Grant & I are wondering: Why is it that when we are finally sleeping thru the night again (well most nights anyways) we feel more fatigued than when we were getting up in the night? Too many nights/months of running on 4 hour increments of sleep perhaps? Or maybe it's just one of life's little jokes?? Hmmm.......
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas To All.......
Warmest wishes on Christmas Day 2011! It seems like forever since I blogged last and I am going to try my hardest to keep this updated. I actually use this as more of a journal/baby book of the twins since I am much more efficient at typing than I ever would be at writing.
Christmas 2011 has been wonderful! We have had two action packed days with the family and enjoyed every minute of it. It warms my heart as a parent to see how much my kids are loved! Baron had no interest in opening any presents but Grant did get him playing in the discarded wrapping paper tonight at Gram & Grandpa Websters and Elliot & Maverick were quite impressed. It was the most giggling I think I have ever heard out of Maverick :)
Baron: Our Big Boy! He is now 21 1/2 months old and got a big boy haircut on Tuesday. It was time for a cut since it was hanging in his eyes more times than not but as Grant put it "I am going to cry myself to sleep tonight". He looks SO different, so much older somehow. His eyes seem so big and dark. Still my handsome boy......but I do miss his baby curls. He is cutting at least 3 of his eye teeth currently and that seems to be uncomfortable for him. He had a doctor appt on the 12/15 and weighed in at 29 1/2 pounds and 34 1/2 inches tall (75th percentile for both height and weight). He is learning and saying new words every day and his new favorites are up, pop, Ty and Katie. This is a good thing because Grant and I are getting tired of trying to decipher his baby babble and fits when we don't know what he's saying. Terrible Two's perhaps??? He is in love with a pair of yellow rubber boots he got from Gram Websters house and he wears them all the time. Over his footie jammies, with nothing but a diaper, to the grocery store, etc. Only place he hasn't worn them are to bed :)
Elliott: Our Little Princess! The twins are now a little over 7 months (6 months adjusted age) and Miss Elliott is such a happy girl. Smiles at everyone, baby chatter, rolling over, eating solids and sleeping thru the night. She is growing up so fast already. She had a doctor appt last week with Baron and she weighed in at 15lbs 10ozs (45th percentile) and 24 1/2 inches (25th percentile). No teeth yet and I am perfectly ok with that while Baron is cutting 3 of his own ;) She is a snuggler, hollers at me when I leave and she wants me (and I mean yells at me, full on "hey I want you" yell but not crying), hates to be on her belly but constantly rolls over from her back, has more blow outs of any baby I have ever known and adores her brothers. She has the lightest hair of the three and eyes that seems to be turning hazel.
Maverick: Our Sweetheart! It's funny how time changes people especially babies. I remember blogging a few months back about Maverick being my high maintenance/fussy baby. My how that has changed. He is still high maintenance in the sense that he has a feeding tube and doesn't like to eat orally but he has the sweetest personality. He loves to cuddle, has a smile that melts a person, eyelashes that should be illegal and sleeps thru the night (thank you feeding pump!). He was 10lbs 6ozs and 22 inches as of 12/20. He rolled over the other night, has been sitting in the exercauser & bumbo and has bites of solids too! No teeth here either but loves it when I rub his gums which makes me think we are not far off. He also has a mohawk. Not due to a haircut from us but a natural mohawk. Poor kid has 2 cowlicks (one going clockwise and the other counter clockwise) and as a result the hair meets in the middle to form a mohawk. I am sure as his hair grows it will lay down but for now.....
Grant and I are doing well. We have really come to appreciate sleeping thru the night since we are finally getting a taste of it again :) Grant has been doing some winter steelhead fishing and I had my first full day trip away since the twins were born (technically since I went on bedrest). I went shopping with my sisters, sister-in-law and Tia's friend for a winter formal dress for my little sister. We had a great time and not surprising, I was ready to get home because I missed my family. We also had another date night a few weeks ago and are hoping to get out again soon!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
For Uncle Tyler
He is a sweet pea!
