A Twin Twin Update Update

The girls are growing so fast now!  They're 19 weeks old (~4.5 months) now, and at our visit to the pediatrician on Wednesday, Naomi was 14.5 lbs and Keira was 13 lbs.  Naomi is maintaining that 1.5 lb lead on Keira.  At their corrected age (14 weeks), Naomi is 90th-percentile and Keira is 50th.

We've been so lucky with our babies.  Tracy is doing an amazing job at getting the girls to nap during the day and sleep through the night.  Both girls have had their turn at sleeping through the night for some time now, but about a month ago both of them slept from 11pm to 8am!  Most of the time the girls seem to take turns sleeping through the night, but we still get the odd night where they both sleep through.

Another exciting this is we're starting to let them play in their Jumperoo and Jolly Jumper.  They're head control seems stable enough and they really like bouncing around for a few minutes at a time.

The only real complaint that we have right now is that it would be nice to be able to bottle feed every once in a while.  It'd be nice to bottle feed them when we start traveling with them in a couple months.  It's getting better every day, but they still cry a lot when we try it.  We've had a nurse come to the house for a consultation and training on how to get them to bottle feed.  She suggested many gentle approaches to getting them to do it.  We also talked to our pediatrician about it, and she feels that the only way is the "tough love" approach, i.e. Tracy leaves the house and doesn't come back until I've fed the baby with a bottle.  We'll let you know what we end up doing.

Playing with the girls is so much fun, but they're getting a little competitive:

Already more than 100 days!

 

Rick threw a 100 day celebration party for the girls.  It was a success!! Despite heavy blowing snow, slippery roads and foggy conditions, we still had a great turnout!  Lots of kids came and dogs too! The girls wore their chinese dresses and were very smiley. Keira and Naomi are gurgling and kinda talking now, especially if you start talking to them. They are alot of fun! 

I can't believe its almost been 4 months with them!!   Its getting easier to take care of them because they are going back to their normal feeding schedule. I've been able to go out on walks, mall and for groceries all by my self.  But I recently acquired some help for sanity purposes! I have a nanny that comes in one day of the week who helps around the house and Rick alternates between working at home and taking a day off every week. Our biggest challenge right now is trying to get them to bottle feed so we have an appt with the lactation consultant this week.

Rick and I are doing great, we are sorta going back to doing normal activities like going out to restaurants.  I lost 60 lbs already.  I can't believe I still have 15 lbs to go!! However, I recently wore my xxs canadian goose jacket!  As for jeans...I can fit into them, but I don't like the snug feeling, esp around my thighs:)  Rick hasn't gotten fat or bald yet (he commented that he's just a liitle fatter and balder)...so thats good news.

Here's some more quick tips for new moms:

- Lactation consultants can help with bottle feeding challenges.

- Lecithin is great for blocked ducts, you can get them at natural foods stores...I stopped having them once I started taking it.  Its great for lowering your cholesterol too!

- My clusterfeeding sessions lasted more than a month, it's normal around 6-8 weeks post due date...the babies were tanking up so that they can sleep longer at night...it does get better, just hang in there!!  Currently, the girls are on and off with their clusterfeeding, BUT they are getting shorter!  They sleep for long periods at night now.

- Work out, do dishes or laundry when the babies are playing on their bouncers, they love watching mommy.  Don't wait until they nap...in fact, you can do everything except napping when the are awake!!

2011 Already?? What an adventure!

Naomi

Keira

 I've been super fortunate to have family visit in the past two months helping me out with laundry, cooking, burping the babies, changing diapers and bottle feeding.  It was heaven!!! My father in law came over and helped with my outstanding minor renovations.  I actually have a beautiful shower to use in my master bedroom now thanks to Rick and Steve!!  I also have a fabulous new walk in closet for my Christmas present :)  I will post pics of all my new renos very soon including the nursery !

