Wow I can hardly believe it’s been 8 weeks since Emmett and
Olivia were born. A lot has happened in 8 weeks. Here’s the summary of what I
can remember:
- They’ve both been growing very well. I “weigh”
them at home (meaning I get on the scale and weigh the two of us, then put a
baby down and subtract my single weight). Babies gain weight, mommy loses
weight! By my calculation, Emmett is now about 12 pounds (double from his
lowest weight) and Olivia is 9.5 (double from her lowest weight). Emmett is the
perfect “chunkiness” now as well, he fits perfectly over my shoulder and is
comfortable to hold. Olivia is still a little bony, but plump enough to where I
don’t feel like I’ll break her when I burp her.
- The babies have been to Disney twice! I know
there’s a lot of debate on how long to wait to take babies out in public,
exposure to germs and whatnot. Well, the way I see it is that my dogs are
licking the babies, rolling on the floor, and I don’t clean my house very often
so if the babies are going to get germy and dirty they’re probably cleaner in
their stroller at Disney than on the floor at home. We used the baby back-packs
at Disney and they both really enjoyed looking at the scenery and being
outside. Babies in the baby back-packs get 2x more the attention than babies in
strollers.
- I went to the Tampa Mothers of Multiples meeting
and my first “play date”. Odd to think there was a play date with babies <6
months old but it was nice to get out and see other mothers and other babies.
Of course I left thinking my babies were the cutest, but I also left seeing how
close we are to other milestones and how babies will “play” in just a few short
weeks. I’m really excited for them to interact more. There are definitely a lot
of dedicated moms out there and there are plenty of tricks of the trade that I’m
learning from them.
- We’ve seen some smiles! I’m not convinced these
are smiles directed at me, probably more just a great fart coming out, but it’s
still heart-melting to see them smile and happy. Emmett smiles at Disney Jr
when it’s on TV, he really enjoys Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Hot dog, hot dog hot
diggity dog…
- Babies are consistently sleeping 7-8 hours per
night, and it’s been that way for probably 2 weeks. No joke! We didn’t even “sleep
train” formally, I just got the book last week and started thinking about it.
They seem to be doing fine themselves! We’ve got them eating at 4 hour
increments, the last bottle is between 8:30-9:00pm,then they go in their crib
and they wake up 4:30-5:00ish. At that point Emmett doesn’t want to be in his
crib, but Olivia is content laying in her crib (not even sleeping) until 8 or
so. It’s really pretty awesome.
- The dogs are amazing with the babies.Mac has
finally started warming up to them and now he’s protective, attentive when they
cry, and will give kisses if we ask him to. The pups will be so happy when the
babies are starting to move around and eventually throw the tennis ball for
them!
- Best baby shower gift is the enormous diaper
stash. It’s so nice to not have to worry about purchasing diapers or running
out of diapers in the middle of the night. We are consistently going through
20-25 each day but it doesn’t look like we’ve even made a dent in our diaper
stash! Emmett is in size 2 diapers now so again it was nice to have those in
the stash and just move up on size and not have to stock up.
- I still can’t decide which diapers I like best –
Huggies or Pampers. Each have their benefits and limitations. Huggies have cute
outsides but their elastic isn’t as flexible…Pampers are boring and ugly which
you wouldn’t think is a big deal but when there’s poop in the diaper you can
see through it and see all of the dirty in the diaper! Gross! It’s a very
secure diaper and not leaky but if a baby is wearing a white outfit you’d see
the poop through the outfit. Also, the rewards points and prizes for Huggies
are considerably better than Pampers! The products have comparable “point values”
for each brand but Huggies rewards catalog has toys and fun products starting
around 400 points…Pampers you need about 2,000! Not cool, Pampers.
- Even though I weigh LESS than I did on
implantation date, my clothes don’t fit. I now understand why MOM JEANS exist…skin
and muscles don’t fall back the same way so I will be wearing dresses and elastic
skirts since my work pants don’t fit. Also, since my boobs are gigantic
(comparable to Pamela Anderson) my shirts don’t fit right either so I don’t
really know what I’m going to wear. It will feel nice to dress up again at
work, wear something other than flip flops, and feel pretty doing make up. I
must still have some excess fluid because my wedding rings don’t fit yet L
- My husband is the greatest. I think he actually
enjoys changing diapers – the dirtier the happier he is! What a great partner
to have in this adventure, a great leader in our family to show how important
it is to take care of each other and share in responsibilities. The mom’s
groups I’m in on Facebook there is always a post complaining about husbands and
how they don’t help, don’t appreciate, etc…I read those and have a little smile
to myself knowing I don’t have that to complain about. I know who’s getting a “World’s
Greatest Dad” mug for Christmas…
Almost at the 2 month mark and it’s been really great. Yes
my life has changed but not completely. I’ve never been a great sleeper, I like
having a “purpose”, we still go out to dinner, we still make it to Disney. We’ll
see how I handle my first day of work tomorrow though…
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Baby carriers = lots of attention! |
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Olivia, getting plumpy |
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Emmett, getting plumpy |
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Macy watching over the babies |