Notes from the crib- 1 Month

Makenna Anne

Hi, I'm Makenna. On Oct.29 I turned one month old. I can't believe I've been in the world for a whole month now! I'm getting bigger and bigger and now weigh 7lb, 11oz! I'm a pretty happy baby and usually quite content. Even though I was the active one inside of Mommy, now that I'm out in the world I'm pretty laid back. I fall asleep pretty easily, and usually only cry when I'm hungry or sick of being in the same spot for too long. I eat about every 3 hours, although sometimes I think I need to eat every 2 hours or every hour before I go to bed. I usually sleep for 3-4 hours at a time during the night, and when I wake up and feed, I usually fall right back asleep. My sister and I like to be fussy from around 8-10pm, but then we usually settle down, eat one more time and go to sleep for the night around 12am. I've graduated out of my preemie diapers and clothes, and some of my newborn-sized clothes are even getting a bit too small. I'm proving to be a tall girl, now at 21.5 inches, which means that pants are too short and huge at the waist. Sounds like I'll be similar to my brother- tall and skinny! :) I still sleep in the pack and play in my Mom and Dad's room with my sister. I always lay on the right side of the crib so my parents don't mix up me and my sister during the night when they're tired! So far our parents have managed to tell us apart, mostly because I'm almost a pound bigger than my sister is. I look a lot like my brother did when he was born and most people tell us that we look like our Mommy. Daddy says it's better that way. I'm starting to lose my hair on the top of my head, so my hair is resembling that of an old man. Everyone still thinks I'm pretty cute though! :) During the day I like to sleep quite a bit, go in the swing, lay on the playmat, be held, or sit in my bouncy seat. I also eat a lot and poop quite a bit. Isn't my life grand? Well, I'm getting pretty tired here, so I'll let my baby sister have a chance to talk now.

Maya Grace

Hi, I'm Maya. I see that my younger sister got to update you on her life already. So much for the advantages of being older. I could tell you to just read her paragraph and you'll get an update on my life, but I am my own person, so I'll give you the update on myself. I was the calm one when I was in my Mommy's tummy, but now I like to make my presence known. If I'm unhappy, everyone knows. Some might say that I'm the feisty girl. I like the papason swing, but don't like sitting in the same place for a very long time. If my belly is full, I'm usually content for awhile, but I can flip the switch pretty easily. I now weigh 6 pounds, 15 ounces and I've graduated out of my preemie clothes. I'm still in preemie diapers, which are nice and snug on my little bottom. Newborn clothes fit me pretty well, although the arms are a bit long sometimes, and the waist is usually pretty big, too. During the day I pretty much eat, sleep, and poop. I usually go 3 hours between feedings, but sometimes get extra hungry and only last 2 hours, or even less at night during my fussy time. Lately I've been eating at the same time as my sister, which is pretty cool. It also saves my mom a lot of time so she's not feeding babies all day long. At night my sister and I come to life around 8-10pm, and sometimes can be fussy during this time. However, usually being awake during this time helps us sleep during the night. I do REALLY well at night. On most nights, I can sleep from 11pm-4am without waking up. This makes my Mom really happy, and I think she would be really happy if my sister did the same thing! My sister and I are really starting to look more and more alike. I'm still the small one, and the swirl of my hair on my forehead still seems to be there. Sometimes my skin coloring is a bit darker than my sister's, too, and I have an adorable dimple. However, I know we'll catch up to each other sooner than later. People still say that we look like our Mommy and our big brother, Kaden. We're okay with that! :) In the picture below, Mommy says she really can tell how identical we are. I'm 20 1/2 inches tall, so 1 inch shorter than my sister, too. Hard to believe I'm older than her by a few minutes, huh? :) Hope you enjoy watching us grow!

Sisters- Maya on the left and Makenna on the right

Full-term

Today marks my official due date. It's hard to believe that the girls turned 3 weeks old this past week, and I didn't have to wait this long to meet my girls! Even though we always knew that I wouldn't make it to my due date, it's hard to believe this date is actually here. In a way it seems like this makes my pregnancy seem so complete and so DONE! :)

We continue to enjoy every moment with the girls. They are growing well, and after a weigh-in this week are past their birth weight- woo whoo... no supplementing! :) Maya is up to 6lbs, and Makenna is up to 6lbs 12 oz. It is still pretty easy to tell them apart since Maya is still a little smaller, but we wonder if they will catch up to each other and make it really hard for us to tell them apart. Now that they are officially full-term, they are staying awake more during the day, which is fun since we can interact more with them. It has also helped them sleep longer at night. Twice this past week they slept from 12-5am, and then after feeding, slept again from 6-9am. That's a schedule I can DEFINITELY live with!!! :) I know it might not last long, but I'm thankful that nights are getting better. Typically they will sleep for 3 hours, wake up (miraculously both at the same time!), feed, and then go right back down. We're praying it stays this way!

