Moving to their own room!

Today is a momentous day! The twins are 6 weeks corrected age and we have moved them to their own cots in their nursery! They have been sharing a camping cot in our room for the past 2 months, and are getting so tall that they are running out of space in the camping cot. They kick the bottom and have to squash up their legs to fit if they scootch down while sleeping. So....it is time, and tonight will be the first night we haven't slept next to our babes. It is going to be wierd!  And as I write this, they are both in bed...pretty miraculous considering that Rebecca was up crying until 11:30pm last night!!! So it may not last...but for now they are snug in their little beds...

We may even share our bed again instead of having seperate rooms.  We have been sharing night duties so we each get 6 hours sleep in the study room every 2nd day which has been great.  Now, the parent on duty will have the monitor next to them and when the twins wake, will go do the 2-3am feed.  If the wheels are falling off, then the parent can turn the monitor off and go sleep in the nursery leaving the off-duty parent to sleep...hope this works.  DH tends to sleep through a lot more than I do, so invariably I react before he does...I may need to wear really good ear plugs on my off night lol! At least we have the option of other beds to sleep in if we need to...

I will miss having the babies close to us, but on the other hand, maybe all the night snuffling, coughing, moaning and groaning will not keep me awake if they are in their room - not sure how these noises will play through the monitor, but we will play with the settings so we can still hear the crying and apnea monitor alarms if they go off.

Our babies have been with us for almost 3 and 1/2 months already and yet they are only actually 6 weeks old in developmental stages.  The wonderful smiles and gurgles are starting and I already can't get enough...

All I want for Christmas...

...are our babies in our arms!

This time last year, we had just been through our 6th failed IVF cycle. We had wished so hard for a miracle conception in time for Christmas, but it just wasn't to be.

So on New Year's eve, we wished for 2011 to be the year for us to have a our family. And our wish finally came true. And this Christmas I am finally a mother. To two beautiful babies...I am so grateful and blessed by this miracle. I have all I ever wanted.

Happy First Christmas dear Rebecca and Finn. We love you so much and are so happy to have been chosen to be your parents. May your angels watch over you always xxx

Twin update...

 Age: Corrected age = almost 5 weeks (on Thursday)

Height/Weight: At the last clinic visit last Monday, Finn weighed 4.7kg and Rebecca 4kg! By now I think Finn is almost 5kg though - he is really getting heavier everyday. They both put on a kg in 4 weeks. I still haven't measured their heights - will next time!

Developmental notes: Both babies have started making real eye contact and responding to interaction with them. They have also started tracking movement for about 45 degrees! Finn was trying to laugh the other day - so so cute.  He has started making some gurgling noises and sounds.  Rebecca stares intently and turns to you when spoken to. Both have started smiling! They are already getting so cute - I cannot imagine how the cute factor will just get more and more as they become more and more responsive!

Eating: We are sticking to a 3 hourly day feeding schedule and 4 hourly at night.  They are on increased feeds now of 110ml and 100ml, but sometimes battle to finish their bottles.  Other times they finish no problem. So between the two of them, they are now eating 1400 ml of EBM and formula.  I am topping up my expressed breast milk with two or three formula feeds to make up this amount. The Eglanol has not really increased my milk supply as much as I had hoped it would but I am still managing to eke some extra with the third formula feed to actually freeze 150ml every other day to try build up a frozen supply for when I go back to work.

Sleep: Not too bad really. DH and I share twin duties - we both do the 11pm feed and then one night he sleeps in the room with them and does the 2-3am feed and the next night I do it.  So we each have a full 6 hours sleep every second day. This is keeping me sane.  I do feel bad as DH has to work, but he is coping okay I think and it really has made it bearable for me as I cannot function very well at all without sleep. The babies are sleeping well - when they go to sleep that is.  Finn goes down pretty well at about 7:30pm and sleeps until 11pm, waking at about 2am or 3am for his bottle. 

Rebecca however has been all colicky and cries from 7pm feed until about 9 or 10pm.  She then misses or we dream feed her at 11pm and again at 3am. They wake up at about 5:30 or 6am for their first day bottle.  I thought about changing their routine to Gina Fords but my schedule quite works for me as it is easy to remember when to feed, DH goes to work at 6:30am so he can help me with the first feed whereas with Gina it is at 7am and I would be alone. So for now, we are keeping it like it is. I think going forward, we will aim for longer awake times so that eventually we can try get the babies to sleep through from 10pm to 6am and skip the 3am feed. This is my ideal!  Rebecca would almost do this now, but Finn...nooooo way! Our boy is loving his food too much!

