Happy six weeks, Nugget

Nugget is six weeks old.  This means my maternity leave is half over.  Sigh.  After the twins were born, I was okay with returning to work at the end of my maternity leave.  I believed I was a better mom as a working mom.  I think it will be harder to return this time.  I've settled into being a mom, and I'm really enjoying the extra time with SB and BW.  I still ultimately believe that I am a better mom as a working mom, and SB and BW are in a great place socially and intellectually because of the wonderful daycare that they attend, but I wouldn't mind being able to take summers off and spend extra time with them. 

Nugget's reflux started ramping up, and she was starting to be very fussy in the evenings, very gassy, and had some projectile vomiting episodes, although not a ton.  At her one month appointment, upon discussing this with the pediatrician, the pediatrician said that the most common culprit for gassiness and reflux was dairy, and recommended eliminating it for two weeks to see if these improved.

I love milk. I love cheese. 

This was going to be difficult.

I drug my feet for a few days, as Nugget's symptoms didn't seem to be as severe as what I read a milk protein allergy would entail, but Nugget's evening fussiness, reflux and spitting up seemed to be ramping up, so I finally committed to cutting out dairy.  Within a few days, Nugget's baby acne, which had covered most of her face, completely cleared up literally overnight.  She was settling easier at night.  On Father's day, I decided to experiment with goat cheese, as I found a source on the internet that said goat milk protein was easier to digest that cow's milk.  Big mistake.  Nugget was agitated from about 6 pm to midnight the next night.  So, I'll continue to avoid the deliciousness of our cheese door (sigh) and work through the remainder of the two weeks, but I expect I will be committing to dairy free.

Reflections on three under three - a few weeks in

Since a few weeks have passed since my last post, I thought I'd do an update.  We've switched SB and BW to daycare just two days a week for the remainder of my maternity leave.  Things are still going fairly well, although we've decided we need to focus a bit more on getting SB and BW more one-on-one attention if possible.  SB in particular seems to be struggling a bit to gain attention from the hubs and I, even if it is negative attention.  Although I know defiance and independence is par for the course with her age, I think her defiance is connected more with wanting more attention.  She is still, all in all, a great kid, so I try to remind myself to be patient and work through these difficulties.  True one-on-one attention is difficult, especially for me, because Nugget is still so new, but hopefully an individual overnight with grandma will give both SB and BW some special time with me and the hubs.

I am still enjoying the ease of one baby versus two babies.  I feel like I am truly learning Nugget in a way I wasn't able to do with SB and BW when they were new.  I love being able to pop her in the Moby and still be mobile and get out with SB and BW.  She still is a relatively easy baby and is napping in her crib as I type this - a milestone that was really difficult to accomplish with SB and BW.  I think things will get more difficult as she gets past the newborn stage and is more alert and needs more stimulation

I am also really enjoying not having the stress of work hanging over my head all the time.  I feel like I can participate more in my household in the evenings, help clean up, not worry about SB and BW going to bed so I can get some work done.  I am less stressed and feel like I am able to more fully participate in my family.  I'm not looking forward to returning to work and shouldering that workload again.

Initial reflections on 3 under 3...

As I type this, Nugget is snoozing on the bed next to me.  At just over a week old, we're still figuring some stuff out, but in general, life is good.  We may still be in the honeymoon phase, but both the hubs and I have confessed that things are going easier than we expected.  Which, of course, has probably jinxed us.

To start, Nugget has been a champion at breastfeeding.  She latched and even swallowed within the first hour after birth.  She dropped down to 8 lbs (from 8 lbs 7 oz) at discharge, and five days later had gained 11 oz.  Since it took BW 3 weeks to get back to birth weight, this gain is awesome.  No supplementing.  No pumping (although I did pump a few times when my milk first came in to relieve some engorgement, I was able to just pop that in the freezer right away).  We put the bottle drying rack back in the pantry, because we haven't had to wash pump parts regularly. Although I've felt I'm in unfamiliar territory learning how to BF a singleton, overall things are going very well.

Nursing one baby instead of two is quicker.  I have time to eat, nap, pick up, throw a load of laundry in.  I don't have to pick and choose and sometimes not accomplish any of them. I went to the store today by myself.  Things will be a bit more hectic once SB and BW are only going to daycare part-time for the remainder of my maternity leave, but the difference in caring for one newborn instead of two is very noticeable.

