Comparison

I'm finally at a place where I feel like the babies are really starting to fill out more and look less and less like preemies. But every now and then I remember how big Grace was at their age and I'm reminded just how small they still are. Emma wore this ladybug outfit last weekend and use to be Grace's I went back to find a picture of Grace in the same outfit and found it in Grace's 2 month album, meaning Grace was probably around 2.5 months when wearing it, while Emma is 5.5 months and just starting to fit into it!

I think Grace probably weighed more at 2 months old then Emma does now at 5.5 months. That's okay though I know that every child is different and Emma and Carter are happy and healthy and that's all that really matters.

Did you know...

$1,000 could provide over 15,000 pregnant women with a wallet card listing the signs of preterm labor and what to do if it happens to them. Or, it could provide 350 children’s books for families to read to their babies while in the NICU. In addition, $2,500 could support 100 memory boxes for families who have lost a pregnancy or a baby in the NICU. 

Please donate to our team or join!

A little depressing

Back in August I had purchased these outfits for the babies to wear home from the hospital. I bought them in newborn thinking they may just be a tiny bit big, but when the babies were born they were way big to wear. So on Saturday I decided to finally put then in what was supposed to be their coming home outfits. At 4 months they can finally fit into these newborn outfits, when I think about it it makes me a little sad, but both babies are doing good and growing, so I can't be that sad!

2 Month Stats

I forget to mention the babies stats at their doctor's appointment the other day. The appointment was technically their 2 month appointment, but they turn 3 months on Thursday, so it was more like a 3 month check up.

Carter now weighs 11lbs 1 oz and is 23.5 inches long.
Emma now weighs 10 lbs 12 oz and is 22.5 inches long.

They both are gaining and are finally on the charts, I think they are almost in the 10% ! They are both still wearing newborn clothes, but are starting to out grow a few of them. I've started putting them in some 0-3 month clothes, most are still so big, but a few are manageable.It's crazy that they are almost 3 months old, yet are still only a little bigger then the average newborn. Grace was 13.4 pounds at 2 months and was almost 18 pounds at 4 months, which I don't see the babies being any where close to that.

It's the simple things like this that remind me that they are in fact preemies. I look at them everyday, so all I see are how much they've grown, but whenever we leave the house I'm constantly reminded how tiny they are by every stranger we meet, who looks horrified when I say they're almost 3 months old.

But my little babies are fighters and pretty damn cute if I do say so myself!

Specialist

We finally decided to switch Pediatricians after feeling like all of our concerns were being ignored by our Pediatrician. Cole took Emma and Carter to our new doctor today for their 2 month check up. While he was there he told the new doctor of our concerns. We are concerned about both babies reflux, they both are constantly puking up everything they eat. Their Zantac was working for a few weeks, but now it seems like the dose just isn't touching the reflux. The new doctor said their dose was really high for their past weight and is still really high for their current weight, so she can't increase it. She did however think that we should go see a GI specialist and have them help us come up with a plan to help their reflux, which could mean changing meds, or thickening their bottles, etc.

We also are concerned with Carter's breathing. His breathing is so loud and it gets worse after he eats. Our old pedi, just kept telling us that he has a narrow airway, but never even looked at it. The new doctor said this could just be related to his reflux, but the fact that he snores could indicate that there is an anatomical problem, so she's also sending us to an ENT specialist.

Carter and Emma both have appointments on Wednesday to have ultrasounds done. They will need to fast at least 3 hours prior to the procedure, which won't be fun. They will meet with the GI the following week to go over the results of the ultrasounds. I'm very happy that this doctor is addressing our concerns and sending us to specialist, at the same time I'm a nervous wreck, thinking about all the possibilities.

Poor Emma on top of the reflux, she's having lots of belly issues. The regular formula was making her super gassy, so we switched to soy, which was going well, but started to make Em constipated. Our old pedi. told us to start giving her 2 oz. of juice a day to combat the constipation. The juice just wasn't helping and was making her reflux worse,  so we tried her on Nutramigen, which is what Carter drinks..this gave her diarrhea. So now we are back at square one and don't really know what to try next. The new pedi. said it may just be a matter of finding the right brand, so the search continues!

A Boy & His Bunny

When the babies were in the hospital, the physical therapist said that preemies often have sensory problems, so we should do different things to try to slowly stimulate their senses. One of the things the PT suggested was swaddling the babies holding a stuffed animal so that they feel something soft on them instead of the stiff hospital blankets. I've been swaddling Carter with this little blue bunny we got when we were pregnant with Grace. Carter seems to really respond to the bunny, he loves snuggling and touching it.

In fact, Carter is in the Baby K'tan snuggled up to me with the little bunny in between us right now.The bunny seems to really help with relax when he's tense.

