3 Months - and a Glimpse of the Fun to Come!

These tiny girls are no longer tiny!  At last check, Adella weighed 12 lbs., 5 oz. and Bria weighed 11 lbs., 5 oz.  That was two weeks ago!  My girlies are good eaters!  Can you believe that Adella weighs a WHOLE pound more than Bria?!?  She does the eating to prove it though.
On a rare occasion, one of them will sleep through the night.  Usually Bria.  Adella did one time, and it totally messed with my milk supply for DAYS after.  I don't think I even want her to do that again for a while!  Bria goes to bed around 8:30 most nights, still swaddled in her Miracle Blanket.  I love those things!  Adella refuses to go to bed without me.  She needs extra snuggles apparently.  She will sleep in longer than Bria does though.  I'm pretty sure they alternate being awake so one of them can be held at all times.
I was watching them together on the couch, and they are starting to notice and interact with each other. That is something you don't get to see with a singleton.  I loved how they were looking at each other <3  !  Then they were grabbing hands.  Of course, the natural course of events leads Bria to put Adella's hand in her mouth and suck on it.  Hey, it was close!  Adella thought it was hilarious, and gave a couple semi chuckles along with the silent baby laugh.  It was so cute, and it was then that I saw a glimpse of fun that can be had only with multiples.  What a relief to see some benefit to the non-stop care of two babies.  I love the girls, but let me be honest and say that it is a lot of work!  Especially when they are exclusively breastfed, and I feel like I spend most of my day on the couch surrounded by a disaster.  It can't be that bad you say?  Yes, it IS that bad!  I know that cleaning can wait, but oh my, even when it gets clean, it only lasts a couple minutes, courtesy of the other four kiddos.  I digress.  As I was saying, I can't wait to see what is to come as the girls grow and interact even more with each other.  Maybe it will even be FUN :)

A Month and a Day

My how time flies!  It seems like just yesterday these babies were born.  Today I made my debut solo trip out. Ha ha, no, not solo as in by myself!  I made a trip out with just the twins.  Where to, you ask?  Get ready for it... to the midwife's office for New Mama Mornings of course!  It was time to weigh these voracious eaters healthy babies!  I only had a mild panic attack as I was leaving the house by myself (with the babies).  Only a few tears were shed as I piled us all into our huge gold van and pulled out of the driveway chanting "I feel good.  I feel great.  I feel wonderful."  Fortunately, it is only a few minute drive, or I may have had to pull over for tissues!  As it was, I made it in one piece, and only got stuck trying to get in the door with two car seat carriers and the huge diaper bag that is necessary when going out with two babies.
It was nice to meet some other new mamas.  Of course, I'm not a "new" mama, but sometimes it feels like it!  Since my breasts still seem to be infected, despite a lovely 7 day course of antibiotics (which I am opposed to, but sometimes you run out of options), I expressed a bit more to send of to be cultured before I start a 10 day course.  Boo on breast infections!  Staph and strep go away, don't come back EVER!  Breastfeeding is hard enough as it is!
Adella weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 oz.  Apparently her nonstop eating is really paying off!  She is just about to outgrow her newborn clothes.  I put on her strawberry sleeper (a.k.a. the clown suit) tonight, and could barely snap it.  She still has all of her hair, and is most often making grumpy faces when she is awake.  She seems a bit fussy, but not too bad.  Eating is her favorite, and she makes sure to do so every two hours, at least.  Her poor lips are looking bad still with nursing blisters covering them.  Poor thing.  They did a swab on those today too.  She sleeps best on her tummy or me.  Overall, she is doing really well, and looks like a very healthy baby!
Bria weighed in today at 8 pounds, 1 oz.  She gives us a nice 5 hour stretch at night, as well as a couple of 3 hour stretches.  She's not quite as nonstop at eating as her sister.  Usually she's a very content baby with some cute little smiles.  She sleeps best wrapped in a miracle blanket.  Don calls her a glowworm in it.  She loves her snuggles!  If she is not right next to someone, she will scoot herself so she is.  That girl  has the biggest blowouts ever!  Oh my, talk about being covered in poo!  Good thing she is so cute!
I'm looking forward to smiles soon, and maybe a bit more sleep.  I'm praying to not be such a grump with my family; to be a blessing.  And I'm excited for summer, which is just around the corner!