Cutest Tiger!
The only decent shot....
That's more like it....
And the grand finale!
I don't know if I have mentioned before but I am one of 5 kids. We are all really close and so it makes it hard with my younger brother living in southern California. He loves my kids (as do all their aunts and uncles) and was slightly traumatized when I told him I probably was not going to dress Baron up for Halloween. We were just planning on staying home to hand out candy and the idea of dressing up 3 little kids for a photo opp doesn't sound very appealing when I am the one taking the pictures. His thoughts were the kids would like to pictures to look back on and I figured he was probably right. So thank goodness Aunt Katie came to the rescue and hooked us up with a costume.
So here are your Halloween photos Uncle Tyler dear. We all love and miss you so much it's ridiculous. Counting down the days until we see you at Christmas.....xoxoxoxo!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Who Doesn't Like To Eat???
Maverick.....that's who!
This all started when we went in for the babies 5 month check on 10/13. Maverick was only weighing in at 8lbs and the doctor said that was not enough! Let me give you a little history first. Maverick has been "self" feeding for the past 2 months. What I mean by "self" feeding is that he wanted to eat his bottle while in his bouncy chair and the bottle propped in his mouth so he could eat at his leisure. Normally he would fall asleep eating and liked it that way. I think I knew in the back of my mind it probably wasn't ideal but when you have 3 kids under 19 months, are pumping every 3 hours (ish), holding the other baby to eat and haven't slept thru the night in 5+ months, you do what you can to survive.
So the doctor wanted us to make him eat 3ozs every 3 hours with one 6 hour stretch at night if he slept that long. He had been very sporadic in the amount & times he would eat while "self" feeding and doc said he probably is a lazy eater as well. He cries when hungry and will eat whatever he feels like which can be anywhere from 10ml at times to 2 ozs at other times. For 8 days we force fed him whatever he wouldn't eat independently. I had the question asked many times "how do you force feed a baby?" and basically we had to squeeze the bottle to squirt milk down his throat. This was traumatic on so many levels! Maverick hated it and would cry and cry and cry. He would cry so hard that he would end up choking and/or spitting up.....a bunch. Mama hated it and would cry at times as well. Daddy hated it. As a result the house was full of tension and we finally gave up on day 8. We just couldn't keep doing that to our little man.
I made an appointment and went to the lactation specialist on Monday 10/24. At this appointment Maverick weighed 8lbs 1oz. Seriously??? 1 oz in 10 days?? Although I guess I shouldn't be that surprised since he cried so much he probably was burning more calories than he was taking in! The lactation nurse basically stated we were doing everything she would have recommended and called Dr. Salisbury in. After talking and watching Maverick eat, it was decided that Maverick needed to be admitted to the hospital for observation and tests. Thankfully my wonderful mom-in-law and sister were able to help with Baron and Elliott. I didn't get home until 9:30 that night and Grant stayed with Maverick. I didn't want to leave him but between pumping, taking care of the other 2 littles and the fact that Grant feeds Maverick at night anyways, it just made the most sense. I was back to the hospital by 7:15 am on Tuesday morning so Grant could get to work. At that point, Maverick's blood and urine came back normal. We had a head ultrasound and barium swallow test which both came back normal as well. The barium swallow did show a "severe" case of acid reflux which we already knew he had and are treating him for. We were finally discharged around 7:00pm with a feeding tube in Maverick's nose and instructions to let him eat what he wants orally and then gavauge him the rest. He has to eat 2.5 ozs or 75 ml every 3 hours (goal of 17ozs in 24 hours) with a 6 hour stretch at night and we have increased the calorie count of his milk to 27 cals/oz (this is so it is like he is getting 3 ozs every feed). Breastmilk is 20 cals/oz and we are fortifying with high calorie formula. We have been referred to the feeding clinic at OHSU and are waiting for a call back to make an appointment. Even though we have a feeding tube in, we still want to figure out why he isn't that interested in eating.
