Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Baby Monitors
Can I just say how much I hate our baby monitors? They are seriously the worst. I don't know if it is just my particular brand or if they are all like the ones we have but I want to smash them into tiny little pieces every night. We have the Motorola ones with the little video screen. If the babies make noise, the screen lights up with a video and sound of what is going on in their room. When they come on they BEEP once loudly, and after a short period they shut back off with another annoying BEEP. Now supposedly you can adjust the sound of the beeps, but they are all very loud. I guess that is to make sure it awakes me (from the few times I actually fall asleep) so I know what is going on with my babies. This sounds like a great monitor right? The problem is, it is constantly disconnecting from the camera in their room for whatever reason. EVERY time it does this it beeps several times, shows the video and then beeps again as it shuts off. I tell you this happens it seems several times an hour. So when I finally lay down to sleep I get woken up by screeching in my ear from it being disconnected. NOT because my babies are awake. Ohhhh but the sound is so loud that I can hear it all the way out in my living room even on the lower sound settings. So lets keep our fingers crossed that the babies aren't in a twilight sleep or your lovely monitor will wake them up. To make it worse assuming the monitors are actually working correctly, my girls have to be making a lot of noise for them to actually pick it up. In fact, I can almost always hear them before the monitors go off. It seems to pick up the cars driving by better then one of my girls crying. The only positive I have to say is that I can click a button and it will give me a current video of them in their beds. I want to say they cost around $100. For your own sanity pay a little more and get a better one so you can get a little sleep.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Buying a Breast Pump
To buy or rent? Well it all depends on how long you intend to breastfeed. Either way I would recommend renting one from your local hospital to see how you like it; especially if you are on the fence about breastfeeding. I want to say it cost about $50 a month to rent the one at my hospital. The pump they had was the Medela Symphony, which in my opinion is fabulous. I didn't know it at the time, but it is seriously amazing when compared to just about any other pump.
When I switched down the road to my Medela Pump in Style (advanced) I was shocked at the difference. I eventually got used to the pump in style, but the symphony is much more gentler on your sensitive skin. For that reason, if you only plan to pump short term, I would recommend just renting that one for a few months. The nice thing was that I could still use all my accessories when I made the switch. The Symphony is very large and bulky so it is hard to go places with it (but doable). The pump in style is very compact and easy to bring along with me to work.
Whatever you do, make sure the pump you buy has the Let Down option. According to my lactation consultant, if you do not have that option it will negatively effect your supply. I was told that was why when so many mothers go back to work, their supply will tank. So when you are searching for your pump make that a must have option.
Did you know that your insurance will pay for a pump? I searched reviews on the particular one my insurance wanted to give me and from what I could tell it sucked. So here is a bit of advice that you may not be aware of. Some insurance companies, or the places that you get the unit from, let you upgrade from what the insurance paid for, to a better pump. That is what I did. I believe it cost maybe $25 to go from a super sucky unit to the Medela pump in style with the let down option. To me that is huge. Even if you plan to exclusively breastfeed, I would still take your insurance up on the offer and get a pump. You never know, you may have some sort of emergency where you might need it as a back up.
On that note, if you live in an area like I do, when it storms we tend to lose power. If you are an exclusive pumper make sure you have a hand express pump just in case your power goes out. The hospital gave me one but if yours doesn't they run around $30 at the store. When my girls were in the NICU and I was pumping at home for them there were a few times we lost power and that was no fun.
A few side notes I have learned along the way:
If you don't feel like you are getting as much milk from pumping as you were, and nothing has changed in your diet/health, check your machine. A few times the white plastic valves have torn on me. If that happens the suction doesn't work right and you won't get much milk out.
Always have extra storage bags on hand. You don't want to be stuck at work and realize you don't have any bags to put that liquid gold in. I have heard in an emergency like that, buy a water bottle, clean it out, and store it in there for the day.
Having an extra set of pump parts is a must. Don't wait. You don't want to be up cleaning pump parts at 2am, trust me on that one.
