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!!

Big help for big kids

Keira and Naomi are now starting to get too big for a single bassinet.
A couple nights ago we were just getting one to fall asleep when the
other would head butt her or hit her somehow. And they would take
turns either sleeping or hitting. So, we decided to put them in
separate bassinets and they've been sleeping better since then. At
least the bassinets are still beside each other so they can keep each
other company with their grunts and groans.

In other news, the girls got to meet Auntie Kristy (Rick's sister)
this last week. It was awesome having the extra help around the
house. And now the first of the grandma visits has begun with Tracy's
mom. Good thing the extra help is here because Rick has to go back to
work on Wednesday... boo!

More Pictures!

Tracy:  So just wanted to give a quick update before the babies wake up!  I'm recovering well right now, my bells palsey is getting better, my blood pressure is normal, and I'm off blood pressure medication! Although I still have the pregnancy rash, it is slowly going away!!  So yippee, I never developed any serious post pregnancy complications...which the doctors were worried about :)  

As for our new life together, its been busy busy.  We kinda have a schedule, we don't sleep very much but we still get out to walk the dog, go grocery shopping with the babies, or just walk around the mall!  We also had a couple of photoshoots with the babies, one of which is posted below for everyone's happy viewing.  

Keira and Naomi quick update:  They are growing well and fast. The pediatrician is very happy about their growth rate, they are growing at a rate of 1 to 2.5 oz per day!!

Courtesy of Michelle Tuck Photography: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001605701179