The Baby Factory

The kids are now 7 weeks old which means they are finally starting to be "normal" newborns. (Since they where premies they have two ages one is their real age and one is their adjusted age. The adjusted age is the age at which they should start developing "normally". So the kids real age is 7 weeks but their adjusted age is 1 week.) We took them off the 22 calorie formula on Monday because it had been making them constipated. Both kids are now back to normal. Dallin went to the doctor yesterday and weights 6 lbs 11 oz. He gained 8 oz in one week! Last week Monson was 8 lbs 3 oz. They are both growing like weeds! We hope that they can keep gaining weight consistently so they don't have to get back on the 22 calorie formula. We will be going to the doctor weekly to monitor their weight gain. We are still feeding them every 3 hours 24 hours a day 7 days a week which is very exhausting. I am hoping that the doctor will change that soon. I am still only getting about 4 hours of sleep a day (if I am lucky). I can no longer sleep during the day no matter how tired I am.

I have now been home with the kids for 4 weeks. Having two makes everything twice as hard, however, I am so grateful to have them both. Dallin and Monson are so different from each other that it is so fun to get to know each of them.

When Dallin cries he sounds like a kitten. His cries are very quiet. He will cry really loud when I have to clean out his nose and when he gets a shot other then that he has only cried loud two other times that I can remember. One was when I slept through the 2:00 AM feeding. Both him and Monson woke up at 3:30 AM starving and crying at the top of their lungs! I could not blame them, Dallin had gone 4 hours without food and Monson had gone 4 1/2 hours without food. They had never gone that long without food. The second time Dallin woke up at 2:00 AM starving. With just one baby this would not be a problem, but Dallin gets fed at 2:30 AM and Monson gets fed at 2:00 AM. The kids are too small still to be fed at the same time so I had a decision to make. Do I hope that Monson keeps sleeping for 30 minutes so I can feed Dallin now or do I make him wait? If Monson did wake up it would be a problem because he wakes up the neighbors when he cries and it is very unusual for Monson to sleep through a feeding. I said a prayer and took a chance. I fed Dallin and Monson slept until 2:30AM. When Dallin eats he usually takes the whole 30 minutes and I have to wake him up for almost every feeding. When he is eating he sucks on the bottle for a minute and then starts looking around. I have to remind him constantly that it is time to eat. Sometimes he is sleeping while he is eating and I don't even know until something startles him awake and he jumps. Dallin also has very little interest in a pacifier. He didn't even want it when he was getting circumcised and they dipped it in sugar water!

When Monson cries he screams bloody murder. He loves his pacifier. When it falls out of his mouth he scream like he is dying. He always realizes he is ok before 10 minutes is up. Monson understands the feeding schedule, he is almost always up about 10 minutes before its time to eat. He eats so fast I don't think he even tastes his food. If I am not careful the minute the bottle is out of his mouth he will be asleep until I lie him down and the pacifier falls out of his mouth. Because Monson gets fed first, he usually is screaming while I am feeding Dallin. I have found that if I talk to Monson he will start to calm down.

I have always been told that motherhood is hard so I was expecting it to be challenging and it is. I have found that the most challenging thing is the lack of sleep. With twins sleep is almost non-existent. It is really hard to stay patient and loving on 4 hours of sleep a day. I am so excited for Dallin to get to 7 lbs so that I can stop waking the kids up in the middle of the night to eat. So far I have learned that being organized is essential in keeping life sane, having neighbors and family do dishes and fold my laundry is ok, babysitters are a must so we can leave, being sporadic doesn't work anymore, a quiet house is calming, two hours goes by really quick, having a phone that can have 8 alarms set for each feeding is priceless, the video monitor is worth every penny, switching from pumping to formula was a good decision, making bottles in bulk save time and it is like Christmas morning when you open the fridge at feeding time to find two just waiting and taking some time for myself is a must. There are a few things that are really frustrating like why don't the fitted crib sheet fit and why are not all diapers created equal?

Monson is on the left and Dallin is on the right.