Double Trouble

[kholtan]

Hey there mommies!!!! How is everyone doing? I'm sure a lot more limited on time. I hope you are all getting little breaks here and there and that the babies are all growing and healthy.

Kim~ Congrats on such a great check up! your little ones seem to be doing fabulously!!! You seem to be in full stride and doing so well. I'm impressed. Are you going to keep up bfeeding as well? I keep hearing how hard it is and I'm getting worried. I know you are supplimenting but do you think they will go to bfeeding full time or no? Sorry for all the questions I'm just so curious.

Laura~ I was sifting through the photobucket and saw some u/s photos from way back of your babies. Isn't it amazing that they are here now? It was so sweet to look at them and know what they look like now and how they got here. Sorry they are at the fussy stage! I nannied for an infant with acid reflux and it was a challenge. We found that smaller feedings more often helped him and as little moving around as possible after he ate. Also, his body got so hot from spitting up and diarrhea that we kept him lightly clothed and cloth diapers helped his tender bottom. I hope he is feeling better soon. Acid reflux is so hard for the little ones. You are doing great though! You sound so patient and loving.
Congrats for being able to stay home for a while. I am so nervous about closing the doors to my business here soon but we know it's how we want to raise the babies. At least in the medical field you can usuallly get right back into working when you want to. You are so blessed to have that choice. Keep us posted on the progress!

Em~ Your Darcy dog sounds so sweet! That is so funny that your parents think the dog should be nowhere the babies. People keep asking us how Lucy will deal when she gets shut out? I keep asking why we would shut her out? We have no intention of changing her perfect little life at all. She's really our first daughter and shall remain that way. I guess alot of people love babies but not everyone will love your pet the same!
Outstanding schedule!!! Sounds like you have the night time routine down to a science! That is so helpful! Keep it up and I hope they stick to it for ya!

We had an OB appointment Wednesday. HB's look great and we are up a total of 16 lbs!!! I have never seen such numbers on a scale!!! Gluclose looked good but I am very anemic and on a high dosage if iron. Anyone else have that? The OB also cut my days back again since I am getting numb arms and short of breath periodically every day. I really do feel fine but randomly throughout the day my arms get really heavy and start going numb?? Anyone else experience this? My OB was concerned about my circulation. I'm just hoping the babies are getting everything they need.
We now have the first coat of paint on the babies room and will start the mural. . .finally!!!! Why is it I would have this done at someone elses house months ago but at mine we are just starting?? Go figure!

Hope everyone is doing great! Take care and baby kisses, hugs, and rubs to all!!!

Kimberly

[buckeyegal]

Hi Kimberly--Glad your check up went well! I never had numbness in the arms, but I definitely had some numb fingertips. In fact, I still do. I go for a checkup with the OB on Thursday. I'm hoping he can fill me in! Also, I still can't put on my wedding ring as my knuckles are still big. Does anyone else have this issue?

Be sure to take care of yourself, though. You still have a while to go, and you want those babies to cook! Good luck with your dog after the babies are here...my poor dog, Murphy is still reeling from the babies' arrival.
He's a great dog, but he definitely feels left out, as I"m not able to play with him and dote on him as much as I used to. However, he's great with the babies...he loves to lick their feet (I know, a bit gross...but we've just learned to deal with it), and he's always peeking into their bassinet to make sure they're okay!

As for bfing.....I would really like to give it a go. I"m so lucky right now, as I have had a granma or aunt here every day to help with feedings. I actually hate doing the bottle supplements...the breast is so much easier for me. However, I don't think I'm making enough yet to just bf. The pediatrician said it might take a while. I'm trying to pump after most feeding sessions to help build up my supply, plus we can use the pumped milk for some of our supplemental feedings. Once my help runs out, I'll probably go to an alternating schedule, where one baby bf's and the other bottle feeds. But again, I just can't stand dealing with the bottles. I feel like we're constantly cleaning bottles.

