Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Update on the boys

I apologize for not posting an update sooner, but I'm still adjusting to this new life with little sleep and even less time to myself (not that I'm complaining). I have been reading blogs in between feedings, diaper changes, bottle washing, and loads of laundry, but can't seem to find the energy to comment. I know that's no excuse, so I hope that you understand and accept my apology. Hopefully I'll get into a groove soon.

The boys are doing great and growing well--at the 1 month appointment Liam weighed 6lbs 6oz and Silas weighed 7lbs 3oz. Silas is still struggling with GERD (acid reflux) and had to have his meds adjusted again. Currently he's taking Zantac 2x/day and Prevacid once daily. Because Silas is so uncomfortable at night lying prone we started letting him sleep in the bouncy seat, which has made a world of difference for him at night. He no longer grunts and groans in discomfort all night long. We put one of the bouncy seats in the crib, so when the time comes the transition back to the crib will be easier. I noticed that Liam didn't sleep as well the first few nights that Silas was in the bouncy seat as he was used to his brother being next to him, but now he seems adjusted. Liam is fortunate not to have GERD.

Both boys are relatively easy going babies (knock on wood). They were previously eating every 3 hours, but have recently begun to eat every 1.5-2 hours, which makes for very tired parents! J and I do shifts at night--J does feedings up until 2am and I do the feedings after that. This allows us each a small block of sleep, but I'm on my own during the day as J is back at work. We typically feed the boys in shifts as we've found simultaneous feeding difficult at this point. Sometimes during the day I will prop them in boppies and feed them at the same time, but I find it to be awkward and prefer to feed one baby at a time. Plus, feeding them separately allows us individual cuddle time! Usually one baby will wait patiently for his turn, but this isn't always the case. Silas seems to be a little more patient than Liam, so I usually try to feed Liam first. This also gives me more time to hold Silas upright after his feeding, which is helpful for his GERD.

I quit breast feeding at the hospital because the boys weren't gaining weight (this was a suggestion of the pediatrician), but continued to pump. Unfortunately I was only getting about 2 oz/day with pumping every 2 hours around the clock. When I was putting the boys to the breast I was able to pump a lot more, but as soon as I stopped my supply dropped significantly. The constant pumping to get barely anything was so stressful and I began to resent it, so I quit pumping about 2-3 weeks ago. It just wasn't worth the stress it was causing me not to mention the time away from snuggling my little guys! I cried for an entire day and felt like a horrible mom, but in the end I'm content with the decision. I can't imagine trying to pump every 2 hours now that I'm home alone with the boys. I do feel good about what I was able to do for the boys for the first few weeks of their life and am glad that I took the time and effort to give them some breast milk.

It's cute to see the boys' personalities coming out already. Silas LOVES his pacifier and likes to sleep with it in his mouth, which is fine by us given that sucking on a pacifier is thought to reduce the risk of SIDS. He also loves to be swaddled tight. Liam will use a pacifier periodically, but isn't as attached to it. Liam absolutely despises a dirty diaper and will scream his head off if he has poop in his diaper. It's pretty easy to know when Liam is filling his diaper because he makes what we've affectionately come to refer to as his "poopy face" where he purses his lips and gets a very serious look on his face. If Liam poops while feeding, he starts crying as he's eating his bottle. Silas isn't nearly as sensitive to a dirty diaper. When Silas cries he actually sheds tears, which breaks his mommy's heart, but Liam doesn't tear when he's wailing.

Here's a few recent photos for your viewing pleasure:


23 comments:

Intending To Be Parents said...

The boys are beautiful!!!
If you don't mind my recommendations here, we had quite a struggle with E's reflux. And still are working at it... We started him in the bouncy seat for sleep and then moved to the car seat until he was 4 months. Then we got a LIFESAVER called the Safe T Sleep sleepwrap http://www.safetsleep.com/. It ships from a company in New Zealans and is pricey, but cheaper than a medical grade wedge for the crib (which is twice as much or more.) We put 2 levels of large text books under one end of the crib mattress to elevate it and this strap went around the mattress closer to the elevated end and it held him in place so he didn't roll down. He really became dependent on it and felt very secure and it helped immensely with nights. We were able to rig it to work with a pack-n-play too when we traveled. We just stopped using it at 10 months and now does pretty good sleeping flat. We are down to every other day with his meds (prevacid) but not sure if he's taking it all so well - the burning is what does it for him as his spit-up greatly reduced when he started to really crawl and stand up. But he did good with cutting the meds in half (once a day instead of twice) and we'll see how he does as we keep to the every other day.
Hang in there because I know the reflux is really tough, but it does get better (I know everyone probably says that, but really it does). There is no one answer for every baby on how to treat their reflux, so I hope you find the right thing to help the little guy battle it!
Sounds like you guys are doing great! Such handsome sons you have!!

AnGèLe said...

Aww! They are just perfect!!

My second daughter had severe GERD.. she was on Zantac as well.. we found that the perfect combination for her.. was Zantac and soy formula. It really reduced her pain! Also.. she slept better in a sitting position also... When it was time to switch to milk.. we gave her Goats milk instead of cows milk.. by the time she was 1.5 she was off the meds and was able to tolerate cows milk without any issues.. Amazing how little bodies can heal themselves! :)

*Katie* said...

they are to cute for words!

one of my SIL's triplets has GERD they switched her to soy along with her meds and they also use a sleepwrap like pp. IT WORKS WONDERS!

get some snuggle time with those little guys. as much as we love hearing from you snuggles are much more important.

