Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Two Months Old! (updated)

I cannot believe my little babies are two months old already! And then on the other hand, I can't believe that I was ever without them. This has been so much fun - even when it's absolute hell.

The babies are doing really well. We had our 8-week appointment and Matthew pulled ahead in the weight department, coming in at 9 lbs, 9 oz. Sarah is a more dainty 9-2. They're both the same height - 22 inches. This puts them both at the 10th percentile for weight. Matthew is 15th for height and Sarah is 25th. Still quite wee, but our pediatrician said they'll catch up soon enough so I'm not worried. Especially considering that they eat pretty much constantly from morning 'til night. It's just amazing. We constantly are asking ourselves, "They couldn't possibly be hungry again, could they?" And the answer is invariably, "Yes." I love my little bottomless pits. Sometimes they even look like overeaters. Check out Sarah from this angle...

YIKES! Those are some cheeks! Now, to be fair, here's a real picture of her.


We call Matthew "The Healer" because he spends a lot of time in this position. We assume he's healing the masses.


They are both smiling, and I cannot get enough! It is so damn cute. I only wish it happened more often. There are times when they're just awake and happy, but it's rare - especially when it's just me here. If there's someone else to hold one of them, then we're good, but when it's just me, it can get ugly. For instance today, Sarah was inconsolable, and I was bf'ing Matthew. He was laying across me on a b0ppy and I was holding her over my shoulder. She was so wild that she was booting him in the stomach repeatedly, but he was so intent on the grub that he didn't seem to notice. I'm sure he'll get her back for it in a couple years.

At least I could reach her, though. So often I'll be feeding one and the other will be in the crib/bouncy/knife drawer and the crying is just so sad. I try to tandem feed as much as I can, but it doesn't always work out. I can't wait until they're more entertain-able. For now there's not a ton that will get their mind off crying besides getting picked up or eating. I really want to be more independent, but for now I'm all about having someone here whenever they can be.

Luckily I've had a ton of help from my mom and for the past month my brother has been here. He works in the tv/film industry and took time between projects to come get to know his niece and nephew. Isn't that cute? I swear he did it just so that when he goes back to his swingin' single life, he'll have great anecdotes to woo the ladies with. "Oh that Sarah would never sleep unless I swaddled her just so." He knew nothing about babies when he got here, but now he is practically an expert! We call him our Manny. I honestly don't know what I would have done without him these last couple weeks. He's leaving on Sunday (back to NYC) and I can't even think how sad it will be. Look how into it he is - he even does tummy time!



The nights are going ok. Sarah had been sleeping for some decent stretches - 5, 6 and 8 hours, a couple of weeks ago, but those are a thing of the past (and hopefully the future!) Currently she and Matty are pretty much in synch. We put them to bed around 7, they wake up at 10ish, 2ish and 5:30ish. I tandem feed at night and thankfully they have been going right back to sleep. Last night I completed two of the feedings in less than 45 minutes, which for these guys is miraculous. It's not so easy during the day, so I'm very grateful that the nights are calmer. It has been pretty hard to get them down at 7, so tonight for the first time we've tried separating them. Matthew's in the crib in our room and Sarah is in their room. It's kind of sad, but so far it's been working, so I guess I'll just have to get over it! Plus, it's not like they've even noticed one another yet. Of course if we had any brains about us, we would have put Sarah in our room instead of our human video game. MAN - he makes the funniest squeaks and grunts. She sleeps pretty quietly, but I swear I'm in an arcade when Matthew is sleeping. Damn. Now I have the Super Mari0 Br0thers song in my head.

I have had so many instances of "Oh, I've got to blog about that!" but I can't even come close to remembering any of them. My brain is mush. My body, however, is coming along. I've lost another couple of pounds and have been doing pretty well with the exercise. In addition to nearly daily walks, I've gone on a couple bike rides, played tennis, played 9 holes of golf (and kicked ASS with a 46!) and today I took a spinning class. Or, I should say, a spinning class took me. Sweet jesus, that was hard. I hadn't taken a spinning class in about two years, and it had to have been one of the hardest I've ever done. I will pay for that tomorrow.

It's great that I've been able to get out, but I do feel pretty guilty about it. My friends and family, W included are so supportive and convince me that it's ok to be out there, but once I'm away from the babies I feel like such a jerk. So who cares if I have to wear my maternity jeans to their high school graduation - shouldn't I want to be here all the time? I know I need a break, but sometimes I feel like I'm getting off too easy. My mom wants me to play 18 tomorrow, but there's no way in hell. The course is over an hour away and just the golf alone would take nearly 5 hours. At least the 9 hole course is close by. I'm hoping to keep up with the spinning class though, at least a couple times a week. It's at the Mill Valley Community Center, which is so nice. And I just found out they have drop in child care. I only saw the room when it was closed, so I'll have to check it out during operating hours, but that could be a great help for when my mom can't watch them. They have to be 3 months old, so we'll see how much of a spinning habit I develop in the next month before I need to investigate any further.

I am looking forward to my next new mom's meeting with the multiples club, and I also joined a "regular" mothers' group. Our playgroup is planning it's first meeting for next week. I assume I'll have plenty to learn from and share with singleton moms and it will be nice to focus just on their baby-ness, rather than their twin-ness. Also I had great advice from another twin mom who suggested never going on a playdate w/ another set of twins. Better to befriend the singleton moms because then they can help you! Selfish? Yes. Practical? You betcha!