Well, the babies are doing well. However, we had a ROUGH weekend, sleepwise. Both Friday and Saturday night were just HELL on wheels. If Braeden wasn't up screaming, then it was Ellie. They also seem hungrier...so I think they might be hitting that 3 week growth spurt a little early. THank GOD last night was better. I'm trying to keep them up a little more during the day with massage time, or just singing to them. I hope we can get this under control soon....especially as our overnight helpers will be running out soon! Laura, do you have any advise for me?????

How's everyone else doing? I hope babies and bellies are well. I wish we all lived closer together, so we could start a group and hang out with our babies. Wouldn't that be great?

[Xrayem]

Hi Guys,

Kimberley - I know what you mean! Everyone said the same about Darcy and I would get all upset as Darcy is my first son...he got me and Dh through a lot of rough patches and we could never leave him out in the cold. We have gated off the TV room (which has a door to outside) and he is alowed in there with us. I think you just have to decide what you are comfortable with as a couple and do it..to hell with rellies!

Laura - Sory to hear that you are having a rough time. I keep waiting for that to come aswell. Keep your chin up, its just a phase they are going through and you will come out the otherside in one piece.

Kim - I have my rings back on but still can't get my pre-preggie jeans up over my hips. I am almost back to my original weight but my hips have widened so much. No-one tells you about that, do they???

Girls, I gave up trying to BF also. My milk never came in (I was only expressing 10mls after 20 minutes on the elctric twin pump). The hospital wasn't happy that my supply was going to feed to boys so they suggested I bottle feed. I am much happier for it as I was making myself miserable trying to express around the clock to build up my supply. Bottle-feeding makes them much more content babies as you know exactly how much they are having...we actually had 5 hours between feeds last night.

My friend is a GP (family doctor) and she was saying that studies have shown that a baby breast fed for 1 day will have 14 years worth of immunity. So if you are finding it too difficult, stop and know that you have already given them a great start.

Other tip is that we don't speak to them through the night. When we get up, its all buisness, so they know that night is for sleeping and day is for playing. Its what they did in Special care and we have continued it.

Have to go...feeding time at the zoo.

Em

[buckeyegal]

Em--Sounds like you're doing well? Out of curiousity....how many oz. are your kiddos drinking at a single feeding? I'm trying to figure out how much more milk I'm going to need to make. Sorry to hear that the bfing didn't work for you. I don't blame you at all for going to the bottles. I'm able to make a pretty good amount of milk right now, but I still have to supplement....I'm just curious as to how long I'll have to do that.

Also, glad to hear your doggy is surviving the new additions! Right now, my dog is sleeping under the babies cradle...he's their guard dog!

How's everyone else doing?

[Xrayem]

Hey Kim,

I give them 85mls-90mls which is about 3 Oz (I think???). The formula that we have been told to work on is give 150ml per kilo of body weight per day. So the boys are just under 3kgs, makes 450mls per day, spread over 6 feeds is 75mls per feed. We make up a little more and they sometimes take all, sometimes less.

I don't know what this all converts to in US measures but hope it helps anyway.

Cheers, em

[LauraLou]

Kimberly- It sounds like you might have carpal tunnel syndrome. I had it really badly towards the end of my pregnancy. It was so annoying! It got so I would drop things because my hands were so numb.

Kim- Glad to hear you are doing well with bfing. I completely understand about the nightime fussiness. Last week Jeremy cried for an hour straight and the minute I got him to sleep Nicholas woke up crying. I started to cry too!

So at 4:00 am I ordered this device over the internet that my doctor had suggested as a last resort for colic. (I paid $40 extra to have it overnighted, you can tell I was desperate!) It has been a godsend! It is called Sleeptight and it hooks to the bottom of the crib and makes it vibrate like a moving car. The boys love it! You can get it at www.sleeptightinfantsoother.com. I bought the version without the sound part, so it was about $100. It is well worth the money.

Em- Sounds like things are going really well at your house. I hope your babies stay so easy!

As of last night, I have started moving the boys to a 4 hour schedule. When I first brought them home from the hospital, they were eating about 2 oz every three hours. Now they are eating 4 oz at at time, so I decided they were ready.