Clifford Fighters

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. As you all know in October of this year, Emma and Carter, were born 5 weeks premature. They both spent 9 days in the Special Care Nursery. Those 9 days were some of the worst/hardest days of our lives. I've decided to walk in this year's March for Babies. Please support my walk.

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.Your gift will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!




 

Feeding Problems and Freedom

We are having many problems related to feeding lately. When Cole is here with me I am able to breastfeed the babies with no problems, but when Cole isn't here I just don't have the time nor hands to sit and breastfeed all day. Grace needs lots of attention and is always testing her boundaries so I need to be able to respond quickly to her, but with 2 babies on my boob that seems impossible. So when Cole is at work I bottle feed, mostly formula. If I'm lucky I can convince Grace to let me pump 1-2 times a day, which is maybe enough for one baby each pump. For some reason I've never been a great pumper, my boobs just don't respond as well to a pump.

Emma will take a bottle just fine, but is having the worst gas. The poor thing just screams and screams until she's able to pass gas. We've been giving her mylicon and gripe water, but neither seem to give her much relief. Nothing seems to help her gas pain, not holding her, not laying on her belly, not baths, not warm compresses...nothing. Emma has also been taking her Zantac without complaint, and I think it's helping her reflux a little.

Carter on the other hand is a nightmare. The poor kid, just can't get the suck-swallow-breathe reflex. Most times he eats the ends up snorting and spitting the formula everywhere even causing it to come out of his nose. He's just miserable!  It takes me close to 45 minutes to get him to take 4oz and I'm usually wearing 2 of those ounces. I've tried every bottle and every position under the sun. I do find he does best when sitting almost completely straight up. His reflux is no better, in fact I think it may be worse. Carter HATES his zantac and will do everything possible to make sure that he doesn't swallow it, he gags, he spits, and then pukes it back up.

After struggling through the 3rd feed of the day yesterday I was in tears. I had one baby screaming because he can't eat, another baby screaming from gas pains,  and a toddler that was sad because she was deprived of my attention. I called Cole in tears and he called the Pediatrician. We are thinking that maybe both babies could benefit from a change in formula and either in increase in their Zantac or even a different medication. I'm starting to wonder if Carter's tongue tie is impeding his ability to feed as well, or if all of this is just related to their prematurity. I know they are almost 7 weeks old, but with their adjusted age they are only 2 weeks old, so it would be normal for a 2 week old to still have some problems feeding. Unfortunately Cole wouldn't be able to make it home in time to get us to the doctor's on Friday and the doctor won't make a change in either without seeing the babies, so we have to wait until Monday to come up with another plan.

I was able to regain my composure and make it the rest of the day with the kids. When Cole got home he agreed to stay home with the babies and wait for Early Intervention to come while Grace and I ran some errands. This was my first time driving in months and Cole's first time home alone with the twins. We both did Great! I forgot how nice it is to be alone with Grace and to just be able to drive and sing as loud as I want! Grace napped on our way to Walmart so I was able to just sit in the car and play games on Cole's phone..yay! The babies were very well behaved for Cole and took their bottles without any major problems and even slept most of the time I was gone. While I out I bought a few new bottles for Carter and he seems to be doing a little bit better with the Dr. Brown bottles.

While I was out I had some time to actually sleep while Grace was sleeping. I decided that even though things are really rough right now, staying positive is only going to help. Money's SUPER tight, so Cole is working 7 days a week, with our only car, which means I'm home alone with 3 very cranky kids 7 days a week. Don't get me wrong I love my children and love spending time with them, but sometimes breaks are necessary. So I decided that I need to remind myself to stay positive everyday, whether it's with a inspirational quote, or song, or even just getting up and dancing with the kids.

So my positive quote of the day is:

"Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results." Willie Nelson

The song that makes me want to get up and dance today is Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair"

And if you made it this far, thanks for listening.... err reading!

Fight For Preemies

1 in 8 babies will be born premature.

The March of Dimes is working to raise awareness of premature births, and fund research to help stop them.

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis. Go to  BloggersUnite to join to raise awareness.

Emma and Carter were born at 35 weeks and 5 days.

They spent 9 days in the Special Care Nursery. Those were the hardest, longest 9 days of my life.

Fortunately neither of them had anything life threatening wrong with them. My heart goes out to those families who have a long hard fight in the NICU.

"Do you know a baby who was born too soon, too small, unable to breathe or nurse on their own? With 1 in every 8 babies born prematurely, you probably do. While medical advances give some babies a chance of survival, for many babies premature birth is a life-or-death condition. Babies who survive can face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities. November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis. Take 3 steps to help fight premature birth:

1. Visit marchofdimes.com/fight.
2. Put a badge on your blog to help spread the word.
3. On November 17, blog for a baby you love and to help others.

We need to fight ― because babies shouldn’t have to.