Reflections of the Past 2.5 Weeks

The girls are about two and a half weeks old now, and it's already hard to imagine life without them.  They both are developing their little personalities, and it's amazing to watch them grow.
Adella now weighs 6lbs., 14 oz., as of today; more than a pound over her birth weight, and more than her sister, who was the bigger twin at birth.  Of course, she eats almost non-stop, and I am blessed to have the ability to nurse both girls.  She has dark hair that looks like fuzzy chicken feathers, and her narrow face is starting to fill out.  Maybe my husband will stop calling her "old man" soon.  She loves to eat, and eat, and eat... no binkies for her, thank you very much!  Swaddling is not so much her thing; she loves to get those little hands out.
Bria weighed in today at 6lbs., 9 oz., which is still well above her birth weight.  She loves to sleep all swaddled up, and will snuggle up to Daddy in the middle of the night and sleep soundly.  I'm so glad she's gained enough weight that we were able to drop the finger feeding that we had to do for a few days.  It's so nice to not pump and nurse!  I feel for anyone who has to do both.  She is very laid back and easygoing so far.  There is not much hair on her sweet little head, and it may smell a bit from sleeping in armpits, but she is adorable.
We haven't really left the house much yet.  Maybe if I get a little more sleep I will have the energy for that!  I suppose groceries would be nice in the near future though!  I am grateful for my wonderful family and my healthy girls.  Ellie was pretty sick right after they were born with a nasty stomach flu, and so far only Dad has had it.  Hopefully we are done with the sickness for a good long time!  Newborn twins and a sick 22 month old is not a fun place to be, but we survived that time with the help of Nana and the grace of God.
I stumbled across this in several places today, and it feels appropriate for my life right now.  Galatians 6:9 -"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
As for me, I think that I may just make a list at the end of the day as to what I actually managed to accomplish.  It seems like that would be more beneficial to me in these long days of breastfeeding on the couch to see that I actually still got something done!

41 weeks pregnant... NOT!!!

Ah, so glad to not be pregnant anymore, and to have my girls earthside!  They are a whopping 11 days old now, and are so cute, not that I'm biased or anything :)
Introducing Adella Joy (5lbs, 12oz) and Bria Grace (6lbs).  We are all so thrilled to welcome these sweet things into our family!  I will share my birth story soon.

photo by Melissa Cate Photography

39 weeks...

Yesterday, I hit the 39 week mark.  Yikes!  Now I'm just trying to prepare myself that while it could be any day now, it could also be another two weeks.  That's not exactly a thrilling thought!  In an effort to help these babies along, I went for a mile long walk with Ellie.  Quite amusing to watch, I am sure!  It was a beautiful day, maybe a tad chilly, but overall just lovely.  The tulips and daffodils are out, and the trees are in full bloom.  I love spring!  As I walked, I tried to let go of feeling sorry for myself, and to focus on all of the blessings that God has given me.  It's easy to get so wrapped up in yourself while you are pregnant, and it doesn't help one little bit!  My next thing for today is to focus on the gifts God has given to me, and be grateful for this time in my life (and my impressive belly)!

The Ticking Time Bomb... 38 Weeks +1 Day

It's hard to be pregnant still.  There was so much talk about delivering early, and so many things to do to prevent it.  And... here I am, still pregnant!  There have been many contractions, but nothing super exciting like labor is coming really soon.  Everywhere I go, I have people asking when I'm due, how dilated I am (!), if I'm scheduling a c-section, and so forth.  It's probably a good thing that I don't get out very much right now!
I do feel very blessed that I have made it so long in this pregnancy, although I didn't really doubt too much that I would, except around 34-35 weeks.  It's getting exciting to think that we are going to meet these new girls soon!  What a new experience for experienced parents!  The kids cannot wait for the twins to be born, but I suppose part of that may be that they get spring break when they are born!  I'm sure they really are excited to see their new sisters too.  Will they look alike, or will they be obviously different?  It could go either way!
I've been having a bit of anxiety about the birth, so I've been trying to work through my fears with that, and hopefully that will help me relax enough to actually have these babies.  I've been reading the book "Reedeming Childbirth," by Angie Tolpin, and some aspects of it have really helped me.  I don't entirely agree with the entire book, but there is a lot of really great information and food for thought in there.  Maybe I just need to finish it!
Anyhoo, next up for me in the little things is to finish the short list of what I want done before birth, getting the laundry done and house cleaned up (again!).  Isn't it comforting to know that God is there in the little things with us every day?

On to 37 Weeks

Hooray for 37 weeks today!  At our last ultrasound, they estimated both babies to be about 5.5 pounds. I'm so glad that they are over the five pound mark!  That makes me feel sooo much better!  We are now playing the waiting game.  Maybe they will come this week; maybe not.  I'm trying not to be too anxious about it all, haha.
Today I set up the co-sleeper, so it will be ready for the babies when they are.  Little projects keep getting done, so life is moving on.  It's hard to feel like everything is in limbo right now, and I'm tired of being pregnant, but not certain I'm so tired of it that I'm ready for TWO little ones!  My midwife thinks they will come this week, but I doubt it right now.  I think they want to hang out for another week or two.  I felt like they were going to come at any moment around 35 weeks, but not nearly so much now!  Funny how it was so much work doing out best to make sure they stayed in, and now it's getting close to the time where they need to vacate their cozy space!  We will see if they stay in another week, or if there will be babies next week!