Friday, March 26, 2010

Little Details

Nolan and Carter are 7 weeks and 3 days old. Can you believe it!

And here's a sweet picture!
Here is a fun picture of the Kowalski Twins (Brad's sisters) with the new Kowalski Twins:

If you just want to look at the latest pictures, here's the link.

If you want to learn more about the happenings in the now chaotic Kowalski household, read on.

Everytime a baby burps, most of the people in the room say in a rather high pitch but with alternating highs and lows, "Oh good job! Do you feel so much better now?" Most of the people meaning the women, and sometimes Brad. But the other day, Brad's dad was the first to express his wish that people would do the same when he burps. Could you imagine burping then everyone congratulating you on your burp and commenting on the fact that you must feel so much better? But of course, we all agreed!

I don't know what happened since the month one post, but these babies are now definitely in charge of us.  They used to just sleep and eat and look around a lot. They never fussed. It is like week 5 hit and these boys became bossy! But how can we complain and not do everything they want when they are just so adorable?! We really started feeling completely exhaused when Carter started wanting to stay up later than we wanted. We decided to start putting them to bed with their last feeding around 9. That would mean the next feeding would be around midnight. Well, Carter just started wanting to be rocked from 9 until the midnight feeding. He would start to doze then let out a scream, then doze, then scream. Putting him down in the crib was not an option. Once, Brad's mom got him to fall alseep while we watched some TV. She put him down and he stayed alseep! It was a serious celebration!!! Not even kidding. I was worried I wouldn't be able to sleep because I was so excited. The next day we tried to repiclate the previous evening. WHATEVER. Consistency is not possible here. =)

In fact, we now have to refrain from speaking any positive comments about the babies regarding sleeping and fussing. The second we say how great something is, these boys do just the opposite! We are sitting at the table, Nolan in someone's arms, and I say, "He is doing so much better this time than last night. He isn't fussy at all and seems so calm." One minute later, "WWwhhhhhaaaaaa, Wwhhhhahaaaaa, Wwwhhhaaaaa." One evening, we sit watching the video monitor, hoping Carter really has fallen asleep without the passy in his mouth. Brad says, "I think we got it this time. I think he's really out." One minute later, "Wwwhhhhaaaaa, Wwwhhhhaaaaaaa, Wwwwhhhhaaaaa."  I mean, we are to the point now that we stop each other from finishing our sentences when we know something positive is about to come out. It is like reverse magical thinking. Don't say it and it will happen.....we hope!!!! 

Here's an adorable picture to break up the story and remind you just how sweet these baby boys can be!

So I used the same "Wwwwhhhhaaaaa" spelling for each baby. Really shouldn't have. Nolan and Carter have quite distinctive cries. I would say Carter screams. He settles, then screams, then settles, then screams.  Unless he is really pissed though. He has a loud cry. I used to say that Nolan still had a sweet baby cry but one day he decided to grow his cry up and though quite different from Carter's screams, it is still ear peircing.

I'm kind of joking about their cries, but I have to say how hard it is when you can't get your child to chill! You feel so helpless! He is full, he is changed, temperature is good, we've bounced, we've walked outside, he won't even take a passy, so on and so on.  It makes me so sad!  I hear that my cousin-in-law, Jacque, always says, "Nobody ever died from crying!" So it reminds me that the crying will pass and the discomfort will fade. Everyone will be okay!

We have been so lucky to have a house full of help over the last month and more! Brad's family has come in segments, one after the other, so I haven't had to take care of two newborns all alone since that one week in between visitors.  Brad's mom came for 3 weeks, Sister Alli for 1 week, Sister Krissi for 1 week, and Dad for 4 weeks. He is totally doing great projects around the house for us!!! We call Brad's mom the baby whisperer for obvious reasons. Whichever baby is fussing, she says, "I'll take him." and sure enough, he is calm moments later. Alli has given us the "Alli Bounce" technique. It works wonders when little Nol has tummy problems after eating too fast. Krissi has helped us finally start a bedtime routine that seems to be working. Oh, man I shouldn't have said that!

Anyway, we have actually had a few good nights. Just in time to practice for back to school Wednesday. One day I calculated that had I gone to work, I would have slept only 3.5 hours. NOT g0od! The last 3 nights, we've done a feeding at 7:30 or 8:00, bath at 8:30, nice warm bottle at 9:00, sleeping babies by 9:30 (we hope). We started swaddling them again, too. They faught it some, but have now given in. I think it does help them sleep longer. They don't startle and wake themselves up so easily. Last night was the best ever! They actually slept 4 straight hours and had 5.5 hours between feedings! This was for the first round of the night, then after that, we fed every 3 hours like usual.   I've also been trying to cluster feed the boys all day. They need a total number of ounces in a 24 hour period and if we can get most of those during the day, they'll need less at night. That's the idea anyway. I want to be laid back about baby scheduling and such but right now, I just want more sleep at night so if that means scheduling, then so be it!