If your skin is getting super sore from pumping it could be from the breast shield not fitting correctly. Check this website out to make sure you are using the correct size. http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/13/choosing-a-correctly-fitted-breastshield
Get a hands free bra. Yes they are somewhat expensive but you'll regret waiting on this one. It seriously sucks sitting there holding those things to your chest multiple times a day. Free up those hands. I got mine for about $45 from the hospital.
I tried to make my own with a sports bra, cutting the wholes like I saw on Pinterest (see below).
For me that didn't work out. Once the milk started filling up the bottle, the weight would pull the material and the breast shields wouldn't stay in place very well. It might depend on how much you normally collect, but with twins, it didn't hold up.
For those of you not strictly pumping and don't want to waste any milk these are pretty cool. Under $30 so not bad.
What is your favorite pump? Let us know in the comment section below.
Whatever you do, make sure the pump you buy has the Let Down option. According to my lactation consultant, if you do not have that option it will negatively effect your supply. I was told that was why when so many mothers go back to work, their supply will tank. So when you are searching for your pump make that a must have option.
Did you know that your insurance will pay for a pump? I searched reviews on the particular one my insurance wanted to give me and from what I could tell it sucked. So here is a bit of advice that you may not be aware of. Some insurance companies, or the places that you get the unit from, let you upgrade from what the insurance paid for, to a better pump. That is what I did. I believe it cost maybe $25 to go from a super sucky unit to the Medela pump in style with the let down option. To me that is huge. Even if you plan to exclusively breastfeed, I would still take your insurance up on the offer and get a pump. You never know, you may have some sort of emergency where you might need it as a back up.
On that note, if you live in an area like I do, when it storms we tend to lose power. If you are an exclusive pumper make sure you have a hand express pump just in case your power goes out. The hospital gave me one but if yours doesn't they run around $30 at the store. When my girls were in the NICU and I was pumping at home for them there were a few times we lost power and that was no fun.
A few side notes I have learned along the way:
If you don't feel like you are getting as much milk from pumping as you were, and nothing has changed in your diet/health, check your machine. A few times the white plastic valves have torn on me. If that happens the suction doesn't work right and you won't get much milk out.
Always have extra storage bags on hand. You don't want to be stuck at work and realize you don't have any bags to put that liquid gold in. I have heard in an emergency like that, buy a water bottle, clean it out, and store it in there for the day.
Having an extra set of pump parts is a must. Don't wait. You don't want to be up cleaning pump parts at 2am, trust me on that one.
If your skin is getting super sore from pumping it could be from the breast shield not fitting correctly. Check this website out to make sure you are using the correct size. http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/tips-and-solutions/13/choosing-a-correctly-fitted-breastshield
Get a hands free bra. Yes they are somewhat expensive but you'll regret waiting on this one. It seriously sucks sitting there holding those things to your chest multiple times a day. Free up those hands. I got mine for about $45 from the hospital.
I tried to make my own with a sports bra, cutting the wholes like I saw on Pinterest (see below).
For me that didn't work out. Once the milk started filling up the bottle, the weight would pull the material and the breast shields wouldn't stay in place very well. It might depend on how much you normally collect, but with twins, it didn't hold up.
For those of you not strictly pumping and don't want to waste any milk these are pretty cool. Under $30 so not bad.
What is your favorite pump? Let us know in the comment section below.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
4 Things To Know About The NICU
When you find out you are pregnant with twins, you will probably be told right away that you are now considered high risk. That means you and your doctor will be seeing a lot more of eachother. You may be sent to a specialist even, as I was. There will be appointments, and more appointments. I felt like I was always at the doctors. I am glad that I had such a good doctor that wanted to keep a close eye on me. She told me right away that she didn't think I would make it past 36 weeks and she would be surprised if I made it much after 32. We were aiming for anything after 28 weeks she had said. I understood what she was saying, my babies would be here early. What I didn't know was that they would arrive very early, at 29 weeks. I haven't had any experience with the NICU before so I didn't know what to expect. My girls were in the NICU for 2 months and one week. I've compiled my top four pieces of advice from my experience.
