Madeline and Molly,
You are TWO MONTHS old today! This month has been so wonderful since you spent most of it at HOME with Daddy, Mama and Carter Man. Y'all have blended into our family and our lives seamlessly, like you have always been there and it was meant to be this way. We just feel whole with y'all at home and apart of our family. It's funny....we didn't feel incomplete without y'all here. But now that we know what life as a family of five is like, we know that y'all have been our missing piece all along. Our family is whole. We are complete. And we have the perfect three children to spend the rest of our lives with.
We are not sure if it's because we are second-time parents, or if y'all are just really easy, but adding two more children to our home has been surprisingly easy. Y'all are just the sweetest babies and rarely cry. You sleep (through everything...the doorbell! the dog! the vacuum! your brother!) so well and so soundly, you eat well, and you are happy during the short times you are awake. We have yet to have a "bad night" like many parents experience with infants. It's probably because of your extended stay in the NICU, but y'all sleep so good at night. It's like you automatically knew to save your good sleep for the nighttime. The last week of this month we finally stopped waking you up to eat and y'all are much happier to sleep in 4 and 5 hour stretches.
Y'all are finally gaining substantial amounts of weight and fitting into your newborn clothes. With said weight gain we are also feeding you more on demand than on a set schedule. Most of the time you stick to eating every 3 hours during the day and 4.5 hours at night. It's amazing! I fear we might be fighting a small amount of reflux, but I know from experience it won't last forever and we can seek help for that.
We have started nursing more (we still have to fortify your milk to bottles are still your main source of intake) and both of you seem to be great nursers. I've discovered that you both eat better if nursed by yourself, so during the day we start each feed by nursing you individually for about 10-15 minutes. Once you are finished we follow up with your fortified breast milk bottle, burping, a new diaper and typically you go right back to sleep. By the end of this week we will probably stop fortifying your bottles and just let you nurse as long as you want. Hopefully we can transition to 100% nursing. If I can stop pumping (over a gallon of breast milk a day!) and we can stop washing 14 bottles a day it will make our lives a lot easier.
Madeline Kate,
Our sweet oldest daughter, you continue to be our happy and content baby. Besides a bit of suspected reflux we have barely heard you cry! You love to be held and show a particular affection for your daddy. You still look so much like Carter and it's usually the first comment people make when they meet you. You light brown hair has started to fall out so we are already wondering if it's going to come back in blonde like your brothers. You currently have dark blue eyes and Dr K seems to think they will stay blue. I'm skeptical, but I know I will love your big eyes no matter what color they end up being.
Molly Ann,
Our bitty baby girl, you are so sweet and cuddly! You still appear to be pretty strong-willed, but are also showing a bit of contentment this month. As long as your belly is full and diaper is dry you seem to be pretty laid back. But if anything is upsetting you are sure to let us know! We've only heard your cries a handful of times, but you only have to let out a few shrieks before we figure out whats wrong. Carter is constantly checking on you and trying to rock you or "shhh" you when he hears you cry. And you are much more apt to let him "play" with you than your sister is. I have a feeling the two of you will be the best of buds. You still have dark hair and resemble your Daddy. However the old you and Madeline get the more I think y'all are starting to look like each other. Time will tell.
To our beautiful baby girls,
Your daddy and I love you so very much. We love having babies back in the house, and we love that there is TWO of you so we don't have to "share" :) Although I catch myself daydreaming about what our future looks like, I try to soak up these moments with the two of you at home and just as small as can be. You are our last babies and I know how fleeting this newborn phase is. Thankfully y'all started out little bitty so you are going to stay smaller longer. I just cherish this time together and pray y'all continue to grow happy and healthy. We love you to the moon and back.
Madeline 2 month Stats
Weight: 7 lb 12 oz (1%ile)
Length: 20.3 in (1%ile)
Eating: nursing 5 times a day followed by a 60ml fortified break milk bottle. Eating 2 75ml fortified breast milk bottles overnight. Around 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm and 3am.
Bedtime: around 7:45pm
Awake: around 7:00am
Naps: typically right back to sleep after each feed
Diapers: newborn Huggies
Clothes: some preemie but mostly newborn clothes, although some are still quite a bit too big
Favorites: being held, your Daddy
Development: can hold head up for long moments at a time, tracks objects with eyes
Milestones:
3/23- feeding tube removed
3/27- DISCHARGED FROM NICU AND CAME HOME!!
4/5- attended first wedding
4/15- gained 13 ounces in one week!
4/16- slept a 5 hour stretch at night
4/20- first Easter
Molly 2 month Stats
Weight:
Length:
Eating: nursing 5 times a day followed by a 60ml fortified break milk bottle. Eating 2 75ml fortified breast milk bottles overnight. Around 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm and 3am.
Bedtime: around 7:45pm
Awake: around 7:00am
Naps: typically right back to sleep after each feed
Diapers: newborn Huggies
Clothes: some preemie but mostly newborn clothes, although some are still quite a bit too big
Favorites: being held, purple paci, eating
Development: holding head up, tracking objects with eyes, shy smiles
Milestones:
3/27- feeding tube removed
3/28- DISCHARGED FROM NICU AND CAME HOME!!
4/5- attended first wedding
4/15- gained 11 ounces in one week!
4/16- slept a 5 hour stretch at night
4/20- first Easter
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