Christmas

12-24-13

Clara hanging with Grandma

Adelyn getting ready
to go to Grandpa Dykstra's

This was the girls' first Christmas.  Like I have stated in previous posts, I am a sucker for rituals and traditions.  I am so excited to discover Christmas all over again through my girls' eyes!  Christmas actually started a week earlier at my dad's house.  On Friday December 20th, I took Adelyn to my dad's for Christmas.  I left Clara with my mom because I was exhausted.  The girls hadn't been sleeping well and Clara was being SUPER "sensitive."  I figured that trying to pack around two car seats, two babies (one being super fussy), and presents was going to be a little much so I made the "Mom" decision to leave Clara with Grandma and Grandpa Marquardt.
     My step sisters have little kids and there is always a lot of action and screaming at my dad's so I didn't want it to over stimulate Clara, which I knew it would.  Obviously next year they will both come since they will both be able to walk and will be a little more self sufficient, but this year, I needed some peace and Clara needed a calm environment.  She was missed by all, but I stand by my decision as her mom.

 Christmas Eve was spent at my mom's house.  The girls both had colds so it was EXTRA fun...Before I left to go to my mom's my friend Katie surprised me with a visit of presents.  It was sooo sweet of her and her family to think of my girls during the holidays.  She showered them with a couple gifts and she was gone as soon as she arrived.  It was completely out of the blue and very much appreciated.  My other friend Jill showed up, as well, with gifts for the girls and we did a present exchange for our kids; I still think it so cool that I get to say "my kids."  I just feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.    
     We arrived around 3 pm at my mom's and I set the girls up in girls' room.  They fell asleep

Marquardts

immediately! Luckily they slept through dinner and were up and awake during presents.  I don't get to see Allison and gang hardly enough so it was fun for them to be able to play with the girls.

Adelyn telling cousin McKenna what she wanted for Christmas

Adelyn had some precious time with Auntie Alli

Christmas morning started around 7:30 am.  The girls got up for the day and we had breakfast.  After breakfast, I moved their lounge chairs near the tree and we opened presents.  I had to take a couple token Christmas photos and then they went down for their nap.  The girls were pretty much sleeping for the rest of the day...their colds pretty much wiped them out.
     Over all it was a great Christmas and I am super excited for next year when the girls will actually have some awareness of
what is going on around them

First Cold

12-24-13

Adelyn is powering through her cold!

Well...the inevitable happened...the girls got their first cold.  Adelyn caught it first.  On Christmas Eve she woke up with a runny nose, cough, and sneezes.  She was pretty miserable all day but despite that, she wore her smiles like a champ.  I called the doctor and he basically said that I should unclog her nose with the pump ball thingy and make a saline solution (1/8 tp salt to 8oz water) and put it in her nose.

Clara was trying to sleep off her cold in this pic

     She did NOT like the saline solution going into her nose but it did seem to help her breathe better.  The ball pump thingy didn't really do much.  I think it is too big for her nostrils.
     Clara eventually got the cold as well.  It hit her full force today (12-26) and her poor little nose is just a running away.  She doesn't mind me wiping it unlike Adelyn who puts herself into a fit when I try to clean her nose.  It must be sooo sensitive.  Poor girl.  I just want to make it all better for her!!!

   So far, luckily, I have avoided the germs that are flying around this house...thank god for

EmergenC!
     We are on day three of being sick so hopefully it has run it's course and will be moving on here soon!!

Purple Crying

Saturday Dec. 14, 2013


     Soooo, update on the feeding....we are back to our regular schedule.  The book is on the bookshelf to be re looked at, at a later date.  The girls are feeding about every 3-4 hours during the day and they are drinking about 3-6 oz. a time depending on the time of day.  I wake the girls up (or get us as close to) 10 pm as possible.  That is the GOLDEN hour.  They drink about 3-4 oz then and they will sleep all the way to 6 am ish.  I have a monitor in my bedroom so usually I hear one of them stirring around 3 am but they put themselves back to sleep.  Last night I didn't hear any stirring until 4 am so we have gained an hour of soundless sleep :).

     I keep the 6 am feeding silent.  No lights, no noise, and no talking to the girls.  I change them and then take them to the kitchen for a feeding.  They only feed for about 10 min (drink about 3-4 oz) and then back to bed for three hours.

     Our day starts at 9 - 9:30 ish.  I turn the lights on, open the blinds, and sing my "good morning" song to the girls.  I try to make it as inviting as possible.  The girls pick out their clothes for the day; usually they pick out a onsie and a pair of pants.  They are such fashionistas already, at such a young age. I wonder where they get it from?  Just kidding, I am just glad the outfit is in the same general color scheme.  Sometimes matchy matchy, most times not.  :) Sorry Grandma.