1. The hardest thing I've ever had to do.
Everything happened so quickly. I arrived at the hospital not feeling well and within two hours my babies were here. After experiencing the most intense morning of my life, my girls were quickly held up so I could see them from a distance, and rushed off to the team of nurses. I laid on the operating table, holding my husbands hand and tried not to look at the blood on the light above me. I didn't turn my head to the left where there were buckets of tissue and blood as Adam warned me. While my team of doctors finished with me, I did not know what was going on with my girls. I didn't get to see them again until much later, and at that, I still wasn't able to hold them until several days later. Healing in a room downstairs while my girls were upstairs was very difficult. I am very grateful I chose the hospital I did to have my girls. I could call up to their nurses, and they would put them on a monitor so I could at least see them from my room. When it was finally time for me to go home, I remember being in the elevator and seeing a pregnant woman. How strange it was to realize my babies were no longer with me. That is not something you can prepare for. Going home without your babies is just plain awful. This is a time you are supposed to be bonding with your little ones, holding them close. Instead I had to leave my babies with strangers and go home to finish healing. I cried most of that day and the next ones to come. Watching their little eyes follow me to the door and having to leave them there, I just had to keep telling myself this is what was best for them. They had the best medical care and their Angels watching over them.
2. Get to know your nurses
I spent a lot of time at the NICU. I wanted to be there as much as I could for my girls. After awhile I got to know most of the nurses that worked there. Instead of strangers looking after my girls, they became people I enjoyed chatting with and tried to get to know. Most of them were friendly, and full of knowledge. All the equipment was so foreign to us, so Adam and I both asked tons of questions. I wanted to know everything I could about what was going on with my girls. Don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand something. Most of the nurses went out of their way to show me things and explain how the equipment worked. Did you know you can request certain nurses? Same goes for one you simply do not get along with. Not everyone will mesh and there is nothing worse then leaving your babies with a nurse you don't trust for whatever reason. That's when you should talk to the charge nurse about whatever the situation is. They can always try and work something out where that nurse gets minimal time with your babies. Our nurses made the girls cute posters for their door, took their pictures along the way, and made us cards with their hand and foot prints. They were always surprising us with cute things they had done with the girls to try and put a smile on our face.
3. Alarms
Among the most stressful things you will experience in the NICU are the constant beeping of alarms. They are pretty much always going off in the NICU. Whether they are going off in your babies room, or anothers, you will hear them as you walk the halls. You will hear them in your babies room too. The longer you are in the NICU the better you will be at discerning the scary alarms, and the more regular alarms. They will go off when the feeding tube has finished, an IV needs to be checked, their heart beat is too slow or too fast, their oxygen saturation is too low, they are breathing too fast or too slow.. you get the idea. It can be very stressful to hear all the beeping and not knowing what is going on. There were a few times the monitors would say our babies weren't breathing, or that they had no heart rate, on the monitor and the scary alarms would start screaming. Adam and I would be in there by ourselves, not knowing what was going on, and freaking out thinking something was wrong. One time when Adam was holding little Ella, all of a sudden the alarms were ringing that she wasn't breathing. Turns out the way the electrode was lying, his body was interfering with the reading. We didn't know that until the nurse came in and told us. It was pretty traumatic for both of us. Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes those darn things aren't connected all the way. The sticky part that attaches the electrode to the baby doesn't always stick. You can't always tell when they are in the swaddle that it's not stuck where its supposed to be. The baby could also start getting real fidgety and cause the reading to be off. If the nurses aren't running in, then your baby is probably okay.
4. Outsiders won't get it
As I stated earlier I had no prior experience at the NICU. I didn't know anyone personally that had to go through anything like this. I had no idea what happened behind those doors. Turns out, most people don't. During what is most likely going to be the hardest thing you go through, you will most likely be going through it with your husband and a select few family members. To keep germs down only a limited amount of people will be going with you inside. Your friends won't understand, and frankly, some won't care. People you thought would be there for you in your time of need, may turn their back on you. Sure they'll say all the right things, but when it comes down to it, you'll see who actually calls, texts, and shows up when you need them. If you're lucky, a few people may come by to force you to eat every once in awhile. Mostly though, your friends won't understand what you are going through. This is a time you will learn who your true friends are. Listen closely. I am thankful to have the good friends that I do. They may not relate to what you are going through but at least they will be there to listen and give a few hugs. A few people may even surprise you. I know I wasn't expecting my new church to step up, but they did. They even did more then a lot of people I was close to, and for that I am thankful.
