Keira and Naomi are starting to sit up on their own too!
At twelve weeks, we found out we are having Twins!! And identical girls too!! So we wanted to share our baby adventure with everyone. Happy Reading.
Monday, April 18, 2011
TIRED!!
Keira and Naomi are starting to sit up on their own too!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Yummy!
Today is the second day and my second attempt at getting the girls to fallen asleep on their own without any assistance. Yesterday, Rick and I separated the girls, one upstairs in her bassinet and one downstairs in her crib. Both girls fell asleep for the night within minutes after singing a lullaby. I'm very, very lucky that I've never had to use the 'cry it out' method for more than a few minutes with these two girls! AND it looks like the girls can fall asleep anywhere...in their playpens, cribs, bassinets, bouncers and carseats!! I feel SUPER LUCKY.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Solids!
The girls are eating solids!! Keira really, really likes prunes and laughs when she eats too. Cross my fingers...but since Keira started really eating solids, she hasn't needed many night feedings....so far, only one feeding seven to eight hours after her last feeding. Naomi isn't as adventurous as Keira...so she's still needing two feedings before 8 am.
Keira loves prunes but doesn't like to poo. She poos every 11 to 12 days...so the doctor recommended prunes, baby laxative and water. Rick had the unfortunate incident where Keira pooed on him a couple of times..right through the clothing!! Lucky him. AND I can't believe Keira can hold it in for soo long without being super grumpy!!
A couple of weeks ago, when they started to wake up in the middle of the night, I was wondering if my breast milk was sustaining them anymore... The girls are playing alot more and I'm still losing weight so I was getting worried. Another thing I've discovered is that they are napping longer without needing me to sing nor patting them on the bum! Maybe Solids is the key!!
A couple of weeks ago, when they started to wake up in the middle of the night, I was wondering if my breast milk was sustaining them anymore... The girls are playing alot more and I'm still losing weight so I was getting worried. Another thing I've discovered is that they are napping longer without needing me to sing nor patting them on the bum! Maybe Solids is the key!!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Trip #1 Accomplished, Still Surviving!
Just as I predicted, the girls keep changing all the time and changing their routine! The pediatrician says their teething now...AAAAHHH!! I'm not looking forward to when their teeth are out! Both girls wake up twice in the middle of the night now...BOO. THANKFULLY they fall asleep right after they nurse and they nurse really fast, otherwise I might go crazy. Life with twins... its all about survival and changes.
Their four hour feeding schedule is sooo much better than demand feeding, however, they are getting too big to tandem feed and they are sooo distracted during nursing. They take turns looking around, burping, talking, and feeding. Can you imagine... this adds up to an hour!!??? For example, Keira and Naomi feed for the first five to ten minutes together, then Naomi starts talking to me for ten minutes. Keira tugs at my hair for ten minutes. I burp each of them for five minutes, then Keira starts talking to me and Naomi feeds for another five minutes, and so on!!
Traveling was a success!! The flight back was tough because the girls don't really nap when they are held. They think its play time!! So they were cranky on the flight back, especially Naomi. As for getting out, I managed to work around their routine and went out two to three times a day or most of the day nursing in public. It's sooo helpful when a second person is around to hold a baby, while I nurse the other, thanks to my mother-in-law!!
New tricks: Girls talk ALOT! They sometimes roll, they squeak, laugh, let you know when they don't like a toy, and love playing. They are starting to sit on their own too. They notice Guinness alot. Naomi pets or plays with his hair when he sits by her:)
General Tips and Advice:
- if your babies don't bottle feed, put them on a routine so you can still go out without the babies!
- if you have another person with you, you can go out longer and be able to nurse two babies in public. I did it during lunches
- do whatever it takes to get two babies to nap on the plane..I nursed them to sleep otherwise they wouldn't nap!
- it is possible to nurse two babies all day in the airport and the plane... I did it for 12 hours!
- airports allow one stroller, carseat and luggage per baby. You need to take the baby out of the carseat when you go through security. Its annoying because it wakes your baby up from a nap.