Ashley D said...

**Happy Tears**

Leah said...

I'm so happy to see the detailed update. Isn't it amazing to think that you are somehow getting NO sleep when the boys likely do nothing BUT sleep? It never made sense to me, my kids were always sleeping yet somehow I was never sleeping. Surely it's the constant, every 1 - 3 hour wakeups, but it still cracks me up that all of the newborn pictures of both of my children show them sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. And I look like I was hit by a mack truck. Ironic.

Megan had reflux pretty bad, including an upper GI at only 6 weeks old. We were able to control it with Zantac, frequent feedings, and sleeping in the bouncy seat or carseat. Therefore, I have no new advice to give that you aren't already doing with Silas. She grew out of the worst of it between 4 - 5 months, and just moved on to barfing up all the solids we fed her. Fortunately she didn't seem to experience the same pain and discomfort with the solids (just lots of puking), so that was nice. We perservered and luckily never got into any sort of scary or dangerous situation with her weight or growth.

Your boys are beautiful, you look wonderful, and I'm over-the-moon happy for you that they are here safe and sound. :-)

Donna said...

They are beautiful!

Don't worry about having no time! I still haven't figured out how to update my blog and read all the blogs I follow.

Eli has terrible acid reflux problems too. We started letting him sleep in his carseat. Made a HUGE difference for him.

Megs said...

The boys are absolutely adorable!! Glad to hear you are doing so well!! :)

TABI said...

Oh, your boys are beautiful! Congrats to you and I know what you mean with the lack of sleep and finding your groove. Enjoy this time!

Anonymous said...

Love the new pics! I pumped for about a month after Alison was born, but she never got it about latching on so I gave up the pumping too after the first month and we just went to formula. It was way less stressful for all of us!

Glad everyone is doing well!

Lost in Space said...

You look so happy, Niki, and that makes me smile. The boys are so beautiful and it sounds like they are growing strong. Glad to see an update from you.

Pam said...

Amazing are they! I agree Happy Tears over here as well!!!

Kelly said...

I can't believe they are a month old!! Sounds like you all are doing well and loving every minute of it. :)

Bonny said...

such beautiful boys

GeekByMarriage said...

I am so in love with your beautiful sons!

goldenjag25 said...

They are so amazingly beautiful, you are doing a great job! I totally understand how you felt about the breastfeeding. I had a really hard time BFing with Sarah and I gave up too around 2 months. I was pumping all the time and trying to feed and I started to resent it as well. You made the right decision and you are a terrific mom. Thanks for the updates, I love seeing pictures!

Kay said...

They are goregeous!! Luke has GERD and has been on prevacid on and off his whole life, If you get tired of the bouncy seat, you can buy a wedge at Babys R Us for him to sleep on, we used it for Luke and it made a huge difference!
We also used Neosure formula for the first year because it was higher calorie and easier to digest, I supplemented w/breast milk for 6 months.
Don't worry one bit about not pumping, trust me we hardly got any sleep trying to pump and feed Luke that first 6 months, I got sleep in 30 min increments.

Enjoy every moment!

Kay said...

Here is the wedge,
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2401848
I have friends that swore by the Amby baby hammock
http://www.ambybaby.com/

but they wouldn't be able to sleep together with that one.. and sounds like that is a must!

Saffy said...

Niki, They're gorgeous! You look sooooo radiant.

Although GERD isn't 'flash' I'm so pleased that you're onto it so quickly. We bumbled on for months and Daisy got sicker and my mental health was in real jeopardy for a while there. Go the good drugs and a decent doc.

I agree that the Safe T Sleep is good (but I'm a New Zealander so I'm probably biased!. It keep baby where you want them to be. Also good later when they wriggle around the cot a bit too much.

I bet you're glad you gave bf'ing a go. Hey it didn't work out, but they'll thrive on formula and you know that you gave them those important immuno goodies in the early days.

Tiffiny said...

So wonderful not to have much time on your hands to update!! The boys are beautiful. I remember those early days with the girls and their feedings, you will see that soon their feedings will start to space out on their own. I did the separate feedings too, so I could get individual cuddle time with them. Good luck with the GERD, not sure if Taylor had acid reflux or not but she would ALWAYS throw up her food right after eating. I know when we took the twins home they were on a weight building formula which i think made it worse for her and as soon as she was about 6 months and off of that formula/BM and only on Carnation Good Start she was sooo much better. Well have fun with them!

Jaymee said...

so happy that things are going so well! hope the reflux clears up. do not ever beat yourself up about the breastfeeding, it is not an easy task and an even more difficult with induction and twins. you were very brave to even attempt doing so. i am still just soooo very happy for you.

Deanna said...

What a nice report! (despite dealing with GERD). Good on you with the pumping. Sometimes it's good to have an outside entity bring us back to reality... despite our best efforts to do our best.

Snuggle those little babes NONSTOP (!!!)

Enjoy....

MyLifeMyWorld said...

I just love their 1 month old outfits, they so SOO CUTE!

The boys are just beautiful and by the sounds of things you guys are getting your groove. You will sleep again, just might be awhile so hang in there, and be sure to ask for help when you need it. A overworked, exhausted mommy is not good to babies, k.

Just beautiful thanks for the update!

Anonymous said...

good to hear from you - they are gorgeous!!