Meltdown

Today was a tough day.  I think Max still feels bad and he hasn't been sleeping well.  They were fussy ALL day and at times they would fuss together and other times they would take turns.  I got nothing done today.  We did go on a quiet one mile walk that made Mommy happy.  It literally hurts to hear them cry and not know why or what to do.  This afternoon I finally got them down for a nap and knew I had to take this as an opportunity for me to take a nap.  Well... if I'm napping, I'm not pumping or washing bottles.  I woke up at 5:00 knowing I had to pump and thought I would have a minute to get ahead and get bottles made. WRONG.  Max and Claire both woke up at the same time, hungry and having dirty diapers.  This would not have been such a problem except I was pumping and did not have clean bottles.  It is hard to pick them up while pumping and I can't bend over to pick them up without spilling my hard earned milk.  Enter meltdown.  I have never heard them that mad at me.  All three of us were in tears hoping Daddy would walk in any minute.
Let's hope for a better night!

Look what I can do!

Still can't believe Max and Claire are 1 month old.  My sweet babies are getting so big!  I got a little teary eyed doing their laundry today bc I know in the next couple of days they will no longer fit in their newborn onesies.
* Max weighs 7 lbs 7.5 oz and Claire weighs 7 lbs 3 oz
* You both are still wearing Newborn diapers although we are getting close to size 1.  There are many times we go through multiple diapers in one changing....esp. Claire!  You like to get us or make a mess as soon as we put a clean diaper on you!
* We have consistently stayed on a 3 hour schedule.  You eat every three hours during the day and we let you sleep til you wake up at night... but it is still 3 hours. We got lucky ONE night and got to sleep four hours!
*  You both are eating about 80 mL each feeding, however tonight we are going to try 90 (3 oz)
*  Bath time is fun for Claire and Max is still not sure if he likes it!  Mommy and Daddy have to be super quick with Max!
*  We are seeing more smiles, although I am not convinced it's just gas :) You are both very gassy!
*  After you eat, we play on your play mat and do some tummy time.  You both have very strong heads and I'm amazed how long you can keep it lifted!
*  Max, you are very noisy when you sleep!  At times you sound like a billy goat - ha! But you are a champ when we put you in the crib.  If you are not sleepy, you just stare at your mobile.
*  Claire, you are getting better at napping and night time.

Mommy and Daddy are so in love with y'all.  You are both such a blessing and I thank God everyday to have you in our lives.  Don't grow up so fast!

One Month!

My babies are one month today!  I can't believe it has already been a month.  I am exhausted today so I'll have to do their one month updates tomorrow. 
I couldn't resist putting up at least one picture!!

Visit to the doctor

Yesterday I noticed Max's eye had some gook.  It started looking a little better last night so I decided to wait and see how it looked today.  Well, it came back so I called the Pediatrician.  Thank goodness my SIL was here to help me get them to the dr.  Turns out my little guy has conjunctivitis :(  Bless his heart!  He has been a champ today - his beautiful sister has been the pill.  We did get a weigh in and I'm proud of them!

Max weighed 7 lbs 7.5 oz and Claire weighed 7 lbs 3 oz.  I can't believe my little babies are growing up!

Tonight is Daddy's first night away.  He had a business meeting in Charlotte and will be back tomorrow.  We will miss him so much but hopes he gets a good night's sleep! 
Thanks Aunt Darcy for staying with us :)

Bath time!

Thanks for the new towels Ashley!

Firsts

I am so behind on blogging.  I feel it is more important now that I am trying to document what goes on in Max and Claire's life.
They had their first bath when they were 15 days old.  Claire was a champ! 

Loves the water..I'm thinking she is going to be a swimmer!

All clean!

Max wasn't as sure!

We have to be quick with him!

They also had their first walk in the park at three weeks.  Grandma and Grandpa loved taking them on their first stroll! First of many!

They also slept in their crib for the first time at three weeks.  We had the pack and play set up in our room for convenience when they first came home.  It was easier for me and my incision, plus we had not set up their monitor.  Well... Grandpa helped set up the monitor and my incision was feeling much better so there were no more excuses not to.  Justin's parents wanted to help with a feeding so we put them in their crib after our 3:30 feeding  and they would listen out and get them for the next one.  I was a WRECK!  On top of being super tired and hormonal, I had a really hard time not being the first person they saw when they woke up and not having the monitor in my room didn't help either.  It was supposed to help us get extra sleep, but I lost sleep.  I stayed in the room til they fell asleep then went in our room and cried.  I know I was overreacting, but I think it is part of being a new mom and wanting to do everything yourself.  I maybe slept 15 min the next three hours.  They did fine and have been sleeping in there ever since.  I am still having a hard time letting others help.  (Right now) I would rather be tired and do it myself and enjoy every little moment, then let others help or do it for me.  - I am sure that will change soon enough!

This past weekend my aunts from VA and NY came to visit along with my best friend from FL.  We had a great time and I'll blog about that next.  