Wow, everytime I look at Naomi, she keeps changing in width!  Haha.  She's well over 12 pounds, approaching 13 pounds very soon.  Keira is now over 11 pounds and eating up a storm just like Naomi!  Since 6 weeks post due date, the girls started to sleep through the night (at least 5 hours straight).  BUT the girls love to cluster feed for several hours in the evening before they go to sleep, so I've accepted this transition and just plunked myself in front of the tv  with my big tandem pillow.  

Taking care of two babies as a new mother alone is NOT EASY. I wish someone told me how crazy life is with two babies.  Here are my feeding tips for all you twin mothers and new moms:
- Feeding: Babies feed more often when breastfed.  Breastfeeding sucks up all your time and energy.   My girls eat every two hours starting at noon!  Then they cluster feed almost non stop around 8 pm till midnight or 1 am. Just accept it.  Your breastfeeding pillow is now your best friend, your main food source is water, and facebook is your new social life. With two babies taking up to 45 -60 mins to feed each, you have no time to fart around.
- Breaks: Pump when you can shortly after you finish feeding and at least once a day, feed by bottle.  Otherwise the babies get so use to breastfeeding that they refuse the bottle.  Trust me, we are experiencing this right now. This way you can go out with two babies alone for long periods of time and be able to nurse discreetly in public yet bottle feed the second baby.
- Nightfeedings: Learn to feed lying down asap.  You will feel a LOT better if you can do this.
That's it for now!

The last two months....

Well, I have a new profound respect for all mothers!  Being a mother is SUPER hard.  For the last two months, the hardest thing I've had to experience is their feeding schedules (or lack of) and sleep deprivation.  For all twin mothers, you are not alone!! I've had to experience constant non stop feedings lasting days,  hourly feedings during the daytime and hourly feedings during the nighttime.  NO downtime whatsoever.  Exercise is out of the question, eating is not even a priority anymore.  AND of course, during these cluster feedings, I've had zero sleep.

The girls are continuing to grow super fast, Keira is nearing 10 pounds and Naomi is nearing 12 pounds already!!  At corrected age, Keira is 50th percentile and Naomi is 90th percentile in terms of weight!!  The girls like to stand, do squats, kick and starting to hold their head up.  They are also more awake during the daytime. AND best of all, they are starting to sleep through the night (at least more than five hours in the middle of the night), YIPPEE.  Sleep is overrated anyways.  

As for me, I'm recovering super well.  You can barely tell I have bells palsey, I've already lost over 50 pounds, so only 24 pounds to go, I no longer have high blood pressure, my PUPPs is almost all gone and I don't take any more medication for hypertension!!  Woohoo.

Enjoy these pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Keira and Naomi had their first visit with Santa last week.  It's funny how the photographer was able to catch both the twins striking a pensive pose.  Two months old, and they're already thinking about what presents they want from Santa :)

Lalu2 + McCourt2 = Twin-demonium!

Last week the McCourts went to the Lalus for dinner and Laura's mom made an excellent meal.

It wasn't that long ago that we were in the same house for dinner and both Tracy and Laura were pregnant, and now all four babies were there.  Amazingly, we all managed to sit and eat for at least 5 minutes before one of the four babies began to cry!  Luckily, Tracy and Laura were able to find time to eat their dinner in between many trips to the nursery to feed and change babies.

It was a fun night.  Can't wait for future opportunities for the girls to play together!

6 Weeks Old - Eyes Wide Open

So Naomi and Keira are growing really fast.  Naomi is well over 8 lbs and Keira is well over 7 lbs.  Can you spot the difference between the two pictures above??  They are big eaters but also fast eaters and my mom thinks they are very good babies  because they seldom cry...I'm very lucky!!!

Here are the two little girls with the eyes open and somewhat smiling :)

I'm sure very very soon, it'll be harder and harder to tell them apart once they are closer in weight and fatness :)  I'll have to paint their nails to tell them apart!!