-Katie
1. The hardest thing I've ever had to do.
Everything happened so quickly. I arrived at the hospital not feeling well and within two hours my babies were here. After experiencing the most intense morning of my life, my girls were quickly held up so I could see them from a distance, and rushed off to the team of nurses. I laid on the operating table, holding my husbands hand and tried not to look at the blood on the light above me. I didn't turn my head to the left where there were buckets of tissue and blood as Adam warned me. While my team of doctors finished with me, I did not know what was going on with my girls. I didn't get to see them again until much later, and at that, I still wasn't able to hold them until several days later. Healing in a room downstairs while my girls were upstairs was very difficult. I am very grateful I chose the hospital I did to have my girls. I could call up to their nurses, and they would put them on a monitor so I could at least see them from my room. When it was finally time for me to go home, I remember being in the elevator and seeing a pregnant woman. How strange it was to realize my babies were no longer with me. That is not something you can prepare for. Going home without your babies is just plain awful. This is a time you are supposed to be bonding with your little ones, holding them close. Instead I had to leave my babies with strangers and go home to finish healing. I cried most of that day and the next ones to come. Watching their little eyes follow me to the door and having to leave them there, I just had to keep telling myself this is what was best for them. They had the best medical care and their Angels watching over them.
2. Get to know your nurses
I spent a lot of time at the NICU. I wanted to be there as much as I could for my girls. After awhile I got to know most of the nurses that worked there. Instead of strangers looking after my girls, they became people I enjoyed chatting with and tried to get to know. Most of them were friendly, and full of knowledge. All the equipment was so foreign to us, so Adam and I both asked tons of questions. I wanted to know everything I could about what was going on with my girls. Don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand something. Most of the nurses went out of their way to show me things and explain how the equipment worked. Did you know you can request certain nurses? Same goes for one you simply do not get along with. Not everyone will mesh and there is nothing worse then leaving your babies with a nurse you don't trust for whatever reason. That's when you should talk to the charge nurse about whatever the situation is. They can always try and work something out where that nurse gets minimal time with your babies. Our nurses made the girls cute posters for their door, took their pictures along the way, and made us cards with their hand and foot prints. They were always surprising us with cute things they had done with the girls to try and put a smile on our face.
3. Alarms
Among the most stressful things you will experience in the NICU are the constant beeping of alarms. They are pretty much always going off in the NICU. Whether they are going off in your babies room, or anothers, you will hear them as you walk the halls. You will hear them in your babies room too. The longer you are in the NICU the better you will be at discerning the scary alarms, and the more regular alarms. They will go off when the feeding tube has finished, an IV needs to be checked, their heart beat is too slow or too fast, their oxygen saturation is too low, they are breathing too fast or too slow.. you get the idea. It can be very stressful to hear all the beeping and not knowing what is going on. There were a few times the monitors would say our babies weren't breathing, or that they had no heart rate, on the monitor and the scary alarms would start screaming. Adam and I would be in there by ourselves, not knowing what was going on, and freaking out thinking something was wrong. One time when Adam was holding little Ella, all of a sudden the alarms were ringing that she wasn't breathing. Turns out the way the electrode was lying, his body was interfering with the reading. We didn't know that until the nurse came in and told us. It was pretty traumatic for both of us. Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes those darn things aren't connected all the way. The sticky part that attaches the electrode to the baby doesn't always stick. You can't always tell when they are in the swaddle that it's not stuck where its supposed to be. The baby could also start getting real fidgety and cause the reading to be off. If the nurses aren't running in, then your baby is probably okay.
