Tag: life with two

Categories
Babies

Back to Work

I’m two days in to being an ‘official’ working mom. I’m so thankful for my company allowing me to take 16 weeks maternity leave {awesome, right?}. Where & how did that time pass so quick? I’m back to the same work where so much is the same & so much different.

Although I swear I’ve been working just as hard if not harder in these last four months. But that’s another story & discussion & drama.I’m don’t and am now trying to go there. Just safe to say that being a SAHM is crazy hard with two babies. I was always multitasking & sometimes feeling like I was doing it all just half way. Trying to put the babies & their needs first & the households last. With mine & my husband’s hopefully in the mix somewhere. Start the dishes but not able to unload. Start laundry & hope someone not holding a baby can throw them in the dryer. Hold a baby & blogging {what, you’ve done that right?!}. I haven’t been caught up on cooking {even just having time to heat up frozen meals was tough}, cleaning {ha!}, laundry since May 7th {hell, more like Oct 22 when I got that BFP!}.

Being a SAHM just wasn’t in the cards for me. My pay & benefits will better serve my family than me being at home {even factoring in ridiculously expensive daycare times two}. I need, crave really, time with other adults. Exercising my brain in ways other than just babies & our house. I even was looking forward to getting back in a cubicle.

So here I sit. In that cube, overhearing conversations all around me, multitasking still, but with phone calls, work emails, & paper work.

But the difference between the working girl who last sat in this chair May 7th & the one who arrived yesterday morning is grand. Now there are baby photos on my desktop. I rush off twice a day to a nursing mothers’ room to pump milk to get them through the next day. Most of my conversations revolve around Zach & Lucy {yes, I’m that new bragging mom}. My heart is fuller & pulled to a certain two babes resting & playing at home this week with my mother- & sister-in-law. I stare at the clock wishing for 5 o’clock more than I’ve ever known.

And I drive too fast home to their happy faces. I’m pretty sure I gave both a days’ worth of kisses in six hours last night. Holding & hugging them tight. & so thankful for our time together nursing {I couldn’t take my eyes away from theirs}.

Last night, I let the oven stay empty & we picked up take out instead. I couldn’t put down L or Z for long enough to cook. I waited until after they were in bed to wash bottles, to get ready for the next day by packing up my pumping bag & my lunch. I went to bed just before midnight. Feeling like a mom, a working mom. And I loved it.

Categories
Babies Family/Travel

Being ‘Mom’

The mom jeans, mom unwashed ponytailed hair, mom under belly chub. The breastfeeding mom tank tops. Mom van. Mom black undereye circles. Check. Check. Check. I have all of the above.

And I’m embracing them. Loving them for now. Because I worked really damn hard earning the ‘mom’ title.

While its tough & people {including myself on the hard days} complain, it’s worth it. So for now, I’m pulling my mom pants up a lil higher, & smiling, because these two {when they
can talk} call me Mom.
{Post written & photos taken Thursday during the babies first half day trial at daycare.}

Categories
Babies

Leaving the Nest

I’m tempted to place blame on my super Daddy of a husband in this post, but I’ve been a bit nervous & more protective than I expected. When I learned our babies were going to be born early, I figured we wouldn’t be taking them out & about right away. Hells, when I learned I was having multiples, I knew I’d been intimidated by that. But I figured it wouldn’t take us three months.

But aside from pediatrician appointments & a quick visit to each of our works, these babies haven’t left our nest together. A couple {Lucy’s had two & Zach one} walks have been taken, but it’s been hot. With my mom on tow, Lucy, in the Moby wrap, went to a baby store, BJs & Lowes Food about a month ago. She did great; sleeping her way from place to place. Two Saturdays ago, Zach joined Mom & I out to return my rented Symphony & go to Harris Teeter. Mom used our Ergo carrier & Z slept the whole time.

So yesterday I was feeling a bit stir crazy & hungry. I love dining out & while take out is good, it’s not the same as a restaurant experience. I brought up eating out Monday morning. The husband didn’t immediately say no. {I took this as a good sign.} Later when he mentioned craving Relish take out, I popped out ‘what if we all went?’. Husbands’ parents are in town & were game, so I began preparing for a 7p dinner at 530. Getting non-spit-up covered clothes out for myself. Clean, cute clothes & disposable diapers out for the babes. Waiting for them to wake up, nursing Zach, then handing him to Jason for burps & dressing while I then nursed Lucy. I got her & I dressed while Jason put them in the car seats. And off we went. We were just five minutes late {pretty sure I’ll never be ‘on time’ again}.

