Three Months!

Somebody make it stop...they are growing up way to fast. Can't believe it is time for a 3 month post! So much has happened in a month!

First, if you haven't looked through the previous posts...you must! We had an incredible Christmas / New Year Holiday. I prayed many a Christmas Holiday that we would have a baby by the next year and this was the year...times two!

The kiddos are growing so much, they have been interacting with us, smiling, cooing, laughing and bringing so much joy into our home! We didn't have a 3 month appt scheduled, but thanks to our awesome Pediatrician / Lactation Consultant...we do have a weight update :) About a week or two before Christmas, all of a sudden, the twins would only nurse for 7-8 minutes each feeding. No matter what I did, they would not eat anymore! I tried to observe to see if they were fussy before the next scheduled feeding so I could tell whether or not they were getting enough. With our reflux trouble, it made it hard to tell. So, my mind began to play tricks and I began to wonder about my milk supply. I called our Peds office and they were sooo understanding and said to come right on in and we would weigh the twins and look at their growth chart. So we took the twins in and...surprise! They are doing more than ok...praise God! Caden somehow has kept the heavyweight title coming in at 11lb 5oz (25%) with Jenna at 11 lb 2 oz (40%). Yep, Jenna, even using her actual-age scale (not adjusted to account for their prematurity) is coming in at 40%! My little chunky monkey :) They had both grown taller too which we were glad to see! Caden is now 22 inches (5%) and Jenna is 21.50 (8%). It is soo funny to me that Jenna, 3 months old, is finally the length of my friends newborn baby...straight out of the womb! Oh, I love my little Little's :) So the nurse told me not to worry for another second...I had plenty of milk and it was good milk...fattening these babies right up! She said to be thankful that they have become to efficient, it only makes my life easier! I'm so thankful the Lord has granted my desire to nurse both babies AND have enough to pump and store. The Lord is good.

Since my last 2 month post, Caden smiles all the time...he is such a ham! He can melt your heart right at the second you are most frustrated with him by flashing that adorable smile.




Jenna has slowly decided she likes the response she gets when she smiles :) Your key times to see her beautiful smile is in the morning and at night...on the changing table. She is such a little lady and blinks her long eye lashes and smiles with her eyes.

Caden must have heard us talking about him being our little drama. The twins have completely switched places! Somehow, overnight, Caden has turned into our textbook baby. He gets a good feeding in, is happy as can be talking and cooing, then soothes himself to sleep the last hour and a half of each cycle. At night, we put him down with his paci and he is out like a light!
Jenna? oh dear. She does great during the day with her schedule, she too eats well and has great happy awake time. She often fights sleep and will eventually fall asleep with about an hour to go in her cycle. She continues to have fussy time from 8 - 11pm each night. Once it is time for bed, the battle begins:) She has a hard time soothing herself to sleep. Our attempts to let her "cry it out" have ended 45 minutes later with her still crying on all cylinders. So, for now we still help sooth her to sleep....the good news is that once she is asleep, she is asleep and goes through the night.
If you remember, when I went into pre-term labor back in September, they gave me a series of steroid shots to help the babies' lungs develop in case they came too early. Well, I joke now that Caden must have soaked up all of the steroids and not left any for Jenna. He is strong as an ox! He has been holding his head up since 2 weeks old, but now he can basically sit up on his own...sure he tumbles every once in a while, but he holds his head straight up with great control, turns from side to side and even uses his stomach to crunch himself up when leaned back. He is doing so well, I broke out the bumbo seat for him and he LOVED it! We joke that he thinks he is 6 months old and just trapped in a newborn body :) Jenna? Bless her heart...her side-neck fetish doesn't help her at all. (Click here to read what I'm talking about if you dont remember.) She is doing better now...but is not close when compared to Caden. She has a hard time sitting up and holding her head upright. We work with her daily so I know she will catch up! Combine her side-head with her tongue fetish and you have some funny looking pictures:)



The medicine we got at our 2 month appt seems to be helping a little bit. We (me and Ryan) thought we knew best and stopped giving it to them over Christmas b/c we couldn't tell a difference. BIG MISTAKE. It was definitely keeping things from being worse...which we found out. Our first huge foul as parents. So we started them back on it and things have leveled out. Jenna still spits up every feeding, but Caden seems to be at peace after more feedings now.

How are they sleeping? Like angels! We are so blessed to have TWO good sleepers. They really could have made it hard on us by having different schedules or only having one who cared to sleep...but we are so thankful that is not the case! Right after the 2 month post...on December 15th to be exact...they BOTH slept through the night! It was amazing, I jumped out of bed...not b/c I was worried about them...I was so energized! They slept from the 11 pm feeding to 7am. It. was. awesome! For the most part, they have kept that schedule...both of them! We typically feed the last night feeding between 10:30 / 11:00 pm and have them down asleep by 11:30 pm / 12 :00 am. They consistently sleep until 5:30 when 90% of the time, Jenna has figured out she is on her back and cries. Once you go in and turn her on her side again, she is out so we can usually get another hour / hour and a half of sleep. Here lately, they have tag-teamed me in the mornings and taken turns needing to be soothed. So J will wake up around 5:30, then Caden around 6:00 , then J again at 6:30 and so on... While it would be easier to go ahead and get up and feed them, I fight it and do the up-and-down to get more sleep. We typically start our day between 7 and 7:30 am. They are still in the same crib for now although I rarely find them in the same place I left them. There is no better of God's grace and sovereignty than sleeping babies.




We are enjoying more "things" like play gyms, bumbo seats, mobiles, Baby Bjorn's and such. They are fun to interact with during their awake times. I still nurse them every 3 hours, play with them for about 30 -45 minutes, then they sleep the last hour and a half of each cycle. The 8 am / 11 am / 2 pm go quite smoothly...once we venture into the 5pm / 8 pm territory, all bets are off. Usually they just want to be awake and observe...they are happy, but they are awake! Jenna still has trouble from 8 -11 pm, but we have accepted that and try to work with her and comfort her during this fussy time. I can tell a HUGE difference in the random crying...8 weeks really was the peak. They are happy and content babies who like to kick, squeal, and snuggle up to each other.







Jenna is my little Mermaid - she loves bath time! Caden = not so much. Just hurry up and finish with Caden...Jenna likes to splash around and enjoy her baths. I see many a bubble bath in her future :)

They are out of most Newborn outfits. I almost cried when I had to start a bin of "outgrown" clothes. 0-3 month fits best while 3 month clothes are baggy ;) The newborns diapers are definitely gone so we are using our plethora of Size 1 diapers:)

I am gaining bravery by the day as far as my adventures with the twins by myself. I have taken them to the Pediatrician, by work office, and to friends' houses by myself. So far so good...who knows where we will go next!