OK - OK - so it has been harder than I thought to update our blog - we have been a little busy these days! We are surviving - but it has been a haze - and the days seem to run into one another....
Things have been great and both babies are doing really well. The ultimate test is gaining weight - if both babies are gaining weight - you know you are doing a good job! Teagan is now just over 9 lbs and Wyatt is just over 7 lbs. Wyatt has some catching up to do - as his sister is quite hungry since she got home. :-) But he is doing great considering he came home from the hospital at 4 lbs 6 oz and is now over 7 lbs five weeks later. Today they are officially 6 weeks old. Whew. I can't believe it. In some ways it seems like such a long time - and in other ways it seems like just yesterday that I went into the hospital.
We are amazed at how much trash our household now produces. Our trash can is full every week - to the brim. We go through at least 25 diapers a day. We go through about 20 bottles a day. We do about a load of laundry once a day - just for the babies. We go through at least two outfits a day for each baby - that is at least 4 outfits a day. We empty the Diaper Genie about every day and half. We can't even go two days on the diaper genie - it gets too full! eekkk...
Travis and I have a competition going: we compete to see who gets the poopiest diaper. We compare them by counting how many wipes it takes to clean the babies bottom. So it is normally a two or three wipe poopy diaper. But the other day Travis won the gold medal when he changed Teagan at 2:00 am in the morning - he got a 15 wipe diaper. Let me spare you the details but just say this: we were so surprised that so much could come out of such a little baby!
We have also invented the extreme sport of "Burping". We compete to see who can get the most or the loudest burps out of the baby we are burping. Teagan can really let out some truck driver level burps! But Wyatt is defintely the loudest baby - he makes noises no matter what he is doing. He constantly grunts and groans while he is sleeping - very cute during the day - not so much at night when you are listening to him on the monitor though!
Our day is pretty much the same - no matter what day it is. We are on a three hour feed cycle. We start about 6:00 am with the morning feed. Travis usually takes this feed - and lets me sleep till he gets them down around 7:30 am. It takes about 1/2 hour to feed each baby - change them - burp them - and get them down. Then you start in with the other baby. So a complete cycle takes about two hours. Then you have about an hour (if all goes well) to yourself until it starts all over again. So I take over for the 9:00 am feeds until he gets home - then we trade off for the rest of the night. Monday/Wednesday and Saturdays are bath nights. That is the entertainment for the evenings. Travis left this morning and said: "I will see you for bath night." Fun right? We used to go out to dinner with friends - now we have bath nights! :-)
We do have help - my Mom comes on Wednesdays and my mother in law comes on Tuesday and Thursday and any other day we need her. Which lately has been often! We also hired a night nanny three nights a week. She comes at 10 pm and leaves at 6 am. She is our saving grace. We get no sleep the nights she isn't here and sleep the nights she is here. So at least we are sleeping three nights a week - that helps. I am accepting donations to keep the night nanny past 8 weeks...!
Life with a newborn (or two) as many of you know is quite challenging. You just want them to be sleeping, quiet and full because that means they are content. And a content baby (or two) means the household is peaceful. This is what we strive for - but doesn't always happen. :-) We understand that in a couple of weeks they may start smiling - which I am sure will make it all worth it. We can't wait for that. We also can't wait until they start going to a 4 or 5 hour feed cycle. That will be super nice. Maybe I will be able to get a little more done throughout the day besides just feeding and diapering?
For now - the current "look Daddy" event is when they hold their heads up on their own for a few seconds and look around. Exciting stuff right?! It is the coolest thing though - to see your baby start to do things they couldn't do before - and know that they are starting to turn into little beings. Little people - not just do-dads as I call 'em.
OK - well - I have to go get ready for the 3pm feed cycle. I will try to update more often and post pictures more often. But in the meantime - enjoy. And if you are local - feel free to drop by and hold a baby!
Susan