Favourite Things: Being in water, eating, being in our arms.

Dislikes: Sleeves, waiting for the bottle, feeling niggly.

Their accomplishments: Growing so well, smiling!

Our accomplishments: Being such a great team. Loving each other more than ever before.

Looking forward to: More developmental milestones! Less nigglings, more content babies...sleeping through lol!

Mommy musings: I am loving our babies so much...I love the smell of them and nuzzling in their little necks and covering them in kisses, which I do a lot!

Look how we have grown!

Finn - first day in NICU 19 September

Rebecca - first day in NICU 19 September

Today...corrected age - 3 weeks old

Look how much we have grown!

Tall babies.

My heart

My heart aches when I look at our babies...overflowing with immense love and overwhelming wonder...

How could any two babies be more perfect?

Twin update...3 weeks

Age: Birth age = 14 weeks old (Sunday). Corrected age = 3 weeks (Thursday)

Height/Weight: We will only be weighing them again on Monday 12th December when we take them for their next innoculations.  Hate this and I refuse to breastfeed again while they are getting their injections - too hard to see them screaming while trying to drink - I feel as if they must think I am hurting them! DH will take them in and I will comfort them afterwards. I can't wait to see how much weight they have gained.  Finn is getting so heavy, I am sure he is nearing the 5kg mark! He is growing out of newborn size nappies and I have moved him up to the next size already!

Developmental notes: They have definitely started engaging with us more - more eye contact and some little smiles which I am sure are not windy grins.  They respond when you talk to them. They have started looking at hands, and objects close by. It is fascinating to watch them develop and become more interactive. I can't wait for the gurgling chuckles and laughs...hugs, kisses and grins! If I stick my tongue out at them, it usually takes a little while and they also stick their tongues out trying to copy me - so cute.

Eating: Still eating well - all by bottle now and exclusively EBM except for 2 feeds per day which are formula. Even with Eglanol my milk supply hasn't increased by much - about 100mls or so.  I am starting to freeze 100 - 150mls per day now so I have a stockpile by the time I go back to work. I am not sure if I will continue pumping once I go back to work - I will see how it goes.  If I don't and we move to formula, then I will have "breastfed" for 6 months, so I feel great about that. I will try to express at least twice a day or breastfeed in the evenings, but I suspect my milk supply may dwindle with such little demand.  I also don't want to be taking eglanol forever...can't be good. Finn's latch is getting worse and worse and he can barely grab my nipple let alone get a proper latch to drink.  He really has become a bottle baby.  Rebecca loves comfort breastfeeding and roots whenever I hold her so I let her have little feeds here and there as top ups.

Sleep: Their sleep routines during the day change quite a bit. Somedays they feed and go to sleep like angels. Other days, one stays awake from one feed to the next. Rebecca doesn't like being put down in her cot to nap and loves being in the arms sometimes. Finn sometimes wakes up after 30 minutes and can't put himself back to sleep.  It is really is a "take one day at a time" situation. I am going to try a better daytime routine soon a la Gina Ford, but who knows how they will take to it.  I need to install a black out blind first. One the plus side, they are pretty good at nights from 11pm. They usually sleep until 2am or 3am and then until 5am or 6am.  Finn however groans and grunts and sometimes cries from 3 or 4am until the next feed so invariably I pick him up and he sleeps with me in bed. Sometimes though he thrashes around and is so loud, I do not get back to sleep. Eish.

Favorite Things: Being in our arms. Bathing. Eating. Kisses from mum and dad.

Dislikes: Being bitten by mozzies (poor tots have bites on their heads) - we need to cover them with netting from tonight!!!

Their Accomplishments:  They are still growing so beautifully and doing so well.

Our Accomplishments: As we get more familiar with them, it does get easier...but when they are both crying and have red eyes and real tears streaming down their faces and you are alone with them and don't know what to do to stop them it can get a bit scary still. I can see how in some ways it will become easier and easier and in other ways just different...we are a mom and dad now with two little ones and on a new incredible journey...one step at a time.

Looking forward to: Smiles and chuckles and gurgles.

Mommy musings: I am finding it fascinating looking at these precious creations and trying to work out which genetic features I can see from DH.  There is no doubt that these are his babies and Finn looks very much like daddy. I keep reminding myself that as their biological mom, I had a huge part in determining their genetic patterns - which ones switched on or off, and they grew from my blood and body. They come from four precious sources - biological genetic father, genetic donor, biological mother and of course their souls from the source and our soul group. I feel so completely connected to these little miracles.