Ok, I started this when my boys just turned 4 months old, now they are almost 5!
Y’all. I have four month old twins! Just about once a day, I will look at my boys and say, “I have twins!” It still blows my mind. We have three kids!!!
A lot has happened since I posted last so I’ll try to give a quick run down.
It was noticed in the NICU that Gideon has a heart murmur. We had his first appt with a pediatric cardiologist when he was 2 months old. It was deemed “significant” after an ultrasound but we are still hoping he will outgrow it. A vessel from his lung to his heart is too small, which is causing the problems. Anders never had one until we had their 2 month pediatrician appt where he also got a referral to the pedi cardiologist. Both boys recently had the cardiologist appt and Anders is totally fine and while G still has a murmur, it’s getting better. We don’t have to go back for another six months. At that appt, G weighed 10 lbs 8 oz and Anders was 9 lbs 4 oz. Still so little! I have to remind myself that G has more than doubled his birth weight and Anders has almost tripled! Both boys roll from tummy to back (and have been doing it since they were 11 weeks old). And we just got our first belly laughs!
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| G at his first cardi appt |
I’m still pumping for them and while I hate it, I’m still plugging along. My goal was to give them breast milk until they were two months old but here I am still pumping and getting enough to feed both. I make anywhere from 52-55 oz per day and pump 5 to 7 times in 24 hours. My new goal is to pump until they are six months and reevaluate. I’ve had to go completely dairy free for Anders, as we suspect a cows milk protein allergy/intolerance. I haven’t had a single bite of dairy in almost 8 weeks now. (Did you know even McDonalds fries have dairy?! Even some lunch meats use a dairy starter culture! It’s been a huge learning curve!) It is HARD but we’ve seen a huge improvement in his temperament, although he’s still dealing with terrible acid reflux-as is Gideon. Most likely, I need to cut out soy in my diet as well...(so much easier said than done) I have around 1000oz (with about 200oz of that dairy free) of breast milk in the freezer. I’m thankful I can produce enough milk for them at this point, but did I mention that it sucks and I hate pumping?!
We are starting to get consistent 4 hour sleep stretches at night and a couple times have gotten 6. Last night they did two, five hour stretches! My body thanks them!
Long story but we were kicked out of our pediatrician office in town. Here’s the cliff notes version. At 3 months old, G spiked a fever one night. I freaked out and called the after hours pedi. They agreed he’d be ok until the morn but to get him in first thing. I did. He had a low grade fever that morn and after a lot of testing, he had a UTI. The doc was still very concerned for him and she sent us to the ER. After 8 awful hours in the ER, it was again concluded, he had a UTI. He no longer had a fever, and his white blood cell count was falling back into normal range. Our pedi wasn’t satisfied and wanted him to have a lumbar puncture to rule out meningitis. I said no. I also said no to flying him to children’s in Birmingham...HE WAS GETTING BETTER and didn’t even have a fever! The ER doc was in complete agreement with me and thought all of that was crazy and unnecessary. We did a full round of antibiotics and he never had any other issues. Anyway, our pedi said we were no longer welcome in their practice because of that. SO, we just transferred care to the military base. We had their 4 month appt yesterday and overall I’m pleased with how it all went.
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| In the ER with my sweet boy |
Anders is struggling to gain weight, despite me going dairy free. (Although, he grew 4 inches in the last 2 months so that has to count for something!) The new pedi said I absolutely need to go soy free as well. Sigh. I might start supplementing with formula to see if that’ll help him gain, but finding a soy free, dairy free formula without crap in it is challenging. He’s in the 0% for adjusted weight and height at this point. Gideon is in the 2%. Both are fine with meeting milestones although Anders feels like a limp noodle at times so we are having him evaluated with early intervention.
They both are pretty happy little guys. Both love to talk (especially with Skittle!) and are constantly moving and wiggling. Anders could prob still fit in some newborn clothing but I tend to try and have him in 3 month outfits even though many run big on him. G easily fits 3 months and some 3-6 months. I bought Christmas outfits in 3-6 months so most are way too big. Oh well! G hates sleeping anywhere but his bed at home and will let you know with his big powerful lungs that he’s unhappy. Anders will sleep anywhere but prefers his bed too. We won’t be starting solid foods with them until they are 6 months adjusted age (so almost 8 months old). Both are waking from their nap...I hope I can write again soon!
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| They are starting to notice each other now. |
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| Both smiling for the camera at the same time! It only took 47 tries to get this pic! Ha! |
