Thursday, February 23, 2012

5 Week Postpartum Reflection

We are five weeks postpartum and I wanted to document what has gone on the last five weeks.  It seems like for me everything started feeling better at around four weeks.  I wasn't in as much pain and the hormones had pretty much leveled out.

My schedule:
-I nurse the babies every 3 hrs for 20 mins. They get abt one ounce from me, then I feed them 2 ounces expressed breast milk from a bottle after they nurse.
-During the day the feeding takes abt an hr from start to finish but I'm not willing to be up that long at night. So, at night I feed them formula and pump to stock up on breast milk for the next day.
-I have gotten the night time routine down to 30 mins but then it takes me abt a half hr to fall back asleep. So, even though they go 3 hrs between feedings its only abt 2 hrs of sleep at a time.

Daci likes to help me feed the twins.  I don't just let her do it by herself....I just backed away to take a quick pic :)

The babies are cute as ever.  It is really hard to handle both when I am by myself but I'm hoping in the next few weeks it gets easier.  Rick took his paternity leave this week and it has been really nice having him around to help me and to spend time with me.

Livvi:

-Still a very chill baby.  For the most part she is very happy. She will just lay there with her eyes open and not make a peep. The downside to this is that she doesn't get held as much as Street because she doesn't demand the attention like he does.
-She always looks like she is smiling
-The only time she is fussy is when her tummy is sick. She is very gassy, I mean like a constant stream of toots is coming from her 24/7. Sometimes she gets backed up and she cries from the pain but once she finally gets it out she is happy as a lark again :0
-She is an eating machine! This girl loves her food! She has put on a lot of weight. She is much bigger than her brother now, even though she started out smaller
-Her head is much bigger than Street's. She was measuring a half inch bigger in head circumference from him at 2 weeks but I would be willing to bet it is a bigger margin now.
-When you look at the two of them side by side she just looks a lot bigger.  Her rib cage is a lot wider than his.
-She started losing her hair at 3 weeks. The hair line just keeps receding further and further. I'm so sad because she had the most beautiful textured hair. I'm sure it will grow back just as pretty though :)
-Her hair is very light and looks like it has quite a bit of red in it
-She looooves her baths!
-She is so patient with her fussy brother and has taken one too many smacks to the face :)
-She is not a big binkie girl, she falls asleep really well on her own

Livvi at 4 weeks



Street:
-He is a high maintenence, demanding baby. But, if you give him what he wants he is super sweet
-He's very cuddly. He loves to be held and loves to snuggle up on your chest.
-He likes to sleep on a slant, his tummy hurts him when he lays flat
-He spits up A LOT. He would be the same size as Liv if he could keep it all down because they eat the same amount of food but he spits like half of what he eats up.
-He always has his bottom lip sucked in
-He started losing his hair at three weeks also. His looks like male patterned baldness :)
-He also loves his baths but he does NOT like getting out of them
-He loves tummy time
-He is a big binkie boy! The bink has saved us!

Street at 4 weeks
Typical Street :)





Can you see how much thicker Liv's torso is?



The two of them together:
-They eat every three hours round the clock.  Occasionally, if they are feeling really sweet, they will give me one 4 hr stretch at night. Also, in the evening the wi cluster feed and want to eat every 2-2.5 hrs
-They eat three ounces of breastmilk during the day for each feeding and then 3 ounces of formula at night for each feeding
-They aren't alike in many ways, but one thing they do identical is how they lay when they r on the ground. They put their right arm bent up and their left arm straight out (see first photo below)
--If they are both crying during the day, it is madness.  Luckily, I am not someone who has a really hard time hearing babies cry because with twins you just have to let them.  If they are both upset, one can only be consoled at a time, so I have to let the other one fuss. I'm not gonna lie, its pretty exhausting!
Doing their pose. Poor Street is always on a girlie blankie. We just have so much more girl stuff around here.  Don't worry...I'll make sure he turns out manly :)



Liv has a bigger head :)


tummy time


Street has male patterned baldness.  Luckily we can cover up Liv's receding hair line with a bow!




6 comments:

PAUL + ALICIA+CAPRI said...

they are getting big! so cute! I bet you are so sleep deprived! i bet daci loves being a sister!

Lonnie and Lindsay Fox said...

I cant believe how much theyve changed!! Now they start getting fun and interactive. Enjoy!!

Jami West said...

They are ridiculously cute! I LOVE the picture of them with their hand behind their head. That's so cute they both do that. Sounds like you are doing great but definitely have your hands full! You're amazing!

Unknown said...

I can't believe how much those babies have changed in 2 weeks since I was there. They are so sweet. I miss you all.

Kelli Haub said...

What doll faces! Miss ya, and love ya. Hang in there... it just gets easier and easier (so I hear) :)

Todd Family said...

you are doing such a great job! i'm so impressed! they are so adorable! i love your posts! i have to say my favorite pic is the one on the side with livvi in her brown bow and they are laying close to each other with their shirts off. i think that should be blown up in a canvas!