spoiled and got to spend several hours being held by all the visitors. My mom was able to take a nap and we are getting ready for another night of fun. I am hoping the girls are on the tail end of their growth spurt and they start to get back to their normal sleeping patterns.