Adventures with Rice Cereal

When we got the okay from our doctor to try rice cereal, I had mixed emotions, but then I realized that my babes were ready for this next step.  So I cruised down to hipster kroger, bought some cereal, totally unnecessary kids bowls, & a few more spoons to add to our already large arsenal of baby gear. I'm well aware that there isn't much nutritional value in rice cereal, but i'm excited for the girls to learn how to eat with a spoon & to get some extra calories in during the day. I had dreams of baby led weaning, but with all our feeding issues & prematurity, I'm worried that the girls might not do so well with it. I haven't ruled it out just yet - but I wanted them to give this a go. Being a preemie mom you are constantly worried about weight & if the babes are getting enough food, so for now, for us, this works.

Our first attempt was quite hilarious & absolutely adorable. I expected the food to go everywhere {which it did} but both girls actually did really well. Maddie was pretty messy, but Amelia was a hungry little gal & was all about it!

not a huge fan of the bumbo

4 Month Doctor's Visit

Our 4 month check up went really well! Maddie was almost 11 lbs & Amelia almost 12 lbs! The doctor was impressed with their gain, so we no longer have to fortify breastmilk or use preemie formula. This in itself was a huge relief.  The constant fear of a preemie mom is that their babes aren't getting enough food or gaining right. We are happy to announce that the girls even made it into the 1st & 2nd percentile on the WHO charts - beasts right?!?!

They are also right on track with their milestones. We go by adjusted age in this department so they are similar to 2 to 3 month olds.  They lift their head when they are doing tummy time. Lots of smiles & coos. They have found their hands and are starting to reach towards toys and constantly are hands to mouth. We introduced toys this month & they are madly in love with their "woobies" (blankets/stuffed animal in one!) We are very happy that they are demonstrating growth both mentally & physically consistent with other babies their adjusted age!

We also got the ok to start rice cereal & in the next few months to expand their palates with more solid food.

The girls were champs during their shots & had their first little fevers that night.  Luckily they weren't too fussy. Just really tired.

All in all it went really well! Not worth all the worrying I was doing before, but then again, that's what mom's do right?

We are 4 Months Old!

Just a few pictures today. I will do a full update after we have our doctors visit next Monday. Can't wait to see how much the girls have grown since last month!!

Back to Work

This past week was my first week back to work! Most new moms loathe this, but I was so excited! I purposely changed my entire life situation so this would work!

A little background info...

A few years ago I left the professional working world of Sports to become a nanny. At first it was to go back to grad school, but then it became a way to start a family, make money, & still be with my babes full time.

I was so lucky to find an amazing family to work for. Their little girl is an extremely bright & talented child with voracious appetite for learning. She loves to wear pretty dresses, but won't hesitate to get that dress dirty digging for worms. She is passionate about everything she is involved in & she is wise beyond her years. Her parents are gracious & caring & I was so appreciative when they gave me the option of having a child & being able to bring them with me to work.

So needless to say when I was admitted to the hospital at 27 weeks it was hard on all of us. My nanny family came & visited me often, bringing delicious food & things to keep me busy. For this I am truly grateful. Even when the babies came early, they made many trips to the NICU to make sure we were all okay. Even the Grandmas dropped by!!

When I was ready to come back, all of us were very excited! Last Monday Ava even woke her parents up at 6:30 AM wondering when I would get there, continually peering out the window.

The night before, I had meticulously laid out everything that I would need for the day...bottles, blankets, extra clothes, diapers, wipes, pump, & of course Mr. moose. I was proud of myself for traveling as light as we could! I was ready to go!

The girls luckily slept their usual 8 hours, so I was very happy when they cooperated on my first day back. I fed them at 5 AM, put them back down for a snooze, & made myself some coffee & oatmeal.  I then took a quick shower & got ready, packed the babes up, & we were out the door by 7 AM!

That first day I was greeted by so many hugs & smiles. It was great to be back!

The whole week went really well. We continued our morning routine at the house & once I got to work the girls would sleep until around 9 AM, giving me enough time to get Ava all ready for her day.  Ava instantly clicked with the girls, and they already adore her. She is so caring and gentle, that I have no doubt she will be an amazing role model & "big sis" to the girls.  She was a great help as well. Grabbing diapers, entertaining the babes, and reinserting paci's when the babies were upset. So sweet.

