A Tale of Twin Babies: 12 Days Old

Reese and Avery are almost two weeks old! My mom left yesterday, so we've been on our own for 24 hours now. On his way home from taking my mom to the airport Kevin picked up some furniture from Ikea, and we now have a complete bedroom. Before yesterday our mattress was sitting on the floor, in addition to a broken box spring that sagged in the middle because of our move (Kevin was gracious enough to take that side of the bed). So we've finally moved in to our own bedroom, and since we moved the co-sleeper in, too, it was the first night the whole family slept together since leaving the hospital.

I have to start out by saying how thankful I am to our friends and family who have helped out. My mom was a lifesaver, running to the grocery store, cooking dinner and getting the house organized. After a 3-day stay in the hospital plus more than a day of labor, everything fresh in our kitchen had spoiled. Had my mom not arrived, I hate to say we would have survived with Kevin making frequent trips to the local fast food joints, which obviously isn't ideal. We also had great friends, Lindsay and Chris, stop by with a hot meal and two frozen meals that just need to be reheated. Now that I'm the post-partum phase, I cannot stress enough how amazing a cooked meal is that doesn't require any more work than turning on an oven. In addition to that, we were mailed a care package from the wonderful Aunt Sharona which consisted of a Honey Baked Ham, roasted turkey, green bean casserole and potatoes augratin. It's wonderful that at least for another week I don't have to worry about grocery shopping or planning out dinner. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The girls have been doing exactly what newborns do: they sleep, then they cry and eat, then they make a mess of a diaper and go right back to sleep. For the time being, they're making a messy diaper just about every time they eat, which is every 3 hours. For a few days Reese would trick me, she'd have a messy diaper, which I would change, and within 60 seconds of putting on a new diaper she'd mess up the new one. Luckily we haven't had one of those in a few days. I'm happy to report that I've been nursing them without having to supplement with formula for over a week. They're having plenty of wet and dirty diapers, and I wouldn't be surprised if they more than gain back their birthweight by the next pediatrician's appointment. Right now is tough with their feeding schedule, but I'm patiently waiting for the longer stretches between feedings at night... Two four-hour stretches of sleep would be perfect!

I know you're not supposed to count your chickens before they hatch, but we were successful in flipping their cluster feeds to the daytime. Reese and Avery would wake up about 2am-5am every hour on the hour wanting to nurse for a week straight. We kept them awake and were actually able to shift it up so now their cluster feeding happens between 5pm-8pm. Basically anytime they show signs of being hungry in between those hours, they nurse. No if, ands, buts or binkies.

The girls really are as cute as can possibly be. I know every parent thinks their children are the most beautiful things, it's natural, and who would say the person they created isn't precious?! But I honestly can't get over how gorgeous these little girls are! We've been hearing from family that everyone thinks they're identical, but Kevin and I can tell them apart, easily. The only problem is keeping it straight in your brain which name you're saying in relation to which child. I'll be holding Reese, knowing full well that I'm holding Reese, and I'll ask Kevin if he can change Reese's diaper while I'm intending to say Avery. Everyone with multiple kids has this problem... sometimes you just blurt out whatever name is on the tip of your tongue. As they get a little older I'm convinced that more people will see the differences that Kevin and I see, but for the meantime, I guess they do look pretty similar (they are twins, after all).

Gracie has been doing very well adjusting to the new members of the family. She's a little attention deprived, but Kevin's been trying extra hard to make up for it. She is staying true to her breed, and has already become protective of the girls. One little wimper, a hiccup, or sneeze and Gracie has to find out what the issue is. She's very gentle around them and while I'm nursing them will come up and stiff the tops of their heads. Eventually, when the girls are older, she'll have two playmates that are going to drive her nuts!

I've been doing really well since leaving the hospital, I actually forget at times that I had "major surgery". While in the hospital I will admit that I was a little depressed how large my tummy still was, I probably looked like I did at the 7-month pregnant mark. Delivering almost 11 pounds of baby, I was expecting a more prominent difference than what I was seeing in the mirror. I had some issues with swelling in my ankles, too, which is totally normal post-partum. My toes were plump little Vienna Sausages, I actually had creases on my ankles, and it was very uncomfortable. The top of my foot would jiggle when I walked and I joked that my cankles had cankles. Now almost two weeks post-partum I'm really impressed with the results. I probably look about 5-months pregnant now (I'll take any improvement I can) and my feet are completely back to normal. I'll take a picture eventually, but for now we'll just stick with pictures of the girls...