Anyway, I thought I'd post a "typical" day of taking care of my newborn twin girls. I know this time won't last very long in the grand scheme of things, so I want to make sure I have a record of it.
It's hard to know where to start the day, since there's not really a beginning or end. I'll start at the 7:45 am feeding yesterday morning, which was the first day without Ian here. He had to go back to work today, poor guy, and we sure missed him!
7:45 am- 8:30- Wake the babies. It takes about 10-15 minutes to wake them up. They are always very sleepy at first. Check their diapers. Feed babies. Nurse each for 10 minutes (try to do so simultaneously). The pediatrician said to not let them nurse much more than 10 minutes at this point, because they're little and it tuckers them out quickly. After they nurse, we feed them some pumped breast milk. Check diapers again, and swaddle them up. Sometimes they're very tired right afterwards, and sometimes it can take up to 1/2 hour to get them to sleep after we finish swaddling them.
8:45am- 9:15- Pump. I have to pump after every feeding to let my body know that I have to produce enough milk for two babies. Since they aren't nursing at full capacity yet, this is important. I pump from anywhere to 15-30 mins.
9:15am- Take a nap. Mom kindly watches the babies while they sleep in the bassinet in the living room, while I sleep for an hour.
10:15 am- repeat the wake/check diaper/nurse/feed/check diaper/swaddle from above.
11:15 am- Pump.
11:45am- 1:15- Make/eat breakfast. Shower. (ahhhh...shower....) Rest for a while. Do some tidying and dishes.
1:15 pm- wake/diaper/nurse/feed/diaper/swaddle. This feeding didn't go that well. Poppy wouldn't latch, and just cried and fussed the whole time I tried to get her to do so. Very sad. :(
2:15-2:45pm- Pump. Eat lunch during this pump session.
2:45-3:45- Called my friend Kristin in lieu of taking another nap. Was nice to catch up as we hadn't really spoken since I was in the hospital. I gave her the lowdown on my recovery and my sweet babies, and heard all about her baby as well.
3:45- 4:30- wake/diaper/nurse/feed/diaper/swaddle. Huzzah! They both latched. Exciting, but not sure what was different this time.
4:30-5:00- Pump.
5:00-6:15- Nap. Ah, glorious nap. Hadn't taken one since early this morning so it was much need and felt good. Until the alarm went off.
6:30- Ian is home! Back from his first day back at work. We all missed him and you can tell he missed his girls. He helps with this session of wake/diaper/nurse/feed/diaper/swaddle. Poppy doesn't latch again. It's becoming a trend, and not a good one. She gets very upset and cries and cries, because she's TRYING to latch, but can't figure it out for some reason. She sometimes can even latch, but then can't figure out she has to suck. Poor sweet baby. :(
7:30- Dinner. Watch an episode of Breaking Bad. Makes us feel a bit like we have more of a life than breastfeeding, pumping, diapers, and onesies. :)
9:00- 10:00pm- Final feeding before we switch to waking them every 3 hours. Poppy is having trouble with the breastfeeding again; so is Amelie. I decide to call a lactation consultant tomorrow, because I really want them to be able to breastfeed successfully.
10:00-10:30- Pump.
10:45-1:00 am- try to get some sleep.
1:00-1:40am- Feeding. Still not much luck with the latching for Poppy. Poor sweet girl; she gets so frustrated that it isn't working for her. I did this feeding with my mom so as to let Ian get an extra couple hours of solid sleep.
2:00-2:30am- Pump.
2:30-4:00am- try to sleep. Girls are fussy so I have to keep rocking them. Didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked; maybe 45 minutes or an hour. The girls wake up at 4am, even though our next feeding was going to be at 4:40. Guess their tummies didn't get the memo.
4:00-4:40- Feed, change, etc.
4:45- 5:15am- Pump.
5:30 -7:15 am- try to sleep. More successful this time. Wake up with Ian's alarm thinking we need to feed them right then, but then realize I have until 7:40. Try to close my eyes for a few more minutes.
7:45-8:30 am- Feed, change, swaddle, put them to sleep.... And it starts all over again......
I know that my days will not be like this for long in the grand scheme of things, and I'm trying to live in the moment and enjoy them at this size/age/stage in their little lives. We're exhausted, and it's pretty difficult, but I'm so happy to have my two little girls in my life now. They're the sweetest girls ever, and I feel like we just couldn't be luckier; even if we never sleep. :)
Well, some of us do, as you can see....
~M
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Oh Mariah, I can't even imagine! I went through the non-latching with Michael for the first two weeks and it was so frustrating, and he would get madder and madder as it went on, which made it even more difficult. It did eventually get better - I had my doula come over and she helped us - turned out if we put him upright he would "crawl up" me and latched much better - that position and the football were much better than cradle. It didn't help that my huge boobs were smothering his tiny head. Eventually it will work. Hang in there - sending you lots of good thoughts!
ReplyDeleteMo, you are a Super-Mom! I went through the non-latching with Emma too. There were some pretty hairy days in the very beginning, and I remember being so stressed out. I remember pumping after feeding because I had SO much milk I was uncomfortable. I felt so much like a dairy cow. I hope that the lactation specialist can give you some support and help. So glad that your Mom is there and Ian's mom soon-to-be there. You are inspiring to me!!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you all, hang in there! Love, Joy
Hey there! Found your blog through Top baby Blogs. I am also a Mom of Multiples after suffering with infertility. Its gets better. Mine are 17 months old now and so much fun. I am now a follower of you blog and added your link to my blogroll. If you want to check out m y blog, I would appreciate it. If you ever have any questions that I might can help with, I am happy to help. Multiples are a different, but oh so special world! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing me right now. I can't even imagine how hard this must be! Hang in there, sweetness.
ReplyDeletexo, Brenna
Hey good to see this blog through top baby blogs.I can imagine how difficult it is to manage.
ReplyDelete