Some have asked how the feedings are going with twins. I breastfeed them at the same time only during the day. Feeding them in tandum saves so much time! During the night, they get pumped bottles. When I would feed them at night by myself (so working Brad could sleep), I would place the crying baby in a boppy and wake the other baby and put him in a boppy next to his bro. Then I'd hold both prepared bottles. That wasn't too bad. Burping them back and forth and changing them without the other baby getting fussy was challenging. Now that we are starting to trust their sleeping, and thanks to some advice of other mothers of twins, we are now each responsible for one baby and try not to wake the other baby while feeding.  Just means we have to get them back on the same schedule the next day but that's doable!

Some stats....my big boy, Carter is now 10.5 lbs!!! Nolan is still gaining well at 8.5 lbs. I can't believe they are approaching double their birth weights. Maybe you can tell their sizes in these pictures:

I really try each day to remember how they felt and looked in the hospital when they are were so small and so new. Still makes me teary eyed. We love them so much, it is indescribable!
Here I am with Nolan:

Here's Carter admiring his dad:

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

More pictures!

I was wondering why there were only 52 pictures uploaded on our album.....I left several off! Go look at the rest. Some of you might be in them!  Here's the link.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

One Month Old!

Wow! I can't believe it has been over a month! I feel like every time I look at these boys, they have changed. Nolan is finally getting some chubby cheeks (from the skin and bones he was before) and Carter is seriously chunking up! Here's the link to new pictures!


We had an appointment Wednesday and here's the latest:


Nolan weighs 6.5 lbs and is 19.25 inches long. He is barely making the percentile charts!  He gained about a half a pound in 2 weeks. Dr. says this is fine.


Carter weighs 8 lbs and is 20.25 inches long. He is in the 10th percentile for all of his measurements! He gained 1.5 pounds in 2 weeks. This boy seriously LOVES to eat!
 

I'm so glad they are both growing, whatever the rate! Here is a picture that really captures their size difference. They are so close in lengths but Carter is so much chunkier than Nolan! I mean, he's even trying to eat Nolan's hand!


Well, since the last post, the poop rockets have really calmed down. Thank goodness! But gas has picked up. Brad does a little baby yoga to help them get the gas out.  He swears by it!


I don't know what happened but in the last two weeks, sleep has been even harder to come by! They get a little fussy at night (more discomfort in the evening says the pediatrician). So we try to put them down by 9, but they'll have none of it!  We try to settle them but before we know it, it is time for their next feeding.  Finally after that (usually, 11 or 12), they pass out. =)  And like clockwork, they are up and super hungry at 3, 6, and 9. Of course, those hours change each night. And when it takes an hour to feed them, burp them, change them, then pump, I can get a couple of hours of sleep in before the next feeding. During the week, I do the night feedings alone for the most part so Brad is able to function at work, though occasionally I have to shout for Brad through the monitor! And, if they would just go back to sleep one last time in the early morning, I could really use those extra 2 hours!


Speaking of extra sleep, Brad's mom, Suzanne, has been here a week now and REALLY helps soothe the boys early in the morning so I can try to sleep a bit more. His dad, Michael, is here too and let me tell you they are just in love with these sweet boys! Here they are with cousin Hawthorne.
Just before their visit, my Dad and Ann came for the weekend to meet the boys. We had so much fun, out to dinner two nights in a row with the babies.  I can't lie, I love showing them off and so did Dad!
And before that....dun dun dun!!! I was home alone for my first week with the boys! IT WAS HARD!  After all the visits before that, I think the solitude made my hormones take over and I cried a lot! One minute, I'd be feeding them and just say, "This is so hard!" and start crying. The next minute, I would just look one of those boys in the eyes and say, "Oh my goodness you are so incredible and perfect and we made you!" and start crying. Oh my, it is making me cry again!  I had to start a little mantra: No crying once your make up is on! Yes, I put make up on. It makes me feel better each day. =) 


Despite the difficulties of being bossed around by my babies, I've been able to take charge some and we actually made it out alone a couple of times! Thursday was the grocery and Friday was the Babies R Us trip!  Both a complete success. I think I just wanted to see if I could actually get out alone with two babies. Now that I know it can be done, I really have no desire to do it again! I mean, at the grocery, I pushed the double stroller in front of me and pulled a full grocery cart behind. It was a sight! At Babies R Us, a lady stopped me, said she had 3 sets of twins and that I should get home and get to sleep whenever they are sleeping. I know I should do that but I feel like there is so much I want to get done between feedings!


So, have you heard of the mommy hair cut? It seems like so many women chop their hair off once they have a baby (or two). Well I swore I would keep my long hair. I went to have a much needed trim yesterday and she did a great job with lots of layers. I came home and the layers really started to bother me. There wasn't enough of the long length. It felt like I had a rat tail. Ha ha! I totally went to my bathroom today and chopped it all off to the shortest layer! I measured 7 inches cut off at home and 2 cut off at the salon. I can't believe I had that much hair!  I think I need someone to clean up the back but overall, I like it! I don't think I've ever just cut my hair myself before! Anyway, I'm embracing my mommy haircut!
Okay...3.5 weeks until I go back to work. DREADING it!!! I've got to get some sort of schedule going for these boys and have got to get some milk stored up!  Tomorrow we are attempting to make it to church. Wish us luck!  Oh and since Brad didn't make any other pictures on the blog, here's one of him trying calm both the babies at once, early in the morning. He was letting me sleep a bit more! Thank you, sweetheart!