Baby Minnie

Just in case you were afraid Minnie Mouse wasn't real, Ellyson would like to clarify. She is, in fact, very real. She does all the things a baby should do - Ellyson sees to it, just like a good mommy would!

Minnie is entertained in the swing.

She sits in the Boppy. (Actually, I grabbed the Boppy in order to prop both boys on my thighs on the sofa. Ellyson started screaming and trying to take it. I had to get up anyway because I realized there was at least one newborn poop in my lap - surprise, surprise. As soon as I got up with the babies, she put Minnie in the Boppy. Apparently it was her turn.)

She (sorry, different Minnie - I think the big stuffed one was in Ellyson's room when she did this with her little Minnie) rides in a car seat, albeit upside-down.

She even sneaks in some tummy time.

Home Remedies

We are still fighting some sick crud around here. It's been two and a half weeks, and the symptoms keep morphing. It started with Ellyson's strep, then all six of us came down with some form of cold
(from mild to severe), then I popped up with very early symptoms of pink eye, and now a few of us are working on round two of some sinus (I don't even have a word for it). Nothing serious, just annoying. And I won't even go into the diaper rash that has persisted on poor Grant for about three weeks.

Aside from the antibiotic for Ellyson's strep, a handful of doses of ibuprofen/acetamenophen and a bag of cough drops, I've been trying to keep all of us as free of meds as possible. Some of that is a requirement, since half this family is either a newborn, or is nursing newborns. So we've been pumping humidifiers, Vicks plug-ins instead of or in addition to the rubs, and a home remedy that I've never had occasion to try until now.

I've often read that breastmilk is nearly a cure-all. It has antibiotic properties which can help with healing in a topical application - not just through ingesting it. So when I woke up last Saturday at 3:30 a.m. with an itchy, pinkish, pasty eye, the first thing I did after carefully wiping off all the mucus, was to get a little syringe (thankfully when E was on Zantac, the pharmacist gave us a whole bunch of tiny ones) and put drops of freshly pumped breastmilk in my eye. Oh, yes I did. The online advice I found, said to do it a few times a day, a few drops per application, for three days. So I did. And you know what? By Monday morning (about two days later), my eye was fine. I think it actually worked. I was fully prepared to go to the doctor on Tuesday (or sooner, if it got worse), but it actually cleared up. Maybe there's really something to this ...

So after 24 hours on the milk drops for my eye, I broke them out for another treatment I'd read online. Apparently really horrible newborn diaper rash (Grant) can be treated with breastmilk. At this point, we'd tried everything else. Desitin. Neosporin. Baby powder. Ridiculous diaper changes. Half-naked tummy time. The tummy time (twice daily for 15-20 minutes, with nothing covering his bottom) combined with baby powder while he was diapered, made a good bit of progress but then stalled out. (When his rash developed, it was two little spots worn raw - to the point of bleeding - where his cheeks were rubbing together and never drying, because he was pooping a little bit about 20 times a day. Our progressive treatments had reduced it to a smaller spot, on just one cheek, and it appeared to be on the verge of bleeding, but not quite to that point.) So I broke out the breastmilk. Dropped a few drops on the rash at the beginning of naked tummy time. After two days, he's seen more improvement than in the previous week. We aren't 100% clear yet, but I'm hoping that if I give it a few more days, it will finally be healed.

So, I guess I'm a believer now in this "magic milk" theory ... maybe I will pump milk forevermore and sell it. That will be my new career. Haha!

One Month/18 Months

Today, G&G are one month old, and E is 18 months old. Here's where they all stand.

G&G - One Month:

• They are on an awesome, predictable schedule of nursing every three hours, around the clock. Sometimes they go 4-6 hours at night, but those are exceptions. That's fine. They nurse together about 95% of the time.
• They are having longer periods of wakefulness, but always sleep from one feeding to the next overnight.
• They both tolerate tummy time fairly well - something I could never say of C or E!
• They both are wearing newborn-size clothes and diapers. The newborn pants are still way too big on the waist (they look like old man pants), but the preemie pants are barely long enough to cover their knees.
• I don't have size updates. Their checkup isn't until September 6. But Grant's face has filled (rounded) out quite a bit. My guess is that he has caught up to Graham in weight. And I'm estimating 7 lb, 9 oz each.

E - 18 Months:

• Carter is her BFF. She tries to do everything he does. She runs, plays, wrestles and climbs. She follows him upstairs, to the bathroom, to the kitchen, to the playroom, to his "hideout" ...
• Her nickname should be Hawkeye. She can sense an open pantry from the other end of the house. If you're trying to sneak a snack behind her back, you better watch out! She still refuses all vegetables but corn on the cob ... and all fruits but applesauce.
• She says a handful of words, many of which sound alike. We can only identify whether she is saying "Grandpa" or "Papa Jack" (both sound something like "guppaguh") from the context of the conversation.
• She is still refusing to use the potty, though she will remove her diaper if possible, and if not, she will squat in place, pee, then announce that she needs a diaper "bah-bah".
• She is comfortably in 18M clothes.
• She loves, loves, loves Minnie Mouse. Also likes Cinderella and any other "Ella" (aka princess) type girl she sees.

