Bird on the Street

And Then There Were Five

12:07 am

We are officially a family of five. August was released on Friday and I’ve spent the last few days figuring out the reality that it having two newborns at the same time.

The schedule is pretty good. They eat about every two and a half to three hours and while no one is getting oodles of sleep, no one is dying either. August is extremely easy-going, which is good because Louis is pretty demanding. I also think it’s funny that August, who spent eight months squished by Louis, HATES to be free. He either wants to be bundled up in blanket or right next to Louis. Louis couldn’t care less, but Auggie needs to be squished a little. I am tired. It’s not the worst thing ever, but man oh man am I looking forward to the weekend. We’re gradually moving the twins over to formula, but I’m still pumping about six times a day, so that’s also adding to the sleeplessness. Neither has been especially good at breast feeding and I’m too busy to push it with two babies. It’s enough work just figuring out how to feed two kids as once, much less teaching them how to nurse on top of that.

baby looking at camera

The two babies thing is presenting a lot of challenges for us–mostly because we keep putting off what we want to DO about certain things. Like cars–we still have two cars and three car seats do not fit in the back. We’re going to look at mini vans this weekend. We also don’t have a stroller for three. I debated whether or not available models would provide enough support for Charlie and now we still don’t have one. That’s on my list of things to do, but further down than “buy a car that holds all of us.”

twins sleeping

And Charlie! A lot of people have asked how Charlie has handled the new babies and I can say that he has been incredibly gracious. He has gone from being THE focus of all our attention to sharing it with two other people and he is really handling it well. He has his moments of aggravation, but I’m working hard to carve out little moments for just the two of us and that seems to really be helping a lot. That, plus an avalanche of visits from his grandparents.

We’re working things out. It’s a process, of course, but we’re getting there. Maybe one of these days I’ll even get to vacuum or something.

twins sleeping

Filed Undermotherhood

Best Week Ever?

11:10 pm

So! The blog has been a tad neglected over here–Charlie had a marathon appointment and then, LOUIE CAME HOME! That’s right–I have one newborn at home with me right now. They called on Thursday and said, “come and get him!” and that was the end of it. I showed up, they out-processed him for about one million years, and then Lou and I headed home.

So far, he’s eating us out of house and home. He eats about one million times a day I think. I definitely can’t keep up with him with the pump, so I suspect we’ll be supplementing with formula pretty soon. Well, I can keep up with him, but then August would be on formula, and I want him on just breast milk as long as he’s in the hospital, so Louie will get the supplement.

He also thinks that 11 o’clock at night is a great time to party. He’s right, of course, but I wasn’t really looking for a partying newborn. Oh well. I hope he works it out soon, but good gosh this is so much less stressful than last time.

After his first bath

The best part is that Louie coming home was just ONE of the good things that happened last week. The other involves Charlie and it’s of the almost-miraculous variety.

Remember back in May when Charlie’s neurosurgeon braced me for the possibility that we would be having brain surgery this summer? And I was desperate to have it moved up to before I had the twins? Well, the doctor’s office finally called me back when I was in the hospital recovering from a c-section.

So we finally got a CT Scan last week and when the doctor looked at it and the accompanying x-ray, he told us that the shunt is probably no longer where it’s supposed to be. This should mean brain surgery, BUT he is showing no signs of hydrocephalus. So, we go back for another CT in six months and if that one is the same, we will be dismissed from neurosurgery.

A long time ago I asked what the chances were that a person could outgrow the need for a shunt. The doctor’s answer was “Almost never.” And here we are–close to that very thing. I’m not counting my chickens before they’re hatched, but a summer with no brain surgery is a good summer indeed.

It’s been one helluva week.

Filed Undermedical

Back to Basics

11:40 pm

The boys are still in two different hospitals, but I’m happy to report that they are both racing to get home at this point. They are getting better and better at the eating thing, and that’s the last hurdle before coming home. It will be interesting to see who actually gets here first.

So the last time I was visiting Louis, the Lactation Consultant for the NI came by and asked me if I’d like to try nursing Louis before he went home. While I’m an expert at feeding the yellow Medela beast, I have zero experience with actual breast feeding, so I took her up on her offer.

Today was the big day and I stopped on my way to the hospital and bought a nursing bra for the occasion. When I got to the hospital, I ducked into a bathroom and changed into my new bra. I carefully took off all the tags and headed up to the NICU for my lesson.

As I stood at the sink washing for the recommended two minutes, one of the nurse tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I hate to tell you this, but your shirt is on inside out.”

Clearly my life is returning to normal.