Grace and Hope

Grace and Hope
Wait for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always! Pslam 131:3

Friday, December 16, 2011

Million Dollar Babies...

Recently, reports suggest that it costs about 1 million dollars to raise a baby these days. What if the girls have already exceeded their 1 million dollar limit in their first two months of life?! Let me assure you, 48 days in the NICU for two babies is no small penny!! All the more reason to celebrate that they are home and healthy!
This week the girls are now 41 weeks…and they are acting just as a newborn would be had we brought them home on their due date. Even though many babies sleep during this time, in order for us to reap the benefits of a sleeping baby (meaning catching up on laundry, preparing bottles, doing the dishes, showering etc.), they both have to be sleeping at the exact same time! We take advantage of those windows of opportunity when they come and I have a feeling they might be even more few and far between in the future! The one way to assure that they both sleep at the same time is to have them tucked into my “tommytie” which is similar to a moby wrap or sling, where I can fit both babies in side by side in a wrap that goes around my midsection. Thank you Andi for making me the tommytie so that I can actually sit down at the computer right now and write this blog. I have a feeling that while we thought Avery was the low maintenance baby, her true colors are now beginning to shine through as  the one that wants to waddle around in the tommytie!
This past Wednesday on December 14, we had their 2 month check-up at the pediatrician—yes, they are 2 months old ALREADY! Thankfully, Aubrey is now also off her apnea monitor and no longer on a short "leash" attached by a monitor cord--can I get an Amen?! They both got their 2 month vaccinations (4 shots and an oral vaccine). All in all, they handled the vaccines fairly well…although I do have to admit, that night Jay believed that we were living in the times of Armageddon because both babies were wailing at the top of their lungs for extended periods of time, presumably because they didn’t feel well from the vaccines (thank goodness that only lasted one night). Here are the stats on our big, growing babies!
Avery: 7lb 1oz (yikes, she broke 7 pounds!) and 21 inches long (she made the growth chart for length for term babies!!).
Aubrey: 6lb 8oz (still ½ pound behind her sister) and 19 inches long.

These week I had my first day home by myself with the girls as daddy had to return to work for an important meeting. The girls and I had a blast and ironically enough, the tough part was not managing the feeds, being tied up with pumping, or holding down the fort for baby care. My poor puppy has gone crazy (literally!) from those hateful apnea monitors and has chewed on her tail as a result. In order to protect her, we put a lampshade collar on her so she can't do any more damage to her tail. In a fit of rage she crashed her lampshade into the wall and broke off a pie-piece from the lampshade collar, which then allowed her to get to her tail. This all happened right when a feed was supposed to occur for the girls (imagine that perfect timing) and here I am trying to duct tape together the dog's lampshade to save her from further harm. Needless to say-I learned an important part of mommyhood--you can't plan for everything and it is truly these situations where you need to think on your feet that will determine if you sink or swim!
Big news on our end…we are stretching their feeding schedule from 3 hours to anywhere between 3.5-4 hours. That might not sound like a big “win” for some people, but that goes down from 8 feedings a day to 6 feedings a day—which means 4 less bottles, 4 less nipples, 4 less bottle tops, 4 less cap retainers to clean, 4 less burp cloths to launder, 4 less diapers to change…and the list goes on and on! Not to mention, it gives us a little bit of a longer window to get things done.
Time for the pictures….see you next week!   



Christmas pictures with Nana and Grandpa (Nana is holding Avery and Grandpa is holding Aubrey).


Avery and Aubrey in Christmas outfits--Thank you Jeanette!

My favorite picture of the week of Avery! Turns out, babies make this face when they are peeing--it is a reflex--who knew!?!

Aubrey-cute as a little bear cub.

Aubrey is starting to fill out with some chubby cheeks...She is thinking once again that she might take a bite out of her sister.

Aubrey likes to share secrets with her sister Avery.
(P.S. I'm not sure why these pictures make the girls look so greasy--I promise we do bathe them!).


 My sweet babies enjoying some time on the floor with Mommy and Daddy. (Don't let Avery kid you that she sleeps all the time!)

Wait--you took that picture?!

Daddy with his girls. Thank you Aunt Aimee for Avery's pretty outfit...we all know that these girls will be spoiled by their daddy.
P.S. It looks like the babies are about to let loose!


Momma holding her girls.

Thank you Megan for Avery's cute froggy outfit.
Avery loves to have her hands up near her head when she sleeps.


 Looks like Aunt Aimee and Aubrey have some catching up to do in the ice cream department!

This is a sure sign of knowing you are sleep deprived...You finally get around to making some Macaroni and Cheese for lunch, and in the delirium of sleep deprivation, you accidently throw the noodles in the sink because you forgot that you had already drained the water 3 seconds earlier!
So sad!!

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