Word of the Week: Poop

Yes, I said it. Poop. Jack jokes that, at any given moment in our house, there probably is poop in a diaper (or toilet), and a child waiting to be wiped of it. It's not too far off from the truth. In fact, it's so true that I've decided, when I finally write my memoir (or maybe my how-to) about raising many small children, it will be called "Okay, Who Pooped?"

This morning while Carter was at preschool, there was a moment when I had three children with poop in their diapers. The worst part was that I was in the middle of nursing the twins (they tend to relax while nursing) ... so everyone had to wait to be changed. Just what you were hoping to read over lunch, huh?

Wordless Wednesday

Vintage Pearl

For Mother's Day, Jack (Ellyson) got me my four-child Loving Family necklace, to coincide with the one-child and two-child versions I have already.

But he wasn't done there. For the birth of the twins, he wanted to get me a necklace with the kids' names. But he couldn't decide on just one. So he got me four (one from each child) from The Vintage Pearl.

One has four birds in flight. One is a heart. One is two circles: the outer says "my hands are almost as full as my heart". The last one is a moon that says "i love you to the moon and back" - which is Carter's most recent phrase of adoration - and has a star with each child's initial.

I haven't even worked my Loving Family necklace into rotation yet, because I'm loving my custom ones.

Colds

I'm slow to post right now. We all are sick. Every last one of us. Yes, even the twins. It started with E's strep. Then on Friday, Carter woke up sick. His strep culture was negative, and the doctor declared it just allergies or a bad cold. As the rest of us gradually began coughing and sniffling, we determined it to be a cold.

So for now, we are running multiple humudifiers at night, we have a crib wedge elevating the boys' mattress, and we're sucking lemon-yellow snot out of Grant's nose. (Did you know that's the normal color of newborn snot? I didn't. I was alarmed until I Googled it.)

Hopefully no one gets any worse and we shake this bug quickly.

Duh.

Yesterday I was outwitted by a four-year-old.

G&G moved into their bedroom on Wednesday (cue the choir). Wednesday night we noticed that the audio feed on the new video monitor is really loud. Like, really loud. As in, the white noise of it was waking Jack. He sleeps through babies crying in our room, but this was keeping him up. (Side note: this is our third video monitor. Carter's lasted two years before the screen went out. Ellyson's lasted 10 months. This time, we got an updated model of the one we had for Carter.) We actually have some friends with the same monitor, and I remember them complaining about it. So I decided to borrow their solution.

So Thursday I broke out our old (from four years ago) audio-only monitor. The plan would be to use the audio-only monitor at night, and turn on the video monitor screen as needed. But we've been unsure as to whether the small audio monitor was fully functioning. So Thursday I set out to test it. Once Carter got home from school, I asked him to go to the babies' room and sing, so I could listen in another room. He walked in, turned on the musical mobile, came out to me, listened and said "yep, I hear the music."

Well, smack my head ... I could've done that!

Strep

So, E came down with strep throat this week. I doubt it's a coincidence that it hit her a few days after she finished her first week of MMO. I got her out of bed Monday morning and saw she'd gotten sick in bed. Then she got sick on the way to drop off Carter. Then the fever started. When it peaked Tuesday morning at 104, we saw the doctor. Her strep test was positive. I was kind of glad to have a definite diagnosis, and one we can treat. But it did make for an adventurous first solo outing with the twins! I took all three babies (E, G and G) to the pediatrician, and then we had to fill E's prescription at the grocery store. The doctor's office wasn't too bad because the nurses helped me get all the kids from the lobby to the exam room - and the double BOB fit in the exam room!

Getting through the grocery store with one newborn in the cart (in his carrier), a toddler strapped into the seat of the cart, and a second newborn in his carrier, in my hand ... was a little more challenging.

Wordless Wednesday

By the numbers

19 ... days old

-----

3 ... hours between their typical daytime feedings

4 ... hours between their typical nighttime feedings

5-1/2 ... the longest stretch of sleep from them so far (once, during the second week)

8 ... Ellyson's age, in weeks, before she was finally on a three-hour feeding schedule (ha!)

11 ... size preemie outfits in rotation (Graham wears a NB top and they both wear NB sleepers now - everything else size newborn is still too big)

300 ... size preemie diapers (in 18 days - yep, we go through them fast! - but we have now graduated to newborn diapers)

350 ... ounces of breastmilk pumped and frozen in the last two weeks, on top of what I saved from December/January (our freezer is officially full, and I have to start thawing freezer meals now - and I don't even have my normal stash of ice cream in there!)