4. Outsiders won't get it
As I stated earlier I had no prior experience at the NICU. I didn't know anyone personally that had to go through anything like this. I had no idea what happened behind those doors. Turns out, most people don't. During what is most likely going to be the hardest thing you go through, you will most likely be going through it with your husband and a select few family members. To keep germs down only a limited amount of people will be going with you inside. Your friends won't understand, and frankly, some won't care. People you thought would be there for you in your time of need, may turn their back on you. Sure they'll say all the right things, but when it comes down to it, you'll see who actually calls, texts, and shows up when you need them. If you're lucky, a few people may come by to force you to eat every once in awhile. Mostly though, your friends won't understand what you are going through. This is a time you will learn who your true friends are. Listen closely. I am thankful to have the good friends that I do. They may not relate to what you are going through but at least they will be there to listen and give a few hugs. A few people may even surprise you. I know I wasn't expecting my new church to step up, but they did. They even did more then a lot of people I was close to, and for that I am thankful.
-Katie
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Bath time
I remember those days when they were tiny in the NICU and the wonderful nurses would go over bath time with me. I felt like their student, they showed us how to wash them just so. Make sure they didn't get too cold. We were required to watch a certain amount of times, and do it ourselves so many times, to meet the NICU's going home guidelines. Once the girls moved out of the isolettes, they would roll in a heated plastic table/scale and put down a little absorbent pad and get started. I remember the first time I helped, I was so nervous. They were so small and fragile I thought. The girls actually really like bath time (or spa day as I like to call it). They aren't the happiest about getting scrubbed down, but when you get to their hair, ahh that's the good stuff right there. You want to put your baby in a trance, just gently wash their hair. Mine love that. I swaddle them up in their towel, soap it up, and they start to close their eyes and coo. It's my favorite to see them so happy like that. As small as they were when they came home it has been easiest to do a sponge bath. I get out my little tub, soaps, towels, clean sleepers and set it all up for them. I'm getting excited though, because they are big enough now to move to the baby tub I have for them. So they'll be getting a bubble bath next time. It's the little things like that, that make me smile.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Things people say
I don't know what it is about a pregnant womans body that begs for strangers to comments. I had always assumed people knew better then to comment about a womans size in general, let alone when one is pregnant. Maybe it was because I got so big so fast, but that was not my experience. I'm not sure what causes all common decency to go out the window when someone sees a giant baby bump strutting their way.
I loved being pregnant. I loved being able to feel my little ones moving around in there. Being pregnant was one of the most awesome experiences I could have and a magical time. Just know, you will never be the right size or shape. Someone will always have something to say. Why they feel it necessary, I am not sure. I can't tell you how many times I heard how huge I was, then when I mentioned twins, I was suddenly told I was too small. I finally came to the conclusion that if my doctor said I was good, and I felt good, then I wasn't going to worry about what people thought of my size. Feel free to leave some of the best ones you heard in the comment section. I'd love to see what your experiences were.
Some of my favorite things people said to me:
Morning Katie, You're looking fatter today!
Looks like you've got the pregnant waddle. (ummm no my back just hurt)
You're only 3 months pregnant? Wow my daughter is having her baby next week and you're bigger then she is!
No way can you eat all that?! (I'm sorry but carrying twins makes you hangry)
But you just went pee...
I loved being pregnant. I loved being able to feel my little ones moving around in there. Being pregnant was one of the most awesome experiences I could have and a magical time. Just know, you will never be the right size or shape. Someone will always have something to say. Why they feel it necessary, I am not sure. I can't tell you how many times I heard how huge I was, then when I mentioned twins, I was suddenly told I was too small. I finally came to the conclusion that if my doctor said I was good, and I felt good, then I wasn't going to worry about what people thought of my size. Feel free to leave some of the best ones you heard in the comment section. I'd love to see what your experiences were.
Some of my favorite things people said to me:
Morning Katie, You're looking fatter today!
Looks like you've got the pregnant waddle. (ummm no my back just hurt)
You're only 3 months pregnant? Wow my daughter is having her baby next week and you're bigger then she is!
No way can you eat all that?! (I'm sorry but carrying twins makes you hangry)
But you just went pee...
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Crazy mornings
Have you ever had one of those mornings that get your blood pumping in your veins? I just had one, as we all surely do. While I was rejoicing in the fact that my beautiful little babies had slept, for the third night in a row now, until 4am (YAY!) my dog decided to throw me a curve ball.