     During my endless hours of research to make sure I am doing what I am suppose to be doing, a friend sent me this link that explained a lot.  Did you know there is a thing called the "witching hour" or "happy hour" for babies?  Apparently starting at 2 weeks of age til about 12 weeks of age, babies tend to cry for no reason and more so in the evening time.  I had no idea, but it explains A LOT.  From my research I found that people call it "PURPLE" crying.



      The research says that it peaks at 8 weeks of age; sooooo true because my girls are 9 weeks old now and I was pulling out my hair trying to understand what was going on.  After finding this article it makes more sense.  The girls are doing what they are suppose to be doing!  I am doing what I am suppose to be doing; phew.
     I wish there was ONE book that walked new parents through the stages.  I have to find all this important info in so many different resources.  I guess that is one of the main reasons for this blog.  I want any new mom that comes across it, to have the info they need in ONE place.  I am such a trail blazer; ha, just kidding :)...just being my typical overachieving self :).  Always an adventure :).

Sleeping Update 2

Tuesday Dec. 10, 2013

Sooooo.....things might be working out.....

I have been putting Clara in a swaddle and in my bedroom in the napper and I put Adelyn in the crib in the nursery.  Adelyn likes to sleep with her hands above her head so I don't swaddle her. Adelyn will sleep at least 30-45 minutes before stirring.  I give her about 5 minutes of fussing before I go to her but lately, she has put herself back to sleep.  WAHOO.

To be continued... :)

Sleeping

12-8-13

Another day in pair...adise...

It is amazing how much you don't appreciate sleep until you don't get it anymore.  I have given up on the dream of a solid eight hours of sleep.  Maybe someday...

My girls have such different personalities already in their early lives.  Clara is my amazing sleeper.  Adelyn, not so much.  From the first day they came home from the hospital they have dictated their sleeping arrangements.  They didn't want to sleep in the bassinet so for the first three weeks of their lives they slept in the swings in the living room, while I slept on the couch; not the most comfortable for me but they slept, which was key.

After three weeks, I discovered that they love sleeping in their nappers.  I arranged the nappers on my bed and for the next couple weeks...life was great.  They were on a 3 hour schedule during the day.  For example, wake up at 8, change, feed, play, then around 9, back to bed; they would sleep for 2 hours and we would repeat. Life was great for all.  They were on a routine and I had a life I could work around.  If I tried to get them to sleep anywhere else, crying would ensue so it was back to the nappers. At least I was back in my bed and not sleeping on the couch anymore, even if I was limited to a single width on my queen size bed; them sleeping is key however it works.

Then at 6 weeks life took us on another adventure.  Clara is still my perfect sleeper.  I swaddle her, place her in the napper, give her a pacifier and she is out...she is out in seconds.  ahhh....heaven.  Adelyn, not so much.  I swaddle her, put her in her napper (she hates the pacifier..so we skip that part) and then....screams.  She just doesn't want to go to sleep.  She is sooo alert during the day; she stares at everything and she just doesn't want to miss out on anything by going to sleep.  Now, I swaddle her and rock her for about 5 minutes until she passes out.  Then I am able to put her in the napper and she will sleep for about 30 minutes and screams again.  I get her and bring her to the living room and in about 15 minutes she is sleeping soundly on my chest.  She is out.  If I try to put her back in the napper, she wakes up immediately but if I let her just cuddle on my chest, she will then sleep the rest of the hour til the next feeding.  Needless to say, I can't get things done during that time but I also love the bonding time.  I feel guilty that I don't have that cuddle time with Clara because she sleeps so soundly in her napper.

Now we are at 8 weeks, almost 9 weeks old.  Adelyn STILL doesn't like to go to sleep during the day; both girls are good night sleepers so I am thankful for that.  We have our last feeding at 10 pm and they will both go right to sleep until 3 am and then again until 5:30 am. I am looking forward to the day we can skip that 3 am feeding.

Today...I may have found a solution....I am probably jinxing myself by writing about it but I am hoping that any mom reading this blog may have advice for me.  I fed both girls at 8 and then they get twin time.  They play in the crib for 30-45 minutes and then I put them to bed.  Now up to this day, both girls sleep only in their nappers.  So I take them out, swaddle them, and put them down.  Clara went right to sleep; Adelyn, nope.  I took Adelyn out of my room and put her back in the crib.  I figured she could entertain herself for a while longer and then fall asleep and sure enough....at 10:15 (1 hour 15 min later) she is asleep in the crib.  HALLELUJAH !  I am writing this while she is sleeping so I don't know how long it is going to last.  So far it has been 10 minutes.