Shower Time

Ellyson had two firsts this week - one was school/MMO. The other was her first shower. I'd joked with Jack, that she might be ready for a shower instead of a bath, because she dives head-first into the water fountains. So I decided to give it a try. Carter prefers a shower anyway, and I can't manage his shower by myself if Ellyson isn't in bed ... but if I could get them in the shower together, I wouldn't have to run interference on a curious one-year-old running wild through my bathroom/bedroom.

It went great. So she has been showering with Carter this week. They both think it's some of the best fun this side of Disney World. And I like it because it really simplifies one of our parenting duties. Even moreso than putting them in the bathtub together.

Friday Funnies from the Kids

From Carter:

• The week before school started, his BFF's mom picked him up and took him to the park with her two girls. It worked out well - he'd been begging for a trip to the park, and it just isn't feasible with the little ones right now. But there was one other child at the playground. The child asked Carter and Ashlyn how old they are. Ashlyn answered "four." Carter answered "I'm 20 and I'm Batman."
• On the first day of school, Carter colored a picture of a school bus. At the bottom of Carter's picture were the letters "R-C-E". Phonetically, "Rusty." We asked Carter about it. Rusty wasn't at school that day, so Carter colored that picture for him.

From Ellyson:

• After school on Tuesday, Ellyson came home and went almost immediately to her crib for a nap. An hour later, she still hadn't settled, so I went in to see if she needed her pacifiers. I found a sight I wasn't expecting. A wet spot on her sheet, about a foot in diameter, her diaper lying in the corner of the crib, and a pantsless Ellyson standing up, screaming. When I picked up the diaper, I realized there was just a tiny bit of pee in it. The best I can deduce, she peed a little bit in her diaper, then took it off to finish the job. Yeah ... that girl is ready to ditch the diapers. (Actually, most of her cloth diapers are snap closures that she can't open ... but I temporarily have her and the twins in disposables while we get our heads above the water. It's a small price to pay, to spare myself the 3-4 loads of laundry per week. She'll return to cloth in the next few weeks. The twins will probably be a few months from now.) She repeated this little trick during her nap at MMO on Thursday.

From G&G:

• They like to pee on each other during diaper changes. That is all.

Daddy Photo Shoot

Jack took some pictures of G&G in a makeshift photo studio at our house (they aren't sleeping in their bedroom yet ... we may as well use it for something). I had attempted some similar photos late last week, but I'm not the practiced photographer in this family. So he took the reigns over the weekend, and I think he took some pretty good photos.



Wordless Wednesday

Mother's Morning Out

Today is Ellyson's first day of Mother's Morning Out. She's attending the same preschool where Carter has been since he was two. Eight months ago, I wasn't planning on sending E to preschool until she was at least two, maybe even three. But when we found out we were expecting, Jack voiced that I should probably send her to the two-mornings-a-week MMO class. When we found out we were having twins, I accepted that I'd have to do it for my own sanity (and for bonding time with the babies). It's good for her, too. Anyone who has met Ellyson knows that she is a bit (how do I word this?) ... clingy ... to me. She does fine in the church nursery now, though it took her a few months to warm up to it. But broadening her social horizon definitely is a perk we needed. So spending two mornings a week with three other one-year-olds and someone who isn't family, is a good solution.

She actually did fine this morning. She was so excited to use her new Minnie Mouse book bag and lunch box, that she was ready to run out the door! And at breakfast, I asked her if she wanted to go to school with Carter - she nodded her head. Jack and Carter both walked her in to her classroom, and she didn't cry when they left. I consider that a huge success! I imagine there probably will be a few tears when I start dropping her off, either this Thursday or next Tuesday ... but hopefully not too bad.

First Day of Pre-K

Today is Carter's first day of Pre-K ... the last year before kindergarten. He didn't sleep well last night ... I blame a number of factors. So good luck to his teacher today! Luckily, he's at the same preschool where he's been since he was two, and we already know his teacher (and she knows us/him). Most of his friends from last year (and the year before) are returning, so there's very little change for him. In fact, Jack walked him into his classroom this morning (I stayed home with the little ones), and Carter was so excited that he wouldn't even say "bye" to Jack. I'm glad he's so comfortable there. Jack was, I think, a little sad that Carter could ditch him so easily.

Ellyson saw Carter's book bag this morning and demanded her new book bag. Tomorrow she starts Mother's Morning Out (two days a week), at the same preschool Carter attends. Hopefully her first dropoff won't involve too many tears!