Going from 8 feedings a days to 6 is going to make my life much easier! It is a little rough because they are used to eating every 3 hrs. I just try to distract them by putting them in their swing or holding them and giving them their binkie. It is going pretty well so far. I'll let you know how we do as the week progresses.

Laura

[Xrayem]

Just have a icky question to ask the ladies that have had bubs.....

When did your "loss" stop? I had blood, which went to browny-clear at around two weeks. But then it went back to bright blood again and has been ever since. I am now almost 4 weeks after the caesar. I rang the Obst and he was on holidays so I spoke to his replacement who said that it was upper limits of normal and that I should ring back if I feel unwell or have a temperature, but I feel fine. Its just that I keep bleeding. I get that the brown discharge is old blood being expelled. But where would the new blood be coming from?

Thanks em

[LauraLou]

Em- Have you increased your activity? That will cause the red bleeding to start again. If it doesn't go back to the dark red you should call your dr back.

[kholtan]

Happy 4th of July to all here in the states! Good morning to everyone else as well!! You mommies have been busy I can see!

Sounds like everyone is getting quite a pattern down for their little ones. So many babies and yet they all seem so different at the same time. I'll be sure to weed through this thread when we have ours to get great suggestions.

Laura~ Did your entire arm go numb? My OB said hands going numb were fine but arms are not so good. My arm, starting at the shoulder gets tingly, numb, and the weight of an anchor?? I don't know anyone else whom this happened to like this so I have kind of been alone here. What did you do about yours? My wrists have been normal as well so that is why I ruled out CT syndrome.

A TMI question for ya alll. . . .did anyone ever have light blood after sex? DH and I obviously had sex yesterday and there was some light blood. Not very much but I just had to ask regardless of the topic. I am on so much iron and it's been so hot here that I wonder if I am just swollen and it's little blood vessels?? Would love any input. Thanks everyone!

Have a great day everyone and take care.
Kimberly

[buckeyegal]

Em--I'm still having occassional brown blood, but not very much. My doc told me that if I bleed more than a pad an hour to be concerned. I do notice that I get more if I"m pretty active...that might be your case. Anyway, I'd keep a close eye on it. YOu never can be too sure.

Kimberly--I didn't have much sex towards the end of my pregnancy---just too damn uncomfortable! However, I remember reading that you might get some small amounts of blood after sex due to your cervix being sensitive.

Happy 4th of July to the Americans out there! To everyone else, have a great day!

[Quita]

Eighteen weeks and One day!

Hi everyone,

Just got from my mums wedding and our two week wonderful holiday on the greek island of Zante.

Just got up to speed with all your postings. Sounds like you have all been working hard while I have been sunning myself. Still you will all have the last laugh in in 20 or so weeks time when your babies are all sleeping through the night and I am tearing my hair out LOL!

Loving all the baby pics - keep emailing them to my mother so we can coo over them together.

I am growing fast now couldn't wear the the skirt back on the plane that I went on holiday in two weeks ago and some of my funky summer wear that I thought would go under my bump suddenly got religated to the draw.


It was very hot in Zante 45 one day!!! But I drank loads of water and didn't feel like I was missing out on boozing with the others.

Strangers are suddenly noticing I am pregnant - whcih feels good!

And I am having some movement now - like being kicked by mice.

Got my third scan in 3 weeks - can't wait - need to know they are both safe and growing.

Seeing my grumpy midwife next wed - hoping she will let me hear their heart beats for the first time - if she can be bothered!!!

Love to you all,

PS Kimberly - have you tried the decafe iced mocca that is my all time favourate?? I think you should have asked her if she had any cigggies she could lend you - silly old bat!!

Take care,

hope to see some more photos soon xxx

[kholtan]

Hey everyone~

My OB called me back and said I have nothing to worry about. I might give it a couple days before I tell DH that! He said it's proabably just some small blood vessels that are laying lower now and not to be concerned.

