{Ana and the Christmas tree}Last night we went to my parents house; I have been feeling a little cooped up and was in dire need of a change of scenery. Ana and Grace got to spend time with Auntie Stina and their grandparents! And it is always lovely to have my mom's cooking, because she really is one of the best cook's I know. She made Brandon's favorite swiss steak and my favorite pumpkin dessert.
Our wonderful evening was followed by our worst night so far. Grace was fussy all night and cried everytime we put her down. By the time she finally went to sleep at 6am, Ana was wide awake and had hiccups. Everytime I put Ana back to bed, she would wake Grace up. It was very special.
Grace seems to have some stomach issues, so I am adjusting my diet by removing dairy to see if it has an impact on the her temperment and stomach problems. Tomorrow we are taking the girls for a weight check so I can (hopefully) put aside my fears about underfeeding the girls since switching to breastfeeding instead of bottle feeding.
Long nights and little sleep aside, my girls are adorable and I love them. They are especially cute when we put them near each other and they roll toward one another and hold hands. It is amazing to see how connected they are sometimes. I look forward to seeing how their relationship develops over the years!
Today my girls reached a gestational age of 38 weeks... and have already been in this world for four weeks and two days! Now that they have reached full term we can expect them to start behaving like term babies and reach infant milestones. Premies are usually judged by adjusted age which helps parents and health care providers have realistic expectations for the baby. So 30 days into this parenting deal, I can start expecting my girls to behave like newborns. The only problem? I don't know anything about what to expect from a newborn or any other age from now until 12. I've survived so far so I guess that I will learn it somehow!
OMG THEY ARE SO GORGEOUS!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood gracious they are cute! And breastfeeding two - you go girl! Caleb had tummy issues and cutting milk and most dairy out helped (as did reflux meds) A LOT. It took a few weeks for it to get all the way out of my system and his. Hope it helps little Grace. You're an amazing woman Erin!
ReplyDeleteAWWWWW!! I LOVE the first pic of them together, all smushed up on each other. It's so stinking sweet!
ReplyDeleteRegarding "bad nights," Lisa Magdaleno recommended "Happiest Baby on the Block" to me after it worked so well for her with Isaac. The funny thing is as soon as I started really showing and strangers felt comfortable talking about pregnancy with me, it's now been recommended about eight times with the words "if you do nothing else to prepare for your baby, you MUST read...."
ReplyDeleteThe book doesn't do milestones or what to expect, but it does provide five basic things you can do with a fussy baby that will help to calm her. The first half of the book is the author substantiating his theories on why these five things work and you could basically skip that whole section if you wanted to do the quick read version.
I have no idea if the book's methods will work for our little one or yours, but as a first time mom-to-be, I definitely feel better having some kind of battle strategy.
Erin the best advice I can give about raising kids is just trust your instinct and then when they get older set boundaries. Those two things will take you very far. At least it has worked well for me so far and I would like to think I have done a pretty good job with my kids to this point LOL
ReplyDeletei love this post! seriously two of the most beautiful babies i've ever seen! hope you're hanging in there momma :)
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