SB and BW love her.  They look for her in the morning; they look forward to seeing her after daycare.  Although we had a few days of transition after grandma went home and we settled in with Nugget when SB and BW were moody, cranky, and uncooperative, they are adjusting well.  We have to be very vigilant about Nugget, as SB and BW get quite excited and bounce around and there are sometimes limbs flying everywhere.

She's here!

I'm a few days behind, but Nugget has made her appearance, with a few extra days of baking.  My indecisiveness ensured that I delivered med-free, even after I caved and requested the epidural - too late for that.  Nugget came fast and furious, but has been pretty calm and laid-back since.  Nursing like a champ from the beginning.   The hubs and I apparently have a skewed view of baby size as a result of having toddlers, as we discovered later that we both thought she was tiny when she was born.

Stats: 8 lbs, 7 oz.  22 inches long. 14-inch head.  No growth problems due to the circumvallate placenta here. The OB did show the hubs and I the membrane on the placenta, which was quite sizable, and did say that it did appear from examination that it was circumvallate, but he sent it to pathology to verify as well.  It was so nice to have such a mundane outcome from something that Dr. Google suggested could be very concerning.

On enjoying summer....

Our deck was finished today. 

We moved several months ago.  Since our move happened in winter, the builder had postponed the deck until "spring."  Which, where we live, is a hit or miss season - 70s, then snow. 

But it's done, in all its maintenance-free glory (best part ever).  At our previous house, we never got around to building the deck (or the fence we planned, either) in the four-ish years we lived there.  We vowed that we wouldn't let that happen at the new house, and lucked out with a builder who doesn't believe in leaving things "unfinished."

The hubs is getting the patio furniture out of storage.  It's a beautiful day.  We're planning on dinner on the deck.  Hosting family this weekend.  Can't wait to use the deck this summer, at least until the mosquitos come out in full force.

Check one more thing off the "before baby comes" list.

Good friends, good food, good mood

In my last post, I mentioned that some friends were coming to visit for the weekend, and I was a little apprehensive since I still feel like I have a lot of unfinished projects and things to get done before baby arrives.  However, this weekend was a fabulous experience.  Our friends arrived after we had put the girls to bed, so we were able to enjoy a leisurely dinner with adult conversation and without any screeching competitions, repeated admonitions that we do NOT put our feet on the table when we eat, spilled milk, or banging of silverware.  It was so nice to talk and catch up.  Our friends were very low key and didn't bat an eye at taking two toddlers to lunch and not having any specific plans.  We rounded out Saturday with drinks and card games, and it was wonderful.  Sunday my mom came and watched the twins so the hubs and I could take a day and go out to eat and do some shopping for Nugget (with a little for SB and BW thrown in).  It was so nice to have another adult meal and focus on some new things for Nugget. I can't believe she will be arriving soon, and our whole routine will change.  Here we go....

The countdown is on, and twin laundry dilemmas

So, my last post whined about how unprepared I am for Nugget to arrive.  What do I do?  Agree to house guests a few weeks before my due date.  Then get sick two days before they are to arrive, when I would ordinarily be frantically cleaning before they arrive.  The hubs has (once again) stepped up and done the cleaning that needed to be done, and offered to help with SB and BW's laundry.  However, this is a realm where I am really on my own.  SB and BW are different sizes - about 5 lbs and 1.5 inches difference between them.  They are also built differently - BW has LONG limbs and a poochy tummy because her ab muscles still haven't closed; SB has a petite build with a longer torso.  Also, toddler clothing has NO consistency whatsoever.  It's worse than vanity sizing for adults, I think.  The only area where I can cleanly separate their clothes by size is pjs, and as they start to prefer two-piece pjs over footies, even this is getting blurred.  So, I know in my head what fits who and quickly sort through the clothes for each kid.  However, I can't say to someone else "BW gets all the 4T shirts (yes,4T - she is very tall) and SB gets all the 3T shirts" because BW still fits well in some of the 3T.  Pants are the same - some of the 3T are still too long for SB; some still fit BW but I have passed on to SB as she has outgrown her 2T pants.

I have also complicated this by getting hand-me-downs/buying used clothing for about a year, some from other twin parents, some not.  I would estimate about 85% of their clothing is used; I do buy them new stuff occasionally!  Which is great for my wallet, but usually results in trial and error for what fits when, since I buy ahead sizes figuring at least one of them will fit into it at some point - I think i have a few things up to size 6 already.   I miss when they were close enough in size that they could just have a completely shared closet, though - so much easier for other people to help with laundry.