- if there are empty seats on the plane, you can bring the carseat with you on the plane if you ask nicely :)
- try to rent baby equipment rather than lugging it with you if you can during travels.
- during take off and landing, I try to nurse one baby and get the other baby to nap so they aren't affected by pressure differences.
Here are some videos of them laughing and pictures from our travels, enjoy!
Their four hour feeding schedule is sooo much better than demand feeding, however, they are getting too big to tandem feed and they are sooo distracted during nursing. They take turns looking around, burping, talking, and feeding. Can you imagine... this adds up to an hour!!??? For example, Keira and Naomi feed for the first five to ten minutes together, then Naomi starts talking to me for ten minutes. Keira tugs at my hair for ten minutes. I burp each of them for five minutes, then Keira starts talking to me and Naomi feeds for another five minutes, and so on!!
Traveling was a success!! The flight back was tough because the girls don't really nap when they are held. They think its play time!! So they were cranky on the flight back, especially Naomi. As for getting out, I managed to work around their routine and went out two to three times a day or most of the day nursing in public. It's sooo helpful when a second person is around to hold a baby, while I nurse the other, thanks to my mother-in-law!!
New tricks: Girls talk ALOT! They sometimes roll, they squeak, laugh, let you know when they don't like a toy, and love playing. They are starting to sit on their own too. They notice Guinness alot. Naomi pets or plays with his hair when he sits by her:)
General Tips and Advice:
- if your babies don't bottle feed, put them on a routine so you can still go out without the babies!
- if you have another person with you, you can go out longer and be able to nurse two babies in public. I did it during lunches
- do whatever it takes to get two babies to nap on the plane..I nursed them to sleep otherwise they wouldn't nap!
- it is possible to nurse two babies all day in the airport and the plane... I did it for 12 hours!
- airports allow one stroller, carseat and luggage per baby. You need to take the baby out of the carseat when you go through security. Its annoying because it wakes your baby up from a nap.
- if there are empty seats on the plane, you can bring the carseat with you on the plane if you ask nicely :)
- try to rent baby equipment rather than lugging it with you if you can during travels.
- during take off and landing, I try to nurse one baby and get the other baby to nap so they aren't affected by pressure differences.
Here are some videos of them laughing and pictures from our travels, enjoy!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Twin's Routine
Alot of people are asking how I put my girls down to sleep and what I'm doing for a routine so I thought I would do a blog. Hopefully people find this helpful!
1st Step - Observe Your Babies, how do they like to nap, when do they tired, and when do they get hungry??
How I established my routine was observing how, when and where they liked to nap. I noticed that my girls liked napping in the stroller, in the carseats, and when I'm out walking in their snugglies when I'm running errands. They like movement and some noise. I also tried remembering how they liked napping when they were newborns, they liked being held, patted, swaddled and white noise. So I combined all of these methods into my routine. AND I logged their routine for about a few days and realized when they started getting tired approximately two hours after they woke up so I consistently made them nap two hours after they fed. I feed them at the same time too so that their schedules aligned.
2nd Step - Read books but only use what works for you!
I read a lot of books and used bits and pieces from them to understand where they are developmentally, sleep methods, soothing techniques to establish my routine. Do you want to do on demand feeding? I realized my girls were ready to be put on the four feeding schedule at four months. So I started transitioning them to a four feeding schedule. I also realized that they are ready for longer naps, and longer activities.
3rd Step - What works and is it realistic for you?
I realized that a lot of the books are targeted to mothers with one baby and alot of the soothing techniques don't work on my babies (ex. they don't like soothers, they don't like being swaddled anymore, I can't rock/bounce nor hold both babies, etc.) Be creative, do what works for you. My girls like getting their bums patted when they sleep. They like being wrapped in blankets and love listening to stories before they nap. They also like their sleep sacks before they go to bed. The pick up/put down method doesn't work for me. I also don't let them cry it out. I read them stories before nap time, pat them on their bums, place their fists near their mouth when they fuss a bit but then they eventually fall asleep. My babies do a bit of fussing, an occasional cry but they do fall asleep within 10 - 20 minutes.