This week also held some firsts. For the first-time I fed them both at the same time. A very strange feeling to look down and realize you are nursing 2 babies at once! :) It went pretty well, and we hope to continue to increase tandem feedings to make it a little easier on myself. Otherwise it seems like some days ALL I do is feed all.day.long. The girls also had their first "real" bath this week since their cords finally fell off. That was definitely a bit chaotic. Andy was working late, so I decided to tackle it on my own. Kaden was in the bath with them, and I washed Makenna and handed her off to my mom, then put Maya in the bath. When I took a picture (which was not blog-sharing friendly, sorry...), Kaden told me that Maya was pooping, and sure enough, pooping for her first time in the tub. Then things got crazy and reality set in a bit. I'm sure there will be many crazy bath times to come in the future! :)

I had a little panic moment this week, which was also a first of its kind, but probably not the last. After I took the girls to the doctor on Wednesday, I left Makenna sleeping in her carseat on the floor in the living room and Maya was laying on her playmat. Kaden was just playing on the floor with his cars and I went to the kitchen to get a drink. When I turned around to check on him, this is what I saw: (yes, I was able to snap a picture pretty quickly)

Needless to say I PANICKED. However, I quickly realized that he was carrying around the empty carseat. Well, it wasn't completely empty....

Curious George got to ride in style.

This of course led to a little lecture about how he can never pick up a carseat with a baby in it, to which Kaden replied, "I know, Mom." We'll see if he remembers that.

So, that pretty much sums up our life right now. We change diapers and feed babies all day long. We also snuggle with them, our hearts warm at their little smiles, and listen to their little noises as they wake themselves up and take in the world around them. Pretty great life I get to live everyday, isn't it? :)

The girls hanging out and looking at each other. I love that they will be buddies forever (I hope and pray that, anyways!)

Me and my kids. I {heart} them.

Little MI fans

Little Michigan fans don't get much cuter than this

Adjusting

It's hard to believe that the girls will be 2 weeks old on Thursday. These past couple of weeks have certainly had their challenges, but the joys far outweigh the challenges. We are loving having these girls in our lives, and while life will never be the same, we wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm feeling pretty good, and for the most part would say that having a c-section was an easier recovery than the other way around. I loved having a planned c-section, and everything about the whole process was smooth and the recovery has been great. My energy is getting back to normal, and I'm learning that the new normal is okay. I might not get as much done as I would like, but spending time cuddling with the girls and being a mom is the best gift I could ever have.

Note what the mug says... that's how Andy feels in the morning after a long night of being up with the twins! :)

Andy had to go back to work today, which was kind of a downer, but at the same time, we know that he needs to provide for our family. :) Those girls have him wrapped around their fingers, and he loves to sneak in cuddles whenever he can, too. He's adjusting to diaper changes with a girl and has already gotten pretty used to lots of pink all over the house. Now he tries to reign me in as I get tempted to get lots of cute girl things for the twins- so many more options than there were for Kaden!! :)

Kaden playing with his sisters

Speaking of Kaden, he really is adjusting well. He always comments on how cute his sisters are, and loves to look at them and give them kisses. He is pretty gentle around his sisters for the most part and loves to help out whenever possible. Yesterday he held one of the girls on his own for the first time and thought he was pretty cool stuff. Every once in awhile he has his moments of crying about nothing or melts down, but I'm pretty sure that any 3-yr. old would probably do that anyway! :) It's funny how much older he seems to us now that there are two newborns in the house. He LOVES having Grandma VDH living with us for a month and keeps her very busy playing during the day. Sometimes I think she's more excited for Kaden's bedtime than we are! :)

The girls are doing great. They are nursing really well, typically every 2-4 hours unless it's at night and then they decide to cluster feed (which makes this mama quite tired in the morning). They still sleep quite a bit during the day, and we're trying to keep them up as much as possible between 8-10pm so they sleep better during the night. The latest pattern is that they don't like to settle down until around 2-3am, and then they sleep for 4 hours, wake up to feed, and then sleep for another 3-4 hours. This was fine until Andy had to go back to work today, and it's fine for me right now since my mom is still here. I usually send Kaden downstairs to play with my mom when he wakes up and I go back to bed for a couple more extra hours of sleep while the girls sleep. While it works now, I know it's not the ideal schedule, so we'll work on adjusting slowly but surely as time goes on. I don't expect them to be on a schedule at this point, but I do try to feed them back-to-back. The pediatrician and lactation consultant don't recommend feeding them both at the same time until they are a little bit older and strong enough to latch on without as much support, so for now I'll feed them separately. We have a lovely spreadsheet which helps us keep track of who fed on what side, for how long, diaper changes, etc. If you know us, you know this is so typical of us to make a spreadsheet for recording the girls' info :). However, it's so hard to keep track of who we changed, and who ate when, and what side they fed on, etc. So, we're making it work and keeping track of everything they do on a spreadsheet. Tomorrow we find out how much weight they've gained, and I'm curious to see how they're growing. They're eating really well, so I am guessing they're doing just fine. Most importantly, they are getting cuter and cuter. We just LOVE having these precious gifts in our lives and I'm so thankful to enjoy them outside of the womb and sneak in every chance I can to cuddle with my sweet girls.

Sleeping soundly

Enjoying some swing/bouncy seat time

Cuddling in their matching outfits

Photos....

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past few days. I certainly have a lot to say and could write quite a bit, but due to lack of sleep and a bit of craziness over here, you'll have to settle on some pictures for now! Overall we're doing well and extremely tired, but overwhelmed with blessings and thankfulness.

Big Brother takes over the bed

Skin-to-skin. The best part of my day on Saturday in the hospital.

Makenna Anne

Maya Grace

Ready to leave the hospital

Makenna on the left- not happy. Maya on the right, sound asleep.

Makenna

Maya

Daddy and his girls

Family photo

Kaden checking out his sister

Just chillin.

Kaden loves trying to get his sisters to grab his hand. It's so cute! :)