Ellyson's "Uh-Oh"

We've decided that Ellyson is smart enough to use the potty. She comes to us after she wets her diaper, tells us she needs a diaper, and lies back to have hers changed. Jack decided that since he'd be home for two weeks, we'd work on using the potty. So we've been doing that. It started with sitting her on the potty every hour. Then it graduated to the no-diaper, no-pants form of training: letting her run around in just a shirt. She had access to the potty, and we sat her on it periodically.

Then she came running into the kitchen shouting "uh-oh!" and we both scurried to follow her. We asked her where the uh-oh is. She showed us. Took us right to it. Hiding in the corner of the formal living room, between the sofa and the loveseat, where she and Carter have a little "clubhouse", was a little puddle of pee. (Let me just interject how happy I am that we have hardwood floors, so we aren't dealing with pee in carpet.) Then she pointed on herself, where it came from, and said "uh-oh."

The scene played out again today. Hopefully soon we'll get some pee in the potty. But we just couldn't stop laughing about her showing us the "uh-oh".

Oh, and she likes to wear skirts/shorts/pants on her head.

Bears

This story kind of got lost along the way. But a few weeks ago, we took Carter to Build-A-Bear, so he could make teddy bears for his brothers. (After Ellyson was born, Jack took him to make one for her.) Carter took his duties very seriously, and was really proud of the matching bears he made for his brothers. He made sure to scrub and brush them very carefully before finishing.

Adjusting To - and Recovering From - Twins

It's been a week since the boys were born. My recovery hasn't been quite as superhuman as it was after Ellyson's birth. But I'd accepted that it wouldn't be. It also hasn't been nearly as difficult as recovering from Carter's birth, so that's good. Especially since it was a twin delivery.

Recovering from Carter's delivery (the whole 8-1/2 pounds, first baby experience) required stitches and ice packs. Ellyson's recovery required neither - pretty incredible how my body showed virtually no signs of childbirth almost immediately after. Recovering from the twins required some ice packs, but thankfully no stitches.

My activity restrictions are less than they were with Carter, but not the nonexistent restrictions I was given after Ellyson. I'm only under "no lifting, no exercise" orders for 2-3 weeks, though I don't have the same base-level of fitness that I had last time, since I had to stop running a couple months before delivery. Still, Ellyson and I will both be glad when my muscles are recovered enough in a week or so, that I can actually lift her again.

Of the 38 pounds I gained as of D-day, I've lost 26 in the first week. Not too bad, especially considering I'm eating whatever and whenever I want (as long as C and E don't catch me!).

My milk came in after just three days this time, instead of the five days it took after my first two deliveries. That's good news for the boys and for me! And it is in full force now ... I'm pumping only for the purpose of relieving my own discomfort, but I'm banking a solid 15-20 ounces a day, doing just that. Hopefully I can keep it up like I did with the others, and we should be able to make this work!

I am able to get some rest now, too. Once we came home from the hospital, the boys finally had learned how to latch on with little (Graham) to no (Grant) assistance - so I began tandem nursing. It has changed my world. It's a sight to behold, no doubt! But nursing them simultaneously (and forcing them into that schedule) means that I can actually rest for a couple hours at a time. Previously, it took 60-90 minutes to change a diaper, nurse one, change the other, nurse the second, and use the bathroom myself ... meaning I might have an hour remaining before the cycle begins again. Now, I can have them both changed and fed in 30-40 minutes. Glorious!

Two Peas ...

... from two very different pods!

Grant and Graham couldn't be more different. They look different, and they act different. In fact, just to prove a point, they even have different blood types. Grant matches Carter, Ellyson and me; Graham matches Jack. So in case there was ever any doubt ... despite the separate placentas, dual-egg ovulation and completely different set of looks ... the blood types verify beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are fraternal.

Grant looks just like me. (Finally, we have one who does.) He is easygoing (I didn't say he acts like me!), sleepy, and asks to nurse every three hours, for a pretty thorough session. He nurses, sometimes stays awake and looks around for a few minutes ... then passes out for a solid 2.5 hours until his next feeding. He likes to curl up in a swaddle, and enjoys the company of his brother.

Graham. Graham, Graham, Graham. He looks more like Jack's family, though not exactly like Jack. He takes after Ellyson (and, arguably, me). He is a little on the fussy side, kind of high maintenance, likes to be held. He nurses for a shorter session, immediately passes out, then wakes up two hours after the start of his nursing time ... a full hour before Grant. He will cry and cry and cry if no one picks him up after he wakes. He tolerates a swaddle (which is better than C and E, who both hated to be wrapped up - maybe G and G are accustomed to the close quarters), but really likes to stretch out (which we saw via ultrasound). He doesn't seem to appreciate the company of his brother so much - and has actually pushed away Grant's hand on occasion.

But when they are both swaddled and sleeping, boy, I could just eat them up!

Postpartum Brain

. . . I so thought it was Wednesday night when I posted Wordless Wednesday yesterday. Oops! Chalk it up to new-mommy brain!