Anyhoo...
So here is my routine (Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time, Activity):
7/7:15 AM - girls wake up and play a bit in their bassinets or bouncers
8 - Feed
8:45 AM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
9:45 AM - Wind down/Sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
10:45AM - Pat them on their bums again if they stir to get them napping longer
11:30/45AM - Activity (tummy time)
12 - Feed
12:45 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
1:45 PM - Wind down/Sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
2:45 PM - Pat them on their bums again if they stir to get them napping longer
3:30/3:45 PM - Activity (Tummy Time)
4 PM - Feed
4:45 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
5:50 PM - Wind down/Sleep for thirty to forty five minutes (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
6:30 PM - Feed
7:00 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Bath time)
8 PM - Feed
8:30/9PM - Sleep (Change into sleep sacks, pat them on the bums and white noise in the bassinets, usually they do not fuss nor cry before sleeping at this point because they are really tired)
So far, the routine is working very well and helping with their night wakings. They goto bed around 8:30/9PM and wake up between 5 AM - 6:30 AM for a quick feed and fall back to sleep right away. Sometimes they wake up in the middle of the night or early morning babbling but then they fall back asleep by them selves, its very cute.
Of course, at six months or when I travel, this routine is going to change again!!
1st Step - Observe Your Babies, how do they like to nap, when do they tired, and when do they get hungry??
How I established my routine was observing how, when and where they liked to nap. I noticed that my girls liked napping in the stroller, in the carseats, and when I'm out walking in their snugglies when I'm running errands. They like movement and some noise. I also tried remembering how they liked napping when they were newborns, they liked being held, patted, swaddled and white noise. So I combined all of these methods into my routine. AND I logged their routine for about a few days and realized when they started getting tired approximately two hours after they woke up so I consistently made them nap two hours after they fed. I feed them at the same time too so that their schedules aligned.
2nd Step - Read books but only use what works for you!
I read a lot of books and used bits and pieces from them to understand where they are developmentally, sleep methods, soothing techniques to establish my routine. Do you want to do on demand feeding? I realized my girls were ready to be put on the four feeding schedule at four months. So I started transitioning them to a four feeding schedule. I also realized that they are ready for longer naps, and longer activities.
3rd Step - What works and is it realistic for you?
I realized that a lot of the books are targeted to mothers with one baby and alot of the soothing techniques don't work on my babies (ex. they don't like soothers, they don't like being swaddled anymore, I can't rock/bounce nor hold both babies, etc.) Be creative, do what works for you. My girls like getting their bums patted when they sleep. They like being wrapped in blankets and love listening to stories before they nap. They also like their sleep sacks before they go to bed. The pick up/put down method doesn't work for me. I also don't let them cry it out. I read them stories before nap time, pat them on their bums, place their fists near their mouth when they fuss a bit but then they eventually fall asleep. My babies do a bit of fussing, an occasional cry but they do fall asleep within 10 - 20 minutes.
Anyhoo...
So here is my routine (Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time, Activity):
7/7:15 AM - girls wake up and play a bit in their bassinets or bouncers
8 - Feed
8:45 AM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
9:45 AM - Wind down/Sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
10:45AM - Pat them on their bums again if they stir to get them napping longer
11:30/45AM - Activity (tummy time)
12 - Feed
12:45 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
1:45 PM - Wind down/Sleep for 1.5 to 2 hours (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
2:45 PM - Pat them on their bums again if they stir to get them napping longer
3:30/3:45 PM - Activity (Tummy Time)
4 PM - Feed
4:45 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Activity time)
5:50 PM - Wind down/Sleep for thirty to forty five minutes (Wind down is Storytime followed by placing them in their bassinets/crib or bouncers then bum patting and white noise)
6:30 PM - Feed
7:00 PM - Activity (Burp, Diaper change, Bath time)
8 PM - Feed
8:30/9PM - Sleep (Change into sleep sacks, pat them on the bums and white noise in the bassinets, usually they do not fuss nor cry before sleeping at this point because they are really tired)
So far, the routine is working very well and helping with their night wakings. They goto bed around 8:30/9PM and wake up between 5 AM - 6:30 AM for a quick feed and fall back to sleep right away. Sometimes they wake up in the middle of the night or early morning babbling but then they fall back asleep by them selves, its very cute.
