4 month check-up

This post is a little overdue. Their appointment was last Friday, but I haven't had a chance to really sit down and write out a post until now.

The girls are doing great. Both have gained a pound and they are only a 1/2" apart in length. Katie weighs 12.5lbs and has dropped to the 22nd percentile and Natalie weighs 11.5, in the 8th percentile.

Even though they both have dropped in their percentiles the doc wasn't concerned since they are still gaining weight and doing what they are supposed to developmentally.

Both girls were super cranky since the appointment landed during their nap time. Most of the appointment at least one of them were crying. And at one point both of them fell asleep. the outfits I had them in were too hot, so thankfully I had some onesies in the diaper bag and just put them on to go home.

They both slept pretty good that afternoon and evening, but felt really warm. No fevers, just warm to the touch. Saturday they both were pretty cranky too. I had given them a dose of T.ylenol before the appointment and followed up with I believe two doses that night just to make sure they didn't wake up too sore, like after their 2 month appointment.

I had asked about starting some cereal, especially for K, since she seems to be hungry every 3-4 hours - day and night. The doc suggested waiting until at least 5 months and to make sure she can sit up okay on her own first to help with digestion. Right now Katie does pretty good in the Bum.bo chair on her own, but no where close to sitting up by herself. We'll see how the next few weeks go. I may just try it to see how it goes.

I need your help re: swaddling!

Dear Readers,

When do you stop swaddling? How do you stop?

Both my girls are being swaddled still. I believe it still helps them go to sleep...however...

Natalie continuously sneaks her right arm out, knocks out her pacifier wakes up gnawing on her hand a few times a night. This sometimes wakes up Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn wiggles a lot. She comes unwrapped a lot. As soon and I re-wrap her and stick the pacifier back in her mouth she's usually out like a light...but she comes unwrapped literally about 5-8 times a night. She sometimes wakes Natalie up. Plus she is still only sleeping 3-4 hours at a time between feedings...

This week has been hell-week for sleep in our house. I think even the dogs are suffering. The girls have been especially bad with their swaddling escape tactics. Tonight Katie has been fighting me bad! She's come unwrapped already about 4 times in the last hour. Twice I've gone in to check on her (as she's screaming/crying) to find her up on her side still partially wrapped. This makes me nervous in case she rolls over on to her belly without the use of her arms. I obviously don't want her to suffocate.

I just don't know what to do. Do I bother getting bigger blankets or finding other ways to keep them wrapped up? Or is it time to wean them from this? If so, how?

I'd love to hear your stories/theories/experience with swaddling and how to get over it.

Please help.

Sincerely,

One tired mommy

!!Formula Recall!!

Please check your cans! All of K's soy formula was part of the recall.

http://www.komonews.com/news/consumer/103552019.html

The aftermath

Actually...it went better than I thought!

Katie fussed, whined and cried off and on for about 50 minutes. I had picked her up twice when she was getting really worked up, but as soon as she calmed back down and was drowsy again I put her down. She eventually gave up and fell asleep. I checked on her after she'd been quiet for about 5 minutes and saw she was out and the pacifier was out of her mouth. I knew she'd wake up and want it back soon. Sure enough about 10 minutes later she did. I put it back in her mouth and she was out for hours. I think it was about 8:30 when she finally fell asleep and didn't wake up until about 12:30 to eat.

I was a little worried that her night feedings would be tough too. She typically can wake up eat and be back to bed in 20 minutes at night. Last night was no different. I am so glad! She did so amazingly well!

Tonight was a breeze too. She was tired and crabby so I put her jammies on, wrapped her, stuck in the pacifier and rocked her for a little bit. She was pretty squirmy, which I've learned means she just super tired and ready for bed, so I laid her down. She hardly squirmed at all and didn't make a peep - which was good because Natalie was already in bed.

It's now been about 20 minutes and I still haven't heard a sound come out of their room. Wow, could this be so easy? (knock on wood!)

Now if I could only get her to sleep past 6am every morning, me and her daddy would be very appreciative!

Naps are still super hard with her. She gets a few 30-45 minute naps then sometimes a good 2 hour nap, but I feel like I fight her all day. I guess if I had to pick I'd rather fight her for naps then bedtime! :0)

The battle has begun!

Tonight, for the first time, I'm making Kaitlyn sleep in her crib. Until tonight she's been sleeping in the cradle in our room...or if she doesn't sleep well I've grabbed her and put her to bed with me. Tsk, tsk, I know...

Natalie has pretty much been sleeping in her crib for a few months now. She is such a good little sleeper. Most nights she sleeps for about 12 hours straight. Sometimes Hubby gets up with her and gives her a bottle, but usually the pacifier and re-wrapping does the trick. He earned it though. When she was just a wee lil' thing, he got up with her countless times a night and soothed her back to sleep. I, on the other hand, slept with Katie...call me lazy, but I was just exhausted.

I have, however, gotten to the point with Katie that I can lay her down awake but drowsy. She'll usually fall asleep withing a minute or two on her own. Well tonight, she was almost asleep, I laid her in her crib and - bing! - her eyes shot wide open. She's a smart cookie for recognizing that wasn't her normal sleeping place. Our room is really dark. We have an a/c unit running on fan for the noise. The nursery isn't completely dark until the sun goes down and it's quiet. I did turn on the heartbeat music after a while for her so she'd have some noise. It took about 50 minutes of whining, some crying and me putting the pacifier in her mouth. I did pick her up twice. I held her until she stopped crying, then laid her back down. She's been quiet back there for about 15 minutes now. Oh, I did also put a "lovey" next her her head that I've been sleeping with for a few days in anticipation of her sleeping alone. I think it helped. She's asleep with her head turned toward it.

