Oct 13-18, 2013

Sunday Oct. 13, 2013  JAUNDICE LAB WORK

     Before we left the hospital , the girls were looking a little yellow, jaudiced.  The doctor wanted me to take my girls back to the doctor for some blood work.  We just got out of the hospital on Saturday and Sunday would be our first official "outing."  I have a double snap and go stroller so you can keep the girls in their car seats and just "secure" them onto the stroller without removing them from their hopeful slumber.
     Since my surgery, I was not allowed to lift anything over 10 pounds so I couldn't carry any of the car seats.  Mom and Lloyd loaded the girls into the car and Lloyd followed us in his truck since Mom's car was a little full.
  I hadn't gotten any sleep Saturday night.  The girls were hungry ALL the time.  I still wasn't able to breast feed so I had to pump every 3 hours which wasn't full when you have surround sound hunger screams going on...especially at 3 am. We had to be up at 7 am and we were ready to leave the house at 8:45.  It took 1.5 hours to shower, feed,
have breakfast, get the diaper bag ready and be out the door.  Success.
     At the doctor's the lab lady took blood from their heels.  Poor babies did NOT like that.  Their poor feet had had a lot of blood taken from them in the last couple days.  The results came back a couple days later and the girls did not have jaundice and all was well :).

Monday Oct. 14, 2013  FIRST DOCTOR APPOINTMENT

Adelyn

Clara

        Today the girls have their first official doctor's appt.  I chose Dr. Froelich from Group Health.  Lloyd was going to come over and help us get there but Rhonda called and said she didn't have to start work until later so she showed up at about 9:30 am.  She followed Mom and me to the doctor's and helped us lug everything in.  Dr. Froelich was very nice and I would recommend him to anyone.
      The girls got their weight checked:
                   Adelyn:  5 pounds. 11 oz  ( up only  .1oz since Oct. 11)
                   Clara:  5 pounds (up 1 oz since Oct. 11)
       The girls are slowly gaining weight but the key was that they were gaining.  Dr. said we turned a page and were on a good pace.  At least the girls weren't
losing anymore weight.  The appointment was fairly quick and Doctor wanted to see us again in 2 weeks.
         After the doctor's we said goodbye to Rhonda and headed to Target.  I needed a couple nursing bras and since we were already out of the house...why not.  The girls just slept the whole time anyway.  It was a good day.

Tuesday Oct. 14, 2013  LACTATION SPECIALIST APPOINTMENT


      Mom and I took the girls to Dad's office today for a visit.  After being stuck in the hospital for a week, I

was eager to get out of the house and amongst the living as much as possible.  It was a surprise visit and after a little protesting from Dad, Mom got him to hold both the girls.  He got a big smile on his face and the girls loved being held by him.  We only stayed for 20 minutes of so, just long enough to say hi to everyone.
        After Dad's visit, I had a lactation appointment at Providence.  The girls aren't able to breast feed so I wanted to find out what was going on.  It is funny because I had all these grandiose ideas about breast feeding both girls at the same time and life would be perfect. Not so much.  Judy, my nurse (who has the WORST body order in the whole world).  basically said that my nipples were too big for by small babies.  The cones I was using on the pump were too small so she gave me the right sized ones and she wanted me to continue to just pump and see what happens.  Besides being too big, the girls had nahed on them so much that they were raw and so sore.
      By being able to just pump, it would give my breasts time to heal....but I desperately missed that closeness and bonding time.
     I realize this might be too much information for some people but it is the reality that I am living and I am sure that I am NOT the only mother that has experienced what I am going through.  It is VERY disheartening to not be able to breast feed your child.  People ask how you are feeding your child, "Are you breast feeding," and when you reply, "no," I continue to find the need to follow it up with, "the girls aren't able to, but I am pumping so they are getting breast milk."  As if I am a horrible parent if I don't use breast milk.  Not only can my girls not breast feed at this point, not enough milk is being produced.  I have to supplement the little pumped milk I get with formula anyway just so my kids can get enough food.

Wednesday Oct 14, 2013  ONE WEEK OLD

 

   Today the girls are ONE WEEK OLD!!!  WOW how time flies. I cannot believe
they are already one week old.  It truly seems like just yesterday they were born and now they are one week old.  Aunt Mary Jane and Mary Anderson drove up today for a long visit.  I wanted to visit with them but they insisted that I go take a nap.  I was sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and the hour and half just flew by.
      Jill and Carter brought over dinner and we had a nice short visit.
     Adelyn had a lot of throw up tonight.  She was super restless all night and just wouldn't sleep.  She was frequently sneezing and crying.  My stomach was still hurting so bad and it was not easy to get up and down each time she cried.  The pumping and breast feeding stimulates my uterus to

contract and at this stage, the cramping is super painful.
     Along with the stomach cramping, my back hurts unbelievably bad and I am still bleeding a lot. (Again probably too much information but I am sure I am not the only one experiencing this).
     The girls are eating 2 oz every 2-3 hours.  They drink 1 oz of breast milk and 1 oz of formula
 

   For some reason (probably to make my life a little more challenging), the girls won't sleep in their bassinet.  Once I put them down, they just cry and cry and cry and cry and cry.  Eventually, I just take them out to the living room and put them in their swings and sleep on the couch.   Sleeping on the couch does not provide a quality night sleep let me just say.

     My starting weight (before I got pregnant) was 175 pounds.  At the end of my pregnancy I weighed 204 pounds.  I gained a total of 29 pounds.  As of 10/17/13 I weigh 178.  I am almost at my pre pregnancy weight :).

Friday Oct. 18, 2013   NEW BORN PICTURE DAY

   My appointment was at 10:30.  I figured that the girls needed to be in a milk coma for the pictures so that I would feed at 10 and then top off at 10:30 and that should be perfect.  Was it....of course not.
     Mom and I were dressed in our best black outfit.  I was excited to get a three generation picture.  The girls would be pictured in the buff for most of the pictures but I also brought their bonnets that Aunt Mary made and the blanket that she made 40 years ago.
    Once we got there, I fed them quickly but the girls just wouldn't settle

down.  Kayla, the photographer was great and very patient.  Obviously she has done this before.
     I brought 6 diapers (one for each hour for each kid we would be gone) and we went through five diapers within two hours.  Finally at one point, I leaned over to Mom and said we only had one diaper left.  Every time Kayla would take a diaper off to get a naked shot, we would have to re use the diaper (it wasn't "used") but it couldn't go to waste.
    At one point Mom was holding one of the girls in her arms, wrapped in the blanket and all of a sudden we see it raining down Mom's leg.  The baby was peeing all over Mom's clothes.  I quickly ran and got some paper towels to wipe her down but that was a memorable moment.  Karma must have heard me laughing because soon, while I was holding the other naked child, she peed TWICE all through my hand and shirt.  Kayla said to just power through it so we could get the shot.  OMG.   REALLY?!
     So after three hours, the girls were starving, Mom and I were soaked in pee and the girls had one diaper between the two of them left that was clean.  I'd say it was time to go home.  It was a great photo shoot and I am very glad that I did it but needless to say, I was exhausted.