Of course, at six months or when I travel, this routine is going to change again!!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Babbling Giggling Rolling
BIG CHANGES!!! Girls are almost five months old!! They love to babble and giggle now. Our house looks like a playground, there's jolly jumpers, exersaucers, bumbos, playmats and rattles everywhere. They also like watching baby einstein and listening to stories. They are also experimenting with rice cereal and sippy cups.
I thought I had a rhythm going,but then the girls are changing sooo much that I've been making them cranky. For example, when the girls were between three and four months old, I was able to read their cries using baby dunstan language , I could tell if they were hungry, tired or gassy just by listening to their whimpers. BUT since they've been babbling this past month, I've been unable to read their cues and they've been cranky! Soooo after a chaotic month of overfeeding, getting them to nap after eating, trying to bottle feed, and another crazy growth spurt, they've decided to start waking up in the middle night for the past two and half weeks and killing my daytime groove. Last weekend, I decided to start all over and read every book I can find on routines and sleep/nap solutions for single and twin babies. I realized that I got the entire routine wrong and they are ready to start a four feeding routine!! Developmentally they are four month olds with bigger bellies. Then I felt sooo much better about life with the girls. Soooo...almost a week ago, I've been able to get them on 3.5 hour - 4 hour routine (eat activity sleep method), getting the girls to fall asleep in their bouncers/cribs at the sametime with little whimpering and putting the girls into bed at a decent hour, around 8 to 8:30pm. The girls like sucking on their fists and fingers before they sleep, they hate soothers. Hopefully this routine helps with their nightime waking. ALSO I can't wait to go to the spa, get a haircut or go with Rick/friends after the girls go to sleep:)
Rick and I are having fun with the girls. I'm still a little sleep deprived but much much better than the first two months. I've also lost over 70 pounds...I can't believe at one point I was 180 lbs...and that was two weeks before I gave birth!! I can't believe its already been a year that I found out I was pregnant (on my birthday!!)!!
Here are some videos of the girls, enjoy!
I thought I had a rhythm going,but then the girls are changing sooo much that I've been making them cranky. For example, when the girls were between three and four months old, I was able to read their cries using baby dunstan language , I could tell if they were hungry, tired or gassy just by listening to their whimpers. BUT since they've been babbling this past month, I've been unable to read their cues and they've been cranky! Soooo after a chaotic month of overfeeding, getting them to nap after eating, trying to bottle feed, and another crazy growth spurt, they've decided to start waking up in the middle night for the past two and half weeks and killing my daytime groove. Last weekend, I decided to start all over and read every book I can find on routines and sleep/nap solutions for single and twin babies. I realized that I got the entire routine wrong and they are ready to start a four feeding routine!! Developmentally they are four month olds with bigger bellies. Then I felt sooo much better about life with the girls. Soooo...almost a week ago, I've been able to get them on 3.5 hour - 4 hour routine (eat activity sleep method), getting the girls to fall asleep in their bouncers/cribs at the sametime with little whimpering and putting the girls into bed at a decent hour, around 8 to 8:30pm. The girls like sucking on their fists and fingers before they sleep, they hate soothers. Hopefully this routine helps with their nightime waking. ALSO I can't wait to go to the spa, get a haircut or go with Rick/friends after the girls go to sleep:)
Rick and I are having fun with the girls. I'm still a little sleep deprived but much much better than the first two months. I've also lost over 70 pounds...I can't believe at one point I was 180 lbs...and that was two weeks before I gave birth!! I can't believe its already been a year that I found out I was pregnant (on my birthday!!)!!
Here are some videos of the girls, enjoy!
Friday, February 18, 2011
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:
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