Now, he is normally a well behaved, if a little hyper, pup. We have had him pretty well trained these last few years. I feel like I am now dealing with an older child. You see, my twins are my first kiddos. Up until then, I have had my little fur babies to snuggle with and shower with all of my baby love. When I got pregnant Hunter decided he would be my guardian. He would follow me around and keep his eyes on me at all times to make sure I was okay. I think he thought that these kids would be his to keep safe at all times.
(Hunter)
When I came home from the hospital, and I was very suddenly not pregnant, and my girls were still at the NICU, he looked at me like I was a terrible person. He would sit across from me and stare at me like I had done something awful and he couldn't bear to be near me. I could hear him thinking "WHAT have you done with MY babies? Where are they woman?" Of course while they were in the NICU for those long, long days, I would bring home their clothes for my pups to smell and get used to their scent.
Now that the girls are home though, I think he has realized he is not my only child. He is not getting all of the attention anymore. "Who are these little people my mom and dad are so enchanted by?", and most importantly I think "What can I do to make sure they notice me a little more?" This morning he decided to make me pay for that I guess. I had barely opened my front door when he bolted out like a streak of lightening through the sky. I figured he would just run out to do his thang and be back. Ohhhh no, he had other ideas. He ran like an Olympian. I live in a somewhat country area, so he was out running by my neighbors pond, down and around houses, and rolling in the high grasses like he was on a field trip. All the while I am shouting his name as the sun is barely creeping up in the sky. My poor neighbors probably had a fright. I can just see them now looking out their window to see what all the fuss was about, and there I am running with his squeaky toy down the road. My braless boobs flopping around (of course I hadn't had time to fully dress yet), and my crazy hair flowing through the wind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up on one of those fabulous epic fail sites somewhere or the crazy lady on youtube.
After several long minutes chasing him down I finally got him home. Of course this made me late dropping the girls off at my moms before work. She thought something was wrong because she had tried calling and of course I couldn't answer because I was chasing that darn speed demon. I load up the girls, and I'm off. Little did I know my mom had headed over to make sure I was okay. So when I got to her house she was no where to be found. Everything worked out just fine but I tell you, it was just one of those mornings.
Now, he is normally a well behaved, if a little hyper, pup. We have had him pretty well trained these last few years. I feel like I am now dealing with an older child. You see, my twins are my first kiddos. Up until then, I have had my little fur babies to snuggle with and shower with all of my baby love. When I got pregnant Hunter decided he would be my guardian. He would follow me around and keep his eyes on me at all times to make sure I was okay. I think he thought that these kids would be his to keep safe at all times.
When I came home from the hospital, and I was very suddenly not pregnant, and my girls were still at the NICU, he looked at me like I was a terrible person. He would sit across from me and stare at me like I had done something awful and he couldn't bear to be near me. I could hear him thinking "WHAT have you done with MY babies? Where are they woman?" Of course while they were in the NICU for those long, long days, I would bring home their clothes for my pups to smell and get used to their scent.
Now that the girls are home though, I think he has realized he is not my only child. He is not getting all of the attention anymore. "Who are these little people my mom and dad are so enchanted by?", and most importantly I think "What can I do to make sure they notice me a little more?" This morning he decided to make me pay for that I guess. I had barely opened my front door when he bolted out like a streak of lightening through the sky. I figured he would just run out to do his thang and be back. Ohhhh no, he had other ideas. He ran like an Olympian. I live in a somewhat country area, so he was out running by my neighbors pond, down and around houses, and rolling in the high grasses like he was on a field trip. All the while I am shouting his name as the sun is barely creeping up in the sky. My poor neighbors probably had a fright. I can just see them now looking out their window to see what all the fuss was about, and there I am running with his squeaky toy down the road. My braless boobs flopping around (of course I hadn't had time to fully dress yet), and my crazy hair flowing through the wind. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up on one of those fabulous epic fail sites somewhere or the crazy lady on youtube.
After several long minutes chasing him down I finally got him home. Of course this made me late dropping the girls off at my moms before work. She thought something was wrong because she had tried calling and of course I couldn't answer because I was chasing that darn speed demon. I load up the girls, and I'm off. Little did I know my mom had headed over to make sure I was okay. So when I got to her house she was no where to be found. Everything worked out just fine but I tell you, it was just one of those mornings.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Who I am
Hey Everyone!