Alright - it's time for the adults in this house to get to bed. I kind of dread it actually. I feel like they know right when I get into a deep sleep and that's when the wailing starts. Also I've got this weird thing where when I do wake up, I'm drenched in sweat. It's not that hot in our room, but no matter what, I and my side of the bed are soaked. So I've taken to sleeping on the futon after the 2 am feeding so I don't have to go back to my clammy bed. I'm assuming it's something hormonal. And I'm kind of hoping it won't happen tonight since the spinning class wrung so much sweat out of me that I can't imagine there's any left.

Wait! I knew there was something I needed to blog about. I'm a stay at home mom. Yup. Told my boss I'm not coming back. It just wouldn't have made sense financially. Mostly I'm so glad, but it is pretty weird to be cutting myself out of the working world (and more importantly the dollar-earning world). I know what I'm doing is worth loads of dough, but that doesn't mean that anyone is actually giving us that money, you know?

Ok, I've got lots more thoughts on that, but I'm too tired for any sort of coherence.

Happy Birthday Babies. I love you!

UPDATE: Clearly Sarah didn't like me dissin' her sleeping skills. Last night she gave me a nice solid six hours straight! Matthew wasn't fazed by the dissin', though.

12 comments:

seussgirl said...

Wow! You make me feel both jealous and guilty. I am so amazed by your exercise commitment! I don't have help during the day, and it just seems like so much effort to get 2 babies and 2 monitors into their carseats and strollers that I end up forgoing the walk every day. I've been out a couple of times when I had a friend over, but not much. You do inspire me though, so maybe I'll start trying harder.
That's so great that you love having your mom and/or brother to help! My mother would drive me crazy. My brother is coming this weekend for the holiday and he's SO excited to meet his nephews! (He has a 16-year old son, so our sons will never exactly be "friends")
I'm sorry about the sweating thing; I wake up wet from leakage sometimes, and that's just gross.
I'm glad things are going so well! And congrats on the tandem-feeding; I gave up on that after the first week home!

Mama Bear said...

I feel like I could have written a lot of this post--I can so relate! First, the sweating thing--the same exact thing happened to me. I never understood it. The good news there is that it's basically stopped. It was so perplexing and so gross though, I hear you!

And, on the having help around as much as possible bit as well--it's so true. Up to a certain point, I feared being alone because, if they were awake, it was usually because they wanted/needed something and would cry. And, it's definitely tough to try to soothe two babies at once. What I can say there is that it's gotten SO MUCH better. Even at just over three months, they are so much more independent. (Which is bittersweet, really. :-) They actually adore their bouncer, so you can almost always put them in there to entertain themselves if one is having a meltdown.

And the smiles happen all the time. We even got some belly laughs in the mix. It's the sweetest sound ever. And really just makes it all feel spectacularly fun.

Anyhow...sorry to be a comment hog here, just wanted to drop by and say hi! So glad to hear things are going so well. And I'm SO impressed with the exercise thing. I have yet to figure that one out...

And, congrats on the decision to be a SAHM. I wish we could work out some version of that--it's going to be so fun and rewarding for you. :-)

Kate said...

They are so sweet! It also looks like he's rocking out at a concert. :)

Kate said...

They are so sweet! It also looks like he's rocking out at a concert. :)

Shirley said...

I LOVE the "Healer"!!! haha! I agree with Kate too - he does look like he's rockin' out...maybe he's listening to Crazy Train?

Just think, if you are sweating that much, maybe you will lose more weight! ;) I had only two episodes of sweating to the point my clothes and the bed were wet, but that was in week 2 or 3 of post-op.

Too funny about the video game kid - we have one of those too! We have moved both kids to their cribs (separate) and in to THEIR room. We even had to move the monitor so it wouldn't pick up the grunts so much.

vball

Tracy said...

De-lurking to let you know I loved this post. I'm almost 27 weeks with b/g twins, and am spending a lot of time thinking about "after" and how I'm going to cope. Pre-pregnancy I loved to exercise, but after 3 rounds of IVF and a lot of bedrest, oy, I can't stand it. I don't want to wish time away, but I can't wait until I can get back to exercise.

Anyway, I enjoyed your post...it covered a lot of things I've been thinking about in addition to exercise, including sleep (or lack thereof) and smiling babies.

Heather said...

Wow! Love the pics, especially "healing the masses." We used to say our DD slept in the "Jesus" position, as her arms were spread out like she was on a cross. Sounds like things are going well for the time that you are at in your lives. They are so cute!!! And don't feel bad about getting some time away, especially for exercise (although I understand a long round of golf far away may be too hard). It's very important to keep yourself sane. I always say when I get time to exercise, I'm much better with everything else. And so much happier. Exercise endorphins are awesome!

Watson said...

The pix are precious -- esp. the one with your brother doing tummy time, too cute!

And truly, you are doing an amazing job! You are super Mom/Woman and I hope you know that!

Nic said...

Your babies are gorgeous. I am astounded, envious and impressed with you exercising!!! and tandem feeds! You Go!

Unknown said...

YOU are a super hero!!! I always wonder if (when) I get preggo and have a baby, if I will also decide to be a SAHM. Right now I cannot imagine it. But once I have a baby in my arms...who knows how I will feel.

Caba said...

Wow they are too cute!!! Glad to hear you are doing so well ... and how wonderful that your bro is there to help!

Just Me. said...

Pictures of your babies give me hope. They really do.