1 Month Old!!

(this massively long novel is so we can always remember this crazy and wonderful time in our lives. you may want to just look at the pictures. no, seriously. ha!)

WHAT.A.MONTH.

I can't believe our little ladies are already one month old!! We have had such a whirlwind of a month, but we are so glad our girls are here and part of our family now.

I'm going to try to recap their whole month (the best I can on my sleep deprived memory) so bear with me :)

I want to remember everything about our amazing hospital stay, so I will (at some point) go back and write that, too. ha ;)

 After 3 days in the hospital, we got to come home on Saturday. My parents were keeping Bryson while we were in the hospital, so we had a chance to come home to a quiet house and relax with the girls for a few hours. 

The first night at home was hard. Michael was running a marathon Sunday morning so I didn't want to wake him up to help me (even though he told me to) because I figured if he tried to run 26.2 miles on 3 hours of sleep, he would be sick as a dog or hurt himself. So I manned it alone. I never even closed my eyes to try to go to sleep when Michael's alarm went off at 5:00Am to get ready. He is such an amazing husband; once he found out I hadn't slept a wink, he nixed his marathon that he had trained so hard for and stayed home to help with the girls. Michael's mom also came over early that morning to help me, so they both watched Bryson and the girls while napped. It was so wonderful

I joked that when I was pregnant, I turned nocturnal, and only slept during the day. It's pretty much the same now that the girls are here. I barely sleep at night time and only sleep during the day in between feedings while someone else is watching the girls....

We made it through the first weekend at home. :) Bryson LOVES his sisters. He is so sweet with them, whenever one of the girls fusses, he runs over to them and says, "mommy, maybe they need me?" and runs to get "hanitizer" so he can hold his sister. I love that little man!!

(and here's where it hits the fan...)

We're keeping Bryson in school for a little while so I get a chance to adjust to a schedule with the girls and he gets to keep a normal routine/life for a little bit longer. Michael woke up Monday morning to take him to school and didn't really feel well. I told him not to come back to the house until he sees a doctor-just to be certain everything was ok. Two hours later, he called with a diagnosis of an Upper Respiratory Infection. I balled. He couldn't be around 5 day old babies with a URI :(  So he packed up and headed down to stay at his parent's house for a day or two, or so we hoped.

 Michael and I were completely heartbroken he wasn't going to be able to spend this time with the girls and that he was so sick :(

We had a weight check for the girls that morning and I couldn't go by myself since I couldn't drive, lift their carriers or be trusted not to become an emotional wreck at the drop of a hat. My amazing (and I mean truly super-hero-status-amazing!) mom cancelled  her plans and the repairman that was en route to her house and came up to help me. 

While the girls were in the hospital, they each lost 9% of their body weight, so we were really hoping they had started gaining weight so we didn't have to supplement with formula. 

Thankfully, they are great eaters and were up a couple ounces!!

After my mom realized Michael had to stay at his parent's house for a few days until he kicked his illness, she dropped all of her plans and stayed with us for what ended up being the entire week. I can not even begin to  tell you how amazing and helpful she was to me and the kids. She was truly a lifesaver. I never would have made it without her. She slept in the nursery (thank goodness we put a daybed in there!) and kept the girls in there with her and just brought them to be for feedings. She got hardly any sleep at all the entire week and was still so eager to help. The whole week is a little hazy to both of us. We lived in our sweats and days old makeup and walked around a little zombie-like the entire week.We both woke up several times in the middle of the night having a nightmare thinking that we lost one of the girls inside the sheets with us. haha!! 

I was eternally grateful and appreciative to my mom for spending the entire week with us, but I missed Michael terribly. I wanted so badly for him to be with us and spend these precious first newborn days with the girls.  Bryson missed Daddy SO much. He drew pictures of Daddy so he could pretend like he was home with us. tear.

My mom had to go home and run some errands one day, so Ray and Alicia came over and helped out. They picked up Bryson from school and Bryson and Ray played every sport possible out in the back yard and Alicia helped with the girls. Ray took Bryson back to their house to feed the dogs and pick up dinner. He ate.it.up! He loved it and talked about it for days!! We are so thankful for such amazing friends!!

Michael finally got to come after an entire week of being away! We all missed him so much!!

We usually have a very healthy family. Bryson gets an occasional runny nose or something from school, but nothing big. Of all the weeks to get sick, Bryson definitely came home with a cold on Friday. UUUGH the house is becoming infested with germs. My parents kept him Friday Night to try to keep the germs away from the girls. He had a blast decorating cookies  and squishing his muffins so he could eat it like pop corn. He is a hoot!

He spent Saturday and Sunday with Grandma and Papa. They went out to lunch and played at Chuck E Cheese and had so so much fun with them!

But, unfortunately, Emily started to get sick on Sunday. Our poor little 13 day old little girl had the most heart breaking cough and stuffy nose. I stared at her all night long making sure she wasn't going to get choked up on her snot, which happened a couple times. We took her to the doctor (not her regular Pediatrician)  Monday morning to check her out. He said she was fine and it would pass soon. woohoo!!  Well, the week went on and she didn't get better at all. Fortunately, they had their 2 week well appointment on Friday. 