Next weekend Justin's parents are coming for 4.5 days.

I love all our friends and family, but I am ready for a break!  I need quiet and want to be able to stick to a routine.  It is so hard when people are here or have visitors coming and going.  It seems as soon as the babies get used to our schedule, it gets thrown off.  I can't (and at times don't want to) say no.

More updates later.  Have bottles to wash, bodies to bathe, babies to feed....

Mommy's Valentines

Today was not your typical Valentines Day.  Although Justin and I have never really celebrated Valentines Day, I've still cooked dinner and had a nice card.  Mom came over today to help with the babies and made us some spaghetti for dinner.  Well...I just got around to eating dinner and it consisted of cereal - not spaghetti.  The spaghetti is now in the freezer waiting on another night.

The Best Valentines EVER!!

We had a photo shoot in our V-Day outfits!

Claire got a little hungry!

So did Max!

My little ruffle butt!!

Tomorrow is my first day all by myself!  Sure, I've done morning feedings by myself, but this is the whole day!  We will be fine, just very busy :)

Hopefully when I have another free minute, I can post about our first bath and Grandma and Grandpa's visit!

Until then........

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

First two weeks

I can't believe Max and Claire are already two weeks old! (17 days to be exact) As of last Thursday they were both weighing in at 5lbs 14oz.  Max's body temp is finally staying over 97! That makes Mommy happy :) They have been very busy sleeping, visiting, shopping and riding in their new Honda Odyssey!

Mom stayed with us last Tuesday -Saturday and was very busy working on decorations for their rooms and traveled with us to Babies R Us and to meet their Great Grandfather, Papa!

Claire's initials

She made Max's more masculine :)

 Didn't she do a fabulous job?!

Trying our new sling while shopping at Babies R Us

Papa loved holding them - said it brought joy to his day!

Last Saturday, I met some of my girlfriends at Emily's house for dinner.  Emily had baby Jack earlier in January.  He is so cute! Claire looks itty bitty next to him :)  It was a girl's night so Max stayed home with Daddy!

I look so uncomfortable!

We finally bought the minivan!  We are loving it!  I keep forgetting to take a picture.. maybe tomorrow!

I had a two week check up with Dr. Cousins yesterday to check my incision.  She pulled off the tape and everything was good except one spot. She wasn't happy with how it was stitched back so she put something on it ( I don't remember what it's called, but it burns it)  If it doesn't get better by my six week appointment, she is going to have to cut and sew that spot again. :( ouch!  I have, however, lost 30 lbs!!  Less than 10 to go til I get to my  pre pregnancy weight!  I really need to get back on track and stop eating like crap.  I was hoping to get back to Weight Watchers this week.  I was a lifetime member when I got pregnant so I get to go back for free and have three months to get back to my goal weight.  I would like it to be 5-10 pounds lighter and hope I can do it.  It should help that I am not taking anymore hormones.

My in-laws come on Thursday. They are super excited bc it has been two weeks since they have seen Max and Claire!  They will be blown away with how different they already are!

they have such different personalities!  Max is just like Justin - looks like him and is super laid back, Claire on the other hand is a little diva!

That's about it for now.  Hopefully we'll have our professional pictures up by the weekend!

Going shopping

.....for a minivan! 
My mom and dad are coming over today so Justin and I can go to Raleigh and pick out a minivan!  I am actually pretty excited about this new purchase.  I am, however, sad that we will have a car payment again.
It is going to be so nice to have all that extra room :)

Pics to come later!!

Photo shoot

Yesterday Mom and I packed up the babies and took them to a studio to get their newborn pictures.  When I was in the hospital one of the nurses told me a photographer was looking to work with newborn twins for FREE! Hell yeah...sign me up.  So yesterday was their big day.  Our appointment was at 1 and we were there til 4.  Why so long?  Well, let me tell ya - Max pooped on her and her prop, Claire peed and spit up on a prop and we had to take time to eat!  I had jinxed myself saying they had never spit up!  Leslie has two year old twin boys so she understood!  Besides all of our messes, they did great!  My little models!

bad quality bc i took with my phone

They loved being all snuggled up together :)  Claire slept most of the time, while Max was very alert.

This was one of our headbands but she had a ton to choose from!  I cant wait to get our cd.  They are so stinkin cute!  I could eat them up with a spoon!

Today we took it easy and tried to get back on a schedule.  There have been so many visitors, which we love, but has really (i think) overstimulated the babies making it hard to sleep at night.  They did great today :)

I had a low grade temp (99.7) so Mom made me lay down to rest.  I was in the bed for almost three hours and did fall asleep for a little.  This was my first nap since they have been born.  I am still tired!

Tomorrow a Smart Start nurse is coming to check in on us and weigh Max and Claire.  I'll be interested to see how much they have gained in a week.  We have upped their milk to about 60 mL.  Claire seems to always be hungry!