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| We are ONE month old! :) |
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| One Month and loving cuddle with each other |
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| Hi :) |
This week we celebrated the girls turning 1 month! In fact, June 18th, was our due date! Developmentally, we are just hitting ground zero. I have to be honest and say that this first month has absolutely flown by! I really can't believe its been that long already. I'm so excited, though, about the progress we have made, not only with the girls, but as a family. First, let me update you on the girls.
Since the girls were born, our recurring struggles have been around feeding the girls. I can't tell you how many times I have thought about giving up. I've wondered if all these efforts would be in vain. In spite of these feelings, I pushed on. This week I started attending a breastfeeding group at Good Samaritan Hospital as well. You basically go there, breastfeed your babies, check their weights (before and after to see how much they ate) and get help/advice from the lactation consultants. I'm so glad that I went. The LC (lactation consultant) showed me a new tip for latching the girls that has really worked well with Nova. She has been the hardest to latch. Long story short, at the group, Bria drank 1.5 oz and Nova only took .15 oz. In all fairness, she didn't latch long and was super sleepy (oh and then she pooped through her clothes...) After coming home, I tried the new latch and got Nova to breastfeed. She did great! A few days later, I had both girls breastfeeding at the same time. Bria has progressed to the point where she can breastfeed several times through the day and gets enough that she does NOT need a bottle after. Nova still has a weak suck and needs a bottle of pumped breast milk after every feeding, although the amount is becoming less. The good news is that they are starting to breastfeed. The bad news is that I still have to pump until BOTH girls are capable 100% of the time. If I haven't mentioned it, I HATE PUMPING!!!
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| Breastfeeding Bria while bottle feeding Nova - It's not always pretty! |
Let's talk about the BIG BROTHER!! My not so little man is an amazing big brother and he takes this roll very seriously. He's always telling people about HIS sisters and loves to help. When he wants to help he will ask, "can I do a big brother job?" Big brother jobs include throwing away diapers, fetching blankets, replacing a fallen binky into mouth, bouncing a bouncy seat, etc. He is always happy to help and so proud of himself for taking care of his sisters. It's amazing to see the way he loves them so much already. Ryder has also been known to help me pump. That's right, he will assemble the pieces and loves to push the buttons for me. One of my favorite things Ryder has started doing is coming in while I'm pumping, crawling into a chair and says, "Mommy, can I talk to you?" Usually he wants me to tell him about fire trucks and smoke detectors! And I'm happy to have the company. When Ryder gets home from school the first thing he does is wash his hands and come running to see his sisters. Its the same thing when he wakes up too! Its such an amazing feeling to see the way he loves his sisters! Love it!
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| Proud Big Brother with his sisters :) |
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| Ryder said he needed to pump really bad for his babies! |
Joe and I are also doing well and settling into a routine. But as is true with babies, just when we think we have it all figured out, they go and change on us. UGH! But, we are getting through day by day. We really couldn't have done it without all the help of family and friends. We have had countless meals delivered by countless people. My family has come out to stay with us and hold babies, clean our house, and make us meals. We truly appreciate everyone that has landed a hand! That old saying is true, "It takes a village..." and we are sure grateful that the "village" has been around to help us!
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| 2 generations of sisters :) |
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| Part of our village ;) |