Update....it is 10:30 and Adelyn is awake again...she isn't crying tho....I am going to leave her in the crib and hopefully she will put herself back to sleep.  Life is good when there isn't any crying :)

Grandma Daycare Trial Run

Tuesday December 3, 2013

I had to go into school today to give a lecture on my experience at Auschwitz to the 8th grade classes so we had a trial run at Grandma Daycare today.  I got up at 5:15 am and was able to feed, change, shower, eat, and be out the door to Mom's house by 6:20...proud of myself if I do say so! Mom watched the girls from 6:30 am to 12 pm and I have to say Mom had more of an adventure than I did today :)....It is always an adventure with the twins.

It is still difficult for me to leave the girls.  I miss them tremendously as soon as I step out the door to leave.  I did call Grandma's house every chance I could to see how the twins were doing and they were always fine.  I feel lucky I have my mom to leave them with instead of a stranger at some germ infested daycare (my take).

Being a single parent is NEVER easy but it has become my normal so I have to laugh now when I reflect on the day. I arrived at Mom's, after I left school, just in time to help with the noon feeding. Right after that, she couldn't shoo me out of the house fast enough.  I think she actually said, "I hate to kick you out, but...."  Truthfully, I'm sure she was exhausted.  The girls gave her a workout and she was ready for a break.  I know how much she loves the girls, and me, so I didn't take the quick exit as anything insulting.  She said she will be better prepared for tomorrow when I have to go back to school and give my presentation again :)

This is a picture Mom emailed me to show me that everything was great....little did I know at the time that this peaceful bliss lasted only 5 minutes (suppose to be "twin time" to play but turned into a quick nap time) and then they were awake and fussy

Here is Mom's facebook post about today:

"Took Care of the 8 week old Twins this morning ALONE while Emily made her yearly History presentation at her Mid-High School upon request. I remember saying "Oh sure, no problem, I'll watch the girls"....From 6:30am to 12:45pm I was BUSY. Couldn't seem to synchronize anything (key)...Started out fine and soon the girls wanted to see me run so they changed it up a bit...One wanted to eat and the other didn't...One wanted to sleep and the other didn't...They both wanted to be held at the same time (figure that one out)...ALL MORNING LONG. I tried making some breakfast for myself three times. Longest morning I've had in a long time. OMG. Glad Emily knows I love those twins 'cuz I felt a tad guilty pushing all 3 out the door in a hurry when Emily finally showed up to take them home. An interesting experience for Grandma Sharon for sure..............."

2 Month Check Up

12/2/13

Today the girls had their 2 month doctor appointment.  This is a big appointment because they get their vaccinations today.  Mom came with me to help with the girls.  I don't know what I would do without her help!  The girls are so lucky to have her for a grandma!

Stats:
   Adelyn:  weighs 10 pounds 14 oz (50 percentile)
                22 inches long
                head is 38 cm
                has a rash on her chest but turns out it is baby acne.  Will go away over time
                Vaccinations:  3 shots in one thigh and 2 shots in the other thigh; 1 oral
             
 She cried through the whole ordeal; her thighs are very swollen now and she is VERY fussy.  She cried through out her feeding and it took a lot to get her to calm down.  Doctor said to give her a bath because the warm water should help.  I will do that after she wakes up.  Poor girl.  It is hard on a mom to watch your children in pain and not be able to soothe them.  She should be better by tomorrow though.

   Clara:  weighs 9 pounds 14 oz (24 percentile)
             22 inches long
             head is 38 cm
             Dr. said to add 2 oz of water a day to help with her bowel movements
             added 400 IU of vit. D supplement a day
             Right eye is still goopy.  Eye tear duct is not fully developed.  Dr. said it could take up to 10 months to fully develop.
              Vaccinations:  3 shots in one thigh and 2 shots in the other thigh; 1 oral

She SCREAMED through the shots.  Her Mariah Carey lungs were in full octave force.  Pretty sure she could have shattered glass if there had been any around.  She is still extremely fussy and keeping her lungs ready for American Idol tryouts.

While I was holding the one getting the shots, Grandma Sharon was out in the hall comforting the other!  I definitely couldn't have gone through this experience without her!  It was so nice having her there to help comfort the girls, and me :).

Going to be a long night for me. It is hard to comfort two screaming babies,,,,headache meds are on the ready.

Update:  Clara continued to scream through out the night and Grandpa Lloyd and Grandma Sharon came over to help me at 6:30.  It is very hard to comfort two screaming babies when you are only one person!  Thank goodness they live close!!

At the 10 pm feeding I was back on my own and both girls were over the hump.  They were both so happy that I almost didn't want to put them to bed.  Even Clara was all smiles!!!!  I love my girls!