(yes, if you're keeping track, we have been to the doctor 3 times in 11 days.)

The second their doctor walked in and heard her cough, he had the nurses run several tests, take her vitals, check her oxygen levels and several other things. Turns out she had RSV :( It broke my heart :(  I know RSV is terrible for babies to get so I immediately began to panic, but he assured Michael and I that she had a very mild case of it and would not need to be hospitalized (thank you, Lord!!) she looked good, was eating great and still having lots of wet/poopie diapers. We just needed to watch her, suction her nose and do a breathing treatment for her if she started coughing. 

break this momma's heart :(

The team of nurses (yes, we get a team of everything with twins! ha!) finished both of their stats and Dr. Burton checked the girls. Even though Em had RSV, everything else checked out well and Madelynn got a clean bill of health. Both girls had well passed their birth weight and were growing great!!

2 Week Stats:

Emily:

Birth: 6 lbs 7oz,  height- 19in,  head-

Discharge (3days): 5lbs 14oz

Weight Check (5dys):  6lbs

2 weeks: 6lbs 15oz, height- 19.75in,  head- 13cm 

Madelynn:

Birth: 5lbs 15,  height- 18.75in,  head-

Discharge (3days): 5lbs 4oz

Weight Check (5days): 5lbs 6oz

2 weeks: 6lbs 7oz,  height- 19.5in,  head- 13cm

The girls are both rock stars at tummy time! :)

madelynn

 

emily

Michael and I spent lots of time lounging in bed, cuddling with the girls and watching tv over the next week. 

Emily finally kicked all of her symptoms and we had a healthy house again!! 

 ....momentarily....

Even with all the hand washing, sanitizer, individual blankets, separate burp rags, and wiping myself down between each feeding, Madelynn still ended up getting it, too.:( Hers didn't last as long, but she was muuch fussier than Em.

 Both of the girls still have a bit of a snotty nose though. I, sadly, have turned into one of 'those" moms this time around. I've become paranoid of germs and other people touching or breathing on the girls without washing their hands. We still get out of the house every once in a while, but their seats are completely covered the whole time we're out. Maybe one day I'll get back to normal ;)

With all of the sickness and such, the girls and I have established absolutely no schedule what-so-ever! haha!

I started feeding them tandem in the hospital, which was a lifesaver, but I stopped a while after we got home because Em was a stronger eater and left Madey gulping down air trying to keep up. Fortunately, they are both very efficient eaters and it only takes 10-15 minutes for each of them the eat.  They usually go 2-2.5 hours between feedings during the day and 3-4 hours at night. (but that does not mean I get 3-4 hours of sleeep at a time! I wish!! By the time I change diapers, feed, change diapers again and burp, I'm lucky to get and hour and a half between feedings. ;)  The girls have been sleeping in their bouncer chairs to keep them elevated to help with their congestion.

Michael has been AMAZING with helping me. I feel bed waking him up often in the middle of the night when I know he has to go to work the next morning. He practically begs (ok, he actually does beg!) me to wake him up to help with the girls. I've finally gotten to the point that I realize I really can't do it all on my own sometimes and he is so sweet and helpful. After I nudge him a little to wake him up, he pops up so happy to help. I am so thankful for him.

Bryson seriously is the BEST big brother! He wants to help us do everything. He gets diapers, holds their hands, sings to them and *ahem* even wants to try to help me feed them. Haha We've talked about how that's only a Mommy job for now :) He even helped me give the girls a bath one night. After the girls were done, I looked up and he was soaked from neck to knee!!

I've found it so so much easier to get out of the house and run errands with the girls. Michael and I went to Target to pick up a few things after my doctor appointment. We hadn't practiced with the Snap and Go stroller and our car seats, and couldn't figure it out right away, so we improvised. Haha! Whatever works, right!?

The girls have had several visitors (and lots I forgot to take a picture of. oops.)

This past year has definitely put me out of my comfort zone. I've realized I'm not good at asking for help. In my head I feel like I have to and need to do everything on my own  and feel guilty when I don't. After months of sweet friends offering to help, I finally (kind of) learned to just say yes. It's still a learning process, but I'm working on it ;)

When Michael went back to work, my mom started coming over again daily to help. Most of the time, she watches the girls or does laundry or dishes and I run to take a quick cat nap between feedings. It helps so much to get in a few naps during the day. Steph and Beth, a sweet family friend, came over on separate afternoons to help me with the girls. Even when the girls are on their A-game and not fussy or sick, it still helps SO much to have someone there to hold one or change a diaper while I'm feeding the other, or to switch off to burp one after eating.

Another huuuuge blessing is having the sweetest friends drop off dinner for us. It is SO nice not have to worry about finding something to fix for dinner. I am so thankful for our ABF. Plus, it's been really great to finally get to see them after not being able to go to church for the last few months. :)

The girls don't go to the doctor for their one month check up until Monday, but I'm hoping they'll check out just fine :)

It has been a wild wild month, but our family is so abundantly blessed with our lovely ladies in it. I thank the Lord for them every day and can't imagine life without them. I can't wait to watch the girls grow and see what they'll be up to next month!!

We love you so so much, Emily and Madelynn!!