Hey everyone! We are now officially counting upwards for the babies' age. Until September 30 when they were actually due, they were considered "negative" adjusted age. Now, they are nearly 5 weeks old, but one one week "adjusted." Due to their prematurity, we will track their development by their adjusted age, at least for the first year. If that doesn't make sense, you're not alone! Took us a while to get it too.
Having said that, everyone is doing great and in my humble opinion, acting more grown up than one week adjusted. They are all waking up from their preemie/newborn sleepiness and spending more time awake and alert. This also means more fussiness, but for now it's not unbearable. They are eating well and seem to be gaining weight. We're even starting to spend some of the awake time playing and doing tummy time.
The art of eating
As they all get bigger, they're getting hungrier! However, they still can't take more than about 2.5 to 3 ounces per feeding, but the time between feedings seems to be shrinking. They used to be able to go 3 1/2 to 4 hours sometimes, but now it's pretty consistently 3 hours, and sometimes one begins to fuss even before that. It's a major balancing act to time the feedings just right, where they're awake and hungry and therefore eat well, but if you let them go too long, then everyone is hungry, fussy and crying while waiting their turn to be fed! Mommy has made that mistake a few times and it's not fun to get through one of those feedings. We're also learning that a good feeding is not a matter of how much milk goes in, but how well you burp them and therefore how much actually stays down. When you have one baby that won't burp, and another that's crying to eat, it's tempting to put the first one down and start feeding the next (and the next...).
Don't do that! All you end up with is spit up all over the place. It really screws up the schedule too, as then that baby is hungry earlier the next time.
The emerging personalities
Of course by now we're starting to discover and enjoy all their little personalities. Sean is our screamer. We joke that he's got two volumes: on and off. He cries SO loud no matter what - whether he's hungry, tired, fussy,bored...doesn't matter. And it's painful to listen to, as it sounds like we're torturing the poor boy! At feeding time, the routine is to change everyone's diaper first, then start feeding. We always leave Sean until last, and affectionately say that we're "waking the beast." (Sean, if you ever read this...that's a term of endearment!) Otherwise we have to listen to that cry while scurry to change the others. But it's effective for him - he always eats first! Luke is our "lover." He cries and fusses, but it's generally only when he's hungry or, just wants to be held. He LOVES to be held and loved, and Mom and Dad are usually only too happy to oblige. And to look at him, it's nearly impossible to believe how sick he was for a while in the hospital. He's so healthy looking and strong now! I think he might even be passing up Sean in weight department - we'll find out Friday at the weight check. Charlotte is our sweet, contented one. She barely cries, and just sort sqeeks and grunts when she's hungry, and maybe lets out a little yelp if she's really hungry and impatient. She's fairly independent and doesn't demand a lot of attention, but she's so cute we give it to her anyway. She has these unbelieably wide open bright eyes when she's awake...they're almost hypnotic to look at. I could stare at them all day.
All in all, things are good. We certainly have our very long, tiring days, but most days are good and such an adventure. For some reason, perhaps adrenaline, the feeling of sleep deprivation is not too severe right now. We upped our night help to 3 nights a week since Jeff is back traveling quite a bit, so I know I'll get a solid 6 or 7 hours of sleep on those nights. And on the weekends Jeff and I split the midnight feedings, each taking one, so that we each get a nice block of 4-5 hours rest. I know that as the kids become more active, and I get fewer breaks during the day that I'll probably be more physically tired at the end of each day, but I guess we'll take it one day at a time for now.
That's it for now! More to come very soon...
Hey everyone! We are now officially counting upwards for the babies' age. Until September 30 when they were actually due, they were considered "negative" adjusted age. Now, they are nearly 5 weeks old, but one one week "adjusted." Due to their prematurity, we will track their development by their adjusted age, at least for the first year. If that doesn't make sense, you're not alone! Took us a while to get it too.
Having said that, everyone is doing great and in my humble opinion, acting more grown up than one week adjusted. They are all waking up from their preemie/newborn sleepiness and spending more time awake and alert. This also means more fussiness, but for now it's not unbearable. They are eating well and seem to be gaining weight. We're even starting to spend some of the awake time playing and doing tummy time.
The art of eating
As they all get bigger, they're getting hungrier! However, they still can't take more than about 2.5 to 3 ounces per feeding, but the time between feedings seems to be shrinking. They used to be able to go 3 1/2 to 4 hours sometimes, but now it's pretty consistently 3 hours, and sometimes one begins to fuss even before that. It's a major balancing act to time the feedings just right, where they're awake and hungry and therefore eat well, but if you let them go too long, then everyone is hungry, fussy and crying while waiting their turn to be fed! Mommy has made that mistake a few times and it's not fun to get through one of those feedings. We're also learning that a good feeding is not a matter of how much milk goes in, but how well you burp them and therefore how much actually stays down. When you have one baby that won't burp, and another that's crying to eat, it's tempting to put the first one down and start feeding the next (and the next...). Don't do that! All you end up with is spit up all over the place. It really screws up the schedule too, as then that baby is hungry earlier the next time.
The emerging personalities
Of course by now we're starting to discover and enjoy all their little personalities. Sean is our screamer. We joke that he's got two volumes: on and off. He cries SO loud no matter what - whether he's hungry, tired, fussy,bored...doesn't matter. And it's painful to listen to, as it sounds like we're torturing the poor boy! At feeding time, the routine is to change everyone's diaper first, then start feeding. We always leave Sean until last, and affectionately say that we're "waking the beast." (Sean, if you ever read this...that's a term of endearment!) Otherwise we have to listen to that cry while scurry to change the others. But it's effective for him - he always eats first! Luke is our "lover." He cries and fusses, but it's generally only when he's hungry or, just wants to be held. He LOVES to be held and loved, and Mom and Dad are usually only too happy to oblige. And to look at him, it's nearly impossible to believe how sick he was for a while in the hospital. He's so healthy looking and strong now! I think he might even be passing up Sean in weight department - we'll find out Friday at the weight check. Charlotte is our sweet, contented one. She barely cries, and just sort sqeeks and grunts when she's hungry, and maybe lets out a little yelp if she's really hungry and impatient. She's fairly independent and doesn't demand a lot of attention, but she's so cute we give it to her anyway. She has these unbelieably wide open bright eyes when she's awake...they're almost hypnotic to look at. I could stare at them all day.
All in all, things are good. We certainly have our very long, tiring days, but most days are good and such an adventure. For some reason, perhaps adrenaline, the feeling of sleep deprivation is not too severe right now. We upped our night help to 3 nights a week since Jeff is back traveling quite a bit, so I know I'll get a solid 6 or 7 hours of sleep on those nights. And on the weekends Jeff and I split the midnight feedings, each taking one, so that we each get a nice block of 4-5 hours rest. I know that as the kids become more active, and I get fewer breaks during the day that I'll probably be more physically tired at the end of each day, but I guess we'll take it one day at a time for now.
That's it for now! More to come very soon...
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