The Twinks are on a pretty consistent 2.5 to 3-hour start-to-start feeding schedule. This means that if I begin a round of feeding (which involves a pre-meal diaper change, heating a bottle, the feeding itself, a burping, and a post-meal diaper change - X 2!) at 6 am, and it takes the average 1 - 1.5 hours, I have very little "down time" and need to be prepared to go again by 8:30 - 9:00 am. Sometimes, I also need to fit a 15-20 minute pumping session or try to get a meal prepared and eaten within this ":down time" too.
I am still trying to supplement their meals with breast milk, b ut found that my body won't produce more than 150 - 200 ml (about 5 - 7 oz) per day. This means that rather than pumping every 2-3 hours like some women do, I pump only 3-4 times / day. Right now, I don't have a "pumping end date" in mind. Instead I am planning to just wait and see how long I can keep up this pumping schedule - especially after I return to work.
The Twinkies are doing great! Here are some pictures I took of them on Tuesday:
They had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve, they went to their "Aunt Anne's" house to celebrate with her family, and on Christmas Day, we took them to the Chart House for lunch. They slept the entire time and were the "superstars" of the restaurant. They received personalized ornaments and adorable clothes and blankets from their Uncle, Aunt and Cousins in Philly, a Manhattan Toy Co. Winkel and Infantino Sound and Light Ball from Mom, and the complete collection of Hans Christian Anderson's and The Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales from Dad.
I can hardly believe how much they have grown since they were born seven short weeks ago! Each night I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning, I swear I can see a difference in their appearance. F is fitting comfortably in 3-6 month sizes now and G is almost out of her newborn clothes. They have graduated from baby t-shirts to "onesies." Yes, the onesies are adorable, but why are they so hard to get on. Shouldn't they make them with zippers vs. trying to squeeze it over a baby's head?
They do occasionally smile, but both Twinks are still in the "blobby" state right now - eating, sleeping, peeing and pooing. They don't seem to have an awareness of one another or themselves at this point - for example, they don't bring their hands together purposefully yet. According to the pediatrician, that should happen soon.
Developmentally, F is just a few days ahead of G. Their vision is coming into focus more and more each day. Today, I had F in his crib for one of the very first times, and he was fascinated by his mobile. G didn't even look at the music box I had attached to the side of her crib about 1' or 1.5' from her face. She does love doing her "ballerina" moves though - where she waves her hands and points her toes.
They are both holding their heads up more and more each day. I can definitely see improvement from just two weeks ago. Today, I had F in the activity pod (the one where the baby sits in the middle and can swivel the seat to reach various activities) and he kept trying to control his head and neck. He'd hold it up for 3-5 seconds before flopping over.
It's hard to believe that my last day of work was September 22nd, but it was! I am scheduled to return to work the first Friday in 2012 (January 6th) - exactly eight weeks after they were born. Eight weeks isn't nearly enough time, but I know I've been missed at work and they are looking forward to my return. The best news is that my boss went above-and-beyond and got a special exception to allow me to work from home two days a week. Even though I will still have full time help at home five days a week, knowing that I will be just upstairs from them puts my mind at ease and made the decision to return to work much easier.
I see this as the best of both worlds - a few days of "adult" time in the office and a couple of days where my heart won't ache because I miss them so much.
Here's to a terrific 2012! Happy New Year F & G!