Even though I had the twins in tow, we were still able to get up to our old activities. On Thursday we went to one of our favorite Atlanta spots, The Fernbank Museum of Natural History to check out their Poop exhibit. Who knew poop could be so fun?? The girls also got to experience their first T-Rex!

All in all it was a great week! So glad to be back!

Three Month Weigh In

Just a quick post today. I promise though in the next few days I will get a quality update for family & friends.

We had our 3 month weigh in for the girls today & honestly we were pretty nervous. Being a preemie parent you worry about a lot of things & weight is certainly a big one.

But all our worrying was for nothing. The girls did great! In fact, the doctor said that they have superseded his expectations!

On her 2 month visit Amelia was 6 lbs 10 oz. This time she was 9 lbs 10 oz. A 3 pound weight gain!! Madeline was 6 lbs 12 oz a month ago. Today she was 9 lbs 4 oz!

The doc said he was looking for around 2 lbs from each of them, and both of them went over that!

We are so proud of our girls!! Thanks to everyone who has been cheering for them! Your support has meant so much to us!!

Friday Photo Dump

Newbornish Photo Shoot

Based on my babies adjusted age, they are newborns.

But in reality they are 9 weeks old.

Of course while pregnant, I had already planned out everything that I wanted to do during a newborn photo shoot. I wanted to hire someone local to come out to our place & take photos of beautiful sleeping babes in funny positions.  I wanted professionally edited photos that I would turn into giant canvases and hang on our 24 foot walls. Basically I wanted what every new mom wanted...right?

At first I was really excited to hear about an organization called Pictures of Hope. They link up with local photographers that will come out to the NICU for free & take pictures of your babes.  I quickly looked up their info & was thrilled to find out that one local photographer, Laura Brett participated in their program. Thinking it was too good to be true, I went to her website & she had a button on her site saying she participated!! Woohoo! When you are a NICU mom, lots of things don't go right - so thinking I might get some quality photos of my precious babes was really special. I emailed her almost instantly. However, I woke up the next morning to an email from her saying that she no longer participated in the program. Heartbreaking. I responded that she might want to remove the button from her website that said she participated in Pictures of Hope. I recently visited her site & thankfully she has. Now no other mom will be so disappointed like I was.  I also emailed Pictures of Hope about the situation, but they have yet to remove Laura Brett Photography from their site. Sadness.

Fast forward now.  Hospital bedrest, birth, & NICU bills are all rolling in.  Not fun. Seriously puts a financial damper on my dream "Anne Geddes" like photo session for my babes.

So the professional scenario is now out.

We start researching chains. I know that we won't get the experienced photographer, the editing I want to see & the just the general patience that a pro can offer, but that's the way things go.

We choose the Picture People & scheduled a session for last Saturday morning, right when they open, hoping to beat the rush.

Yea, apparently even if you have the one of first sessions of the day, you still wait 25 minutes before your session starts.  Doesn't make sense to me either.  So now because we had to wait, we are getting closer to the girls next feeding time. Ugh. I can already see what's going to happen in our future.

The photographer was pretty nice, but really had no creative insight for us whatsoever. We brought one outfit to change into & figured the rest would be au naturale...yet there was no place to really change the babes. We basically laid one of our blankets on the hard floor & used the another one to support their little heads.

The babes are now ready to get their pictures taken & here's where that reality sets in. There will be no sleeping baby pictures. It was all that we could do to even keep them still.  My babies aren't newborns, even though their adjusted age says they are.  Ten minutes in and all we could do was laugh in order to keep our sanity.

Hence why this is my favorite shot from the entire shoot:

Once we wrap it all up my attitude changed completely.  These photographers are completely over worked & are in a high stress situation with all these families running around.  They probably aren't paid much & are doing the best that they can.  I have a lot more respect for them now.

We waited another 40 minutes to an hour for the editing & printing.  I was thankfully, during this time, able to get everyone fed.  The photographer took some good shots & for a reasonable price we got a really big/nice framed portrait of the babes, lots of extra prints, birth announcements, & the high resolution copies of all the pictures.  All in all we left pretty happy, much more so than when our day there began!

So would we go back there? Maybe.

Do I still want my glorious dream version with a professional who makes my babes look like beautiful cherubs? Of course.

But until then this will have to do...

{The blankets the babes are lying on were crocheted & donated to them by a local charity for NICU babies.}

{Maddie}

{Amelia}

{Top: Maddie - Bottom: Amelia}

{Left: Amelia - Right: Maddie}

{Left: Madeline - Right: Amelia}