Quita~ Nice to hear from you! Sounds like you had a great vacation. I would love to have been there! You're moving right along at 18 weeks. Doesn't the time fly by!!! It's hard to believe how fast things go when you reflect a minute. Although in our 100 degree week ahead I'm sure time will come to a screeching hault!

Take care everyone!
Kimberly

[DianeC]

Hi all

Sounds like most of you are on the same roller coaster we are

Some nights are just the pits - Bronte is the minx for that - her brother is happy to eat and sleep at night but not her. She sometimes decides to have an alert period of about 2 hours where she gets whingey etc.. I leave a light on which seems to help some.

Harry is doing great! Now he is on the special formula he has not looked back. It is amazing how different in personality the two are. He is really laidback unless you undress him or change his nappy - then he might cry. She on the other hand can get really cranky but not cry as such. She even arches her back in protest which I was amazed to see so early.

We still have them on 70ml every three hours. Harry is sooooo slow with his feeds though it almost drives us to distraction. Takes about 1 and a half hours to feed and change both of them - then I have to pump once a night as well. The joys of parenthood

Other than that all is well. I love taking them out in the fresh air and it is amazing how much attention they get. They love their stroller - we got a mountain buggy and it is a great stroller, so light to push.

I start uni on Monday so it will be interesting to see how i go. This is an easy subject with no exam as such. I am only doing the one subject so should managed OK. I am still waiting to get my results back from my last exam - will be released on the 13th July - YAY! I always get excited at result time

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Kholtan, have you progressed on your mural?

Bye for now

Di

[kholtan]

Hey everyone!

Diane~ You seem to really have a handle on everything. WOW! Did you go with the cloth diapers also? People think I'm crazy for even wanting to try but I'd love to hear back from someone doing it. The pictures of your babies are so sweet. Your little girl is just so pretty! I love that you can already see different personalities in them. That's the fun part of twins. I can't wait to hear more on your daily life.

We have had one heck of a weekend! Not great either. While I had big plans ot work on the mural, it's 105 degrees here and our house is 84 with the a/c!!! obviously it's not working and do you think a repair man is anywhere to be found?? NOOO!!!! Also, our well is giving us problems and we have spent all day, not to mention half the week, with the well driller and pump repair man only to be TOTALLY out of water right now in house!!! AGHGHGHGHGH!!!! The sprinkler repair man cut our phone line this morning while he was here repairing the line the phone company cut when they buried the wire. To top things off, we have put a small fortune into our yard and it's all beginning to die because our new pump in our well won't work properly and I am not about to water 1.25 acres of yard by hand at 7 months pg with twins. I really couldn't water it by hand since we NO water anyway. I wouldn't want to leave out that we hit a rock in the boat and totalled the propellar only right before the rope got caught up in it and cost us a ton of money as well. Sadly, I could go on but I think I'd cry if I wrote it all down.

So, things have been better but I better run since our pump guy is on his way over at 9:21 at night and quite frankly I cannot get myself to put myself together anymore than I am right now. Not pretty!

Have a great night gals!
Kimberly

[LauraLou]

Diane- I am glad things are going well. I completely understand the night-time frustration. My boys are really fussy at night also.

Kimberly- Wow what a terrible weekend you are having. I hope you have water now!

I don't know what is up this weekend but Jeremy and Nicholas have been terrible! They have been crying and crying even when we hold them. Jeremy cried on and off for 2 hrs last night. Nicholas did it for 4 hrs! They are eating well and having wet diapers so I don't think anything is seriously wrong with them. They are just being difficult!

I am so happy to have them on a 4 hr schedule! It is making life so much easier. That is 2 less feedings a day, which equals 2 more hrs a day to do something else, like sleep! They actually went 5 hrs between feedings last night. I think they wore themselves out crying.

I spent yesterday afternoon with two friends who each have a 10 month old. It was so neat to see what the boys will be like early next spring. They were eating mac & cheese and drinking out of sippy cups. I look at them now and it is amazing to think that Nicholas and Jeremy will doing all that before long. Babies grow up so fast.