My name is Katie and I am a new mom of twins. I have two old pups (Hunter and Leo) and a pretty amazing husband. I am a personal trainer (currently on break being that I just had my girls) and I also work in an office. I originally thought I should start journaling about the exciting new journey I would be starting as a twin mom so I could look back on this time one day when things aren't so hectic and smile. Then I decided maybe I could help others out by posting my experiences. So here it goes...
My little ones just turned four months old the other day, and I can't believe how fast the time has already flown. People always told me they grow up fast, and although my girls are still small, considering how early they were born, I can't get over how much they have already changed and how far they have already came.
Let's back it up to last year, when we found out we were having a baby. Yes, I said A baby. I'll save that story for you for another time though. My grandpa had just passed away not even a year before and my grandma hadn't been feeling well so it was nice to see the smiles spread across my families faces during this time.
Everything was going great, other then I was extremely tired, and sick constantly (morning sickness? How about all day, all night, wake-me-out-of my dear sleep sick). I had heard of this "morning sickness" before, but boy oh boy did I not truly understand it until it happened to me. I remember the horrid day I was at Sams club and had to run into the bathroom and pray no one was in there to hear me.. you know what I mean moms out there. Lucky for me, my club card was expired. So shortly after my lovely display, they needed to take my picture for my new card! Yep, in my wallet is that wonderful picture of me.
I know it will seem like these days will never end, and mine lasted for the first SEVERAL months, but it eventually got better. Then came the aches and pains. Between constantly having to pee and never being able to get comfortable later on in pregnancy sleep is just hard to come by. I really think this is just the way it is meant to be. Now I am thankful because had I went from my long ago days of sleeping in and snoozing whenever I wanted, adjusting to newborns would have been tough. So those achy nights trying to get comfortable I firmly believe were just preparing my body of what was to come. It may be tough getting less sleep then I could ever imagine I could operate on, but I absolutely love getting up when it's quiet in the house and getting to snuggle with my little ones and feed them. That's quality time right there.
-Katie
My name is Katie and I am a new mom of twins. I have two old pups (Hunter and Leo) and a pretty amazing husband. I am a personal trainer (currently on break being that I just had my girls) and I also work in an office. I originally thought I should start journaling about the exciting new journey I would be starting as a twin mom so I could look back on this time one day when things aren't so hectic and smile. Then I decided maybe I could help others out by posting my experiences. So here it goes...
My little ones just turned four months old the other day, and I can't believe how fast the time has already flown. People always told me they grow up fast, and although my girls are still small, considering how early they were born, I can't get over how much they have already changed and how far they have already came.
Let's back it up to last year, when we found out we were having a baby. Yes, I said A baby. I'll save that story for you for another time though. My grandpa had just passed away not even a year before and my grandma hadn't been feeling well so it was nice to see the smiles spread across my families faces during this time.
Everything was going great, other then I was extremely tired, and sick constantly (morning sickness? How about all day, all night, wake-me-out-of my dear sleep sick). I had heard of this "morning sickness" before, but boy oh boy did I not truly understand it until it happened to me. I remember the horrid day I was at Sams club and had to run into the bathroom and pray no one was in there to hear me.. you know what I mean moms out there. Lucky for me, my club card was expired. So shortly after my lovely display, they needed to take my picture for my new card! Yep, in my wallet is that wonderful picture of me.
I know it will seem like these days will never end, and mine lasted for the first SEVERAL months, but it eventually got better. Then came the aches and pains. Between constantly having to pee and never being able to get comfortable later on in pregnancy sleep is just hard to come by. I really think this is just the way it is meant to be. Now I am thankful because had I went from my long ago days of sleeping in and snoozing whenever I wanted, adjusting to newborns would have been tough. So those achy nights trying to get comfortable I firmly believe were just preparing my body of what was to come. It may be tough getting less sleep then I could ever imagine I could operate on, but I absolutely love getting up when it's quiet in the house and getting to snuggle with my little ones and feed them. That's quality time right there.
-Katie
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