My hat is officially off to all mommy bloggers, everywhere. Seriously, HOW do you do it?? I've been writing posts in my head for days now, and never seem to find the time to actually write them out. During the time that I don't have babies attached to my boobs, I'm not elbow deep in diapers, and I'm semi-conscious, all I want to do is sit on the couch and stare at the tv. Or the wall. I'm not too picky.
Taken at about a week old. They already look so different to me now. (Annabelle left, Charlotte right)
So, our babies are almost two weeks old. Two weeks. That's already half of a month! They're gonna be FORTY! The days are just flying by in a big blur. I have no idea where the time goes, one minute it's the middle of the night and I'm trying to get a baby to eat. the next thing I know it's night time again. My days revolve entirely around feeding babies.
I am pretty proud of myself, because we're getting the hang of simultaneous feeding and so far, my supply has been excellent. I was able to get a hospital grade pump on loan from my hospital, and we're hoping to start bottles soon so that I can get a break from the round the clock feeding marathons. It'll still require pumping at feeding time, but I can pump, then go to bed and get some sleep before the next feeding.
Cuddly Charlotte
The girls are absolutely amazing. They're still in the sleepy phase, in part due to being born a few weeks early, so they're pretty zonked out most of the time, but they're starting to be a bit more alert and taking in more of the world around them. Night time has been something of a challenge, but so far not nearly the nightmarish experience I've heard from a lot of my friends.
The many faces of Anna-B
Annabelle is the most placid baby I have ever seen. She is quiet as a little mouse--even her fussing is barely audible. She can sleep through her sister's screaming fits like there is nothing going on. Charlotte is my spicy baby. She makes sounds like a baby velociraptor, grunts and whimpers in her sleep, snorts, and when she's upset, her temper flares up and she screams with the rage of a Banshee queen. But she's only had a couple of marathon screaming sessions, and for the most part, she'll calm down within a few minutes. The hard part is that she really just wants to be held and cuddled 24/7, which is really a problem at 1 am. And 2 am. And 3 am...
We actually had to move the girls out of our room and into their nursery at night their third day home with us, when they were only five days old. Charlotte is just too noisy, even in her sleep. I'm such a light sleeper, and it's already so hard for me to fall asleep with the perfect conditions, I couldn't fall asleep between feedings and came this close to a total breakdown. I had my very first experience with an anxiety attack. I felt like I was going to throw up, like I couldn't breathe, like I had no control over my body. It was horrible. I'm still having trouble sleeping at night, but overall, I think we're all doing much better with the current set up.
We're going in tomorrow for their two week appointment and to do a weight check, but I think that they've been gaining pretty well. At last week's weight check, the doctor was concerned about Charlotte's weight gain. Annabelle had been gaining about 60 grams per day, but Charlotte was only at 25 grams per day and the minimum they want to see is 20. So, even though she's meeting the minimum, the doctor, in his blunt English Second Language way informed me that her weight gain was "no good... it is lousy". So, of course, I spent the next hour crying and feeling like a total failure. I'm optimistic about better results tomorrow. It kills me how tiny they still are in their clothes though. They're still swimming in a lot of their newborn stuff, but they are starting to fill it out a bit better. SOB!!
I still can't believe I have babies...