I wonder how the rest of the night will go. Will she wake up sporadically crying? Will she sleep for hours? Will she go right back to sleep after her night feeding like she normally does? I purposefully chose a Friday night to start this, because I'm anticipating getting less sleep than I normally do, but I'm hoping it won't take too long to pay off. It'll be nice to have our room back. To be able to talk above a whisper in there after 7pm and to read in bed again with my lamp on. Ahh...

Wish us luck, as I'm sure we will all suffer this next few days...hopefully not weeks. Poor Natalie will need to get used to her noisy sister sleeping in the same room as her. I feel for the kid...

Let me know if you have any tips or tricks to transitioning your baby from cradle to crib. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here! :0)

First sister moment

My mom was over tonight and we were each holding a girl. I sat Kaitlyn on the couch so I could get her blanket ready to swaddle her. My mom brought Natalie over and sat her in front of Katie. They both were just staring at each other then they were smiling at each other. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I think they may have realized their sisters, if only for a moment. So sweet!

They are 16 weeks now! Their 4 month appointment is next Friday.

Here is a recent picture of Katie.

Here is a picture of Natalie.

I got a little video clip of Katie in her crib the other day while she was watching the mobile. This is a very tame example of her new found voice. This girl likes to squeal/scream! I know I shouldn't encourage it, but I love to listen to her. You can click here to see it.

What a difference a year makes!

Last year, on Monday of the holiday weekend, I posted this. Of course I hoped that a year later I'd have a baby...but any of you who have struggled with infertility know, to hope it one thing, but reality is a whole different story. And the reality for me turned out to be two beautiful little girls!

The reminiscing I've done tonight makes me wonder where my life will be in a year from now. I'm sure it will be nothing like I can imagine.

I can't wait!

Slacker!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been a bit busy!

The girls are 13 weeks old today. We've passed the 3 month mark! I do think things are starting to get a little easier. They are both "talking" more. Katie seems to get happier and happier everyday. She still can get grumpy quick, but I'm learning how to read her and the best way to handle her.

I really have to recommend Secrets of the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg to every parent. I'm not even done with it and I have gleaned so many lessons from it. I got it from the library because a friend of mine recommended it (hi Mel!) to start with for sleep habits. I tell ya, it is just a good overall book of learning how babies operate. I've extended my time with the library on it already and I'm trying to get Hubby to read it to (wish me luck!).

For example: I used to think that K hated having her clothes or diaper changed because she cried every time we did it. Well, I learned (from taking a quiz in the book) that she is a touchy baby and she is a little sensitive and that we need to go slower with her and talk her though the process of what we're doing. Since I started doing that she's been a thousand times better! In fact now changing her is my favorite time with her. She is super smiley and talkative when she's laying on the changing table. It's amazing.

Natalie is doing great too. She's growing like a weed. I bet at their next appointment she will be the same if not even heavier than her sister. She really is the happiest baby ever. She smiles all.the.time! I love cuddling with her.

I don't remember the last time I updated you guys on my work situation. I think that was when I was talking about quitting to stay home full-time. Well...long story short, it just doesn't make sense for me to completely quit my job with Hubby not working until the evening and only getting 20hrs or less a week. Instead, I've cut down to 30 hours a week and I'm working from 7am-1pm with no lunch. I'm home by about 1:20 and can help get the girls down for a nap. It seems like since I've had this schedule (about 2 weeks), the girls have been sleeping better at night. Nap time really makes a difference. If they are overtired at bedtime, it is a bear to get them to sleep.

For a while now Natalie has been a good sleeper. I'd say since about 6-8 weeks old. Of course she has her bad nights occasionally, but most of the time she sleeps for 5+ hours at night. Katie on the other hand has pretty consistently been getting up every 3-4 hours until last week. Last week she had a couple of nights of sleeping for 6 hours straight! I was in heaven! Last night she was in bed and out for the night by 8pm. I didn't get up with her until 3am. I fed her and got her back to bed in about 20 mins. She didn't get up again until almost 7am. I hope this becomes more and more of a habit with her. I can dig it!

I guess that's about it. No big changes are going on around here. Both girls are wearing mostly 6m clothes. A few things are 3-6 months or 6-9 months.

Oh and one last thing. I'm back on the pill. I originally wasn't going to go on any birth control, since I TRIED for 4 years to get pregnant and it didn't happen. BUT, I need the hormones. I've been pretty crazy the last couple of months and I finally went to my GP to see if I can get balanced. I started back on Yasmin yesterday. I'm crossing my fingers this helps me out. I'm tired of being a roller coaster. When I met with the doc I cried the whole appointment. I told him about the other stuff going on in my life at the moment and he recommended anti-depressants. I declined because I'd like to see how the b/c works for me first. Plus, soon all this other crap should be behind us so a lot of the stress will be gone then too.

Okay, that's really it now. I'll try to check in sooner next time! :0)