We went in for a weight check on Friday 10/28 and little man was weighing in at........8lbs 8ozs! 6ozs in 3 days!! Everyone is happier at the Webster House with this temporary solution and Grant & I are feeling much better knowing our little guy is getting the calories he needs. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers from our family and friends! We know we will get through this but it's a comfort knowing we have love and support from so many caring people!
This all started when we went in for the babies 5 month check on 10/13. Maverick was only weighing in at 8lbs and the doctor said that was not enough! Let me give you a little history first. Maverick has been "self" feeding for the past 2 months. What I mean by "self" feeding is that he wanted to eat his bottle while in his bouncy chair and the bottle propped in his mouth so he could eat at his leisure. Normally he would fall asleep eating and liked it that way. I think I knew in the back of my mind it probably wasn't ideal but when you have 3 kids under 19 months, are pumping every 3 hours (ish), holding the other baby to eat and haven't slept thru the night in 5+ months, you do what you can to survive.
So the doctor wanted us to make him eat 3ozs every 3 hours with one 6 hour stretch at night if he slept that long. He had been very sporadic in the amount & times he would eat while "self" feeding and doc said he probably is a lazy eater as well. He cries when hungry and will eat whatever he feels like which can be anywhere from 10ml at times to 2 ozs at other times. For 8 days we force fed him whatever he wouldn't eat independently. I had the question asked many times "how do you force feed a baby?" and basically we had to squeeze the bottle to squirt milk down his throat. This was traumatic on so many levels! Maverick hated it and would cry and cry and cry. He would cry so hard that he would end up choking and/or spitting up.....a bunch. Mama hated it and would cry at times as well. Daddy hated it. As a result the house was full of tension and we finally gave up on day 8. We just couldn't keep doing that to our little man.
I made an appointment and went to the lactation specialist on Monday 10/24. At this appointment Maverick weighed 8lbs 1oz. Seriously??? 1 oz in 10 days?? Although I guess I shouldn't be that surprised since he cried so much he probably was burning more calories than he was taking in! The lactation nurse basically stated we were doing everything she would have recommended and called Dr. Salisbury in. After talking and watching Maverick eat, it was decided that Maverick needed to be admitted to the hospital for observation and tests. Thankfully my wonderful mom-in-law and sister were able to help with Baron and Elliott. I didn't get home until 9:30 that night and Grant stayed with Maverick. I didn't want to leave him but between pumping, taking care of the other 2 littles and the fact that Grant feeds Maverick at night anyways, it just made the most sense. I was back to the hospital by 7:15 am on Tuesday morning so Grant could get to work. At that point, Maverick's blood and urine came back normal. We had a head ultrasound and barium swallow test which both came back normal as well. The barium swallow did show a "severe" case of acid reflux which we already knew he had and are treating him for. We were finally discharged around 7:00pm with a feeding tube in Maverick's nose and instructions to let him eat what he wants orally and then gavauge him the rest. He has to eat 2.5 ozs or 75 ml every 3 hours (goal of 17ozs in 24 hours) with a 6 hour stretch at night and we have increased the calorie count of his milk to 27 cals/oz (this is so it is like he is getting 3 ozs every feed). Breastmilk is 20 cals/oz and we are fortifying with high calorie formula. We have been referred to the feeding clinic at OHSU and are waiting for a call back to make an appointment. Even though we have a feeding tube in, we still want to figure out why he isn't that interested in eating.
We went in for a weight check on Friday 10/28 and little man was weighing in at........8lbs 8ozs! 6ozs in 3 days!! Everyone is happier at the Webster House with this temporary solution and Grant & I are feeling much better knowing our little guy is getting the calories he needs. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers from our family and friends! We know we will get through this but it's a comfort knowing we have love and support from so many caring people!
Playing with my toys....
Monday, October 24, 2011
I Love My Kids!
Maverick ~ How cute is he?!?!
Elliott ~ My happy girl!
Baron ~ entertaining himself on the iPad!
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