And I think it went well. Babes enjoyed the car ride. Zach fell right asleep at the table, only waking once we were done eating. Lucy stayed wide eyed for a while & then got sick of the car seat seconds before our food was served. J & his mom took turns walking her & eating until she fell asleep. Once we gulped down our delicious food, we called it a success & left before anyone melted down.

Zach slept 3.5 hours in his crib & Lucy fell asleep at 1115p last night. So their trip out did good things to them too. Watch out world, we’ve made a {little} step out of our nest with the two babies!

Categories
Babies

Elusive Sleep

This could also be titled, will they ever use those nursery cribs?

Jason started back to work Monday. So last week I started freaking out getting nervous about them & I getting overnight sleep.

I guess I need to back up. Nights one & two home with us, Lucy ‘slept’ in a packnplay in our room. She’s a loud sleeper, we were nervous parents, no one really slept. When Zach came home that Sunday, we’d pulled out the rocknplays. And we quickly discovered why they’re so popular. Both napped & slept in them well. We set up our den like a no joke ‘war room’. Complete with changing table, coffee table turning baby catch all, TV & lamp on 24/7, kitchen & laundry room super close by. And that has worked. Really well for weeks. Until within last couple weeks when we realized L was sleeping better on us or stretched out over a boppy. So we pulled the barely used packnplay out of our room & added it into the war room. Lucy began napping & transitioned to sleeping there with Zach still in the rocknplay.

Slowly, we’ve tried to introduce Lucy to her crib. She’s last fifteen minutes here or there until one night last week she slept in her crib for four hours. I was thrilled thinking we’d turned a corner. Then she went a couple nights where my laying her in the crib might as well been a torture chamber. To save our sanity & give us a few extra minutes of sleep, back into the packnplay she went. She also began sleeping in longer stretches over night. Like last weekend three nights in a row of midnight to between 5 & 7 am while in packnplay. Proud momma right here.

Zach & his littler, reflux tummy hasn’t been able to go a five or six hour stretch. He’s still typically wanting to nurse every three to four hours overnight. But this week, I was feeling like we were doing him a disservice keeping him in the rocknplay while sister was all stretched out. Over the weekend, I placed both in the packnplay where they slept for three hours together, but their combined size had them both on the verge of rolling in the middle. So no more co-sleeping in the packnplay. Zach’s slept in the packnplay on his own a few times & within the past week, we’ve put him in his crib a few times with success too.

But long story short, they’re not in their cribs thus not under the video monitors thus I’m still ‘sleeping’ on the couch with them in the war room. Tell me, I’ll get to get back in bed eventually right?!

Categories
Babies

Some days

Some days are good. Filled with snuggling, napping {us & the babies}, wonderful breastfeeding-good latches, good tandem, good pumping, waking up happy & going down easily. Yesterday was mostly one of those days.

Today has been different & more difficult. Looking back over last few months of posts, I feel I’m spewing sunshine. And some moments, minutes, hours, days are. Right now Lucy is happy in a bouncy seat & Zach is passed out in my arms.

Thirty minutes ago, no more like an hour plus because it took a while, Zach woke up screaming. Screamed through diaper changing & continued til he was nursing well. And no more than two minutes later, Lucy woke up from a good lil snooze starving. We tried placating her with the lamb wubbanub & hugs from aunt Sue but that didn’t last long.

Zach has realized that he prefers to nurse alone, cross cradle style. But that’d not always possible – welcome to the twin world of sharing & compromise brother. I switched him to tandem, added her on & cue screaming on both sides of me. Lucy was more interested suddenly in the lights from golf on TV & Zach & his reflux & tummy had decided this wasn’t what he wanted. Aunt Sue tried burping Z & I did what were calling the bait & switch {paci in his mouth pulled out quick & boob shoved in}. Those worked briefly.

I finally gave up on Z eating more this feeding. I gave him snuggles, his beloved orange hospital paci & Sue got him in a clean diaper. I was able then to capture Lucy’s attention long enough to switch her cross cradle & top her off.

By then, we were all frustrated, exhausted & maybe still a little hungry. But hugs all around were given, the babies calmed down & I gave myself grace knowing {hoping} that the next feeding would be better. I’m not willing to give up on fighting through the rough breastfeeding moments. The good breastfeeding moments make it worth while. And for now, the good ‘some days’ are out weighing the rough.

Whew! If you got through reading that, good for you.