Baby Weights & Mama Weights

17days old!

I can't believe they are almost 3w old and we have yet to hit my official due date of October 9th. Obviously with twins we knew we wouldn't make it that close, but its still crazy to know I could still be very pregnant.

This past week was a busy one with babies, birthdays and appointments. On Weds 9/25 the babies had a follow up weigh in appt. For being 4w early, they both were born with some pretty impressive weights. Lola was 5lbs 5oz & Mila was 6lbs 2oz. Kinda crazy that if I would had made it another week, or two, or three, they could have easily gained a pound a week. Those are some big babies.

When we left the Hospital Lola was 5lbs 2oz (-3oz) & Mila was 5lbs 13oz (-5oz). Its normal for babies to lose weight right after birth. Docs like to see positive weight gain after 5days and then again 2w post partum. At our 5day check up, Lola was 5lbs & Mila was 5lbs 10oz. Our pedi is great... she was ok with the weight loss, but more worried about Lola slipping under 5lbs. Once a baby gets under that its hard to get back up. I supplemented Similac Neosure while waiting for my milk to come. I'm an advocate that "breast is best", but I'm also realistic if your baby isn't getting enough to eat or enough calories to put on weight, you have to do what's necessary... so I've been 100% fine supplementing and giving boob juice combined. You have to do what's best for your baby and as a mother, that's YOUR choice what you decide to do. My milk supply hasn't been an issue, in fact I seem to have a little bit of an over supply like I did with Ava. This will come in handy, in fact, I probably have 30oz+ in my freezer & then 25oz or so of fresh milk in the fridge. Not only is good to have on hand, it helps me out if I need to nap so someone else can help feed the babies and bond with them.

Anyways... so the pedi wanted Lola to gain some weight, so I started giving her a little more Formula. We went back this past weds for a follow up check. Lola was 5lbs 3oz (+3oz from a week ago, -2oz from birth weight) & Mila was 6lbs 6oz (+12oz from a week ago, +4oz from birth weight). Obviously Mila's numbers were great and Lola is at least gaining, but it wasn't much. At this stage babies should gain an ounce a day. It was a nurse only visit, so she said she would tell Dr. C my numbers and if there were an issue she would call me. So I took it upon myself to up Lola's feedings from 2.5hrs to 2hrs with Formula/Breastmilk combined. Weds evening came & went and we never heard from the doc. I thought it was odd, but maybe she thought the 3oz gain was ok.

Thursday morning I had my 2w post op appt with my OB's. Hubs came home from work to take me. My mom was home alone with all 3 girls!!! We fed, changed and got them situated before we left, but that's a lot to handle. Good thing they are well behaved :) I haven't weighed myself since I had the babies and last weigh in I was 216lbs, 3days before I gave birth... I weighed in at 180lbs! Almost lost 40lbs already! I really can't believe how little my stomach looks. Its still a little stretched of course and "loose". Dr. M couldn't believe how tiny I looked and all my swelling was gone. When I laid back on the table he said my stomach "disappeared" woot woot! He said my incision looked amazing since he did it lol. He also showed me my "Bile" blood work... not sure if you remember but I self diagnosed myself with ICP, a very dangerous complication that happens during pregnancy. I actually HAD IT. I couldn't believe it. Unfortunately the results take 7 business days and by the time they got it back, I had already delivered. He said had they checked weeks earlier and got those same results they would have delivered me a lot sooner. Wow... I'm just thankful nothing serious happened to the babies or myself. He also went over the pathology reports for the girls... they are officially Mono/Di Twins aka Identical Twins!!! Of course having one placenta and same blood types usually are an indicator, you have to get labs done to officially confirm. Two placentas can always fuse together as one. Its funny that even though they are identical everyone wants to make sure to point out how different they are. Of course they will have differences, just cracks me up that people want to be the ones to figure it out... its like they can't accept the fact they might be the same lol.

It felt so weird to actually be walking through the hospital. I'd been pushed in a wheelchair for months! But here I am walking hand and hand with Hubs and it felt great! When we got in the car I told Hubs maybe I should go to Medical School and become a doctor since I tend to correctly self diagnosis all the time. He said "either that or you can just be a really good guesser"    LMAO... I love that man.

I go back in 4w for my 6w post partum check up. I'm still trying to decide on my birth control... With Ava I took the mini pill (progesterone only) when she was about 3m old. I've thought of an IUD because its good for 5years, but I'm also great at remembering pills, so I'm not sure. I actually have a mini pill rx filled and its upstairs. Maybe I'll just take it today and make a final decision by my appt.

Friday night I was clipping coupons... yeah, coupons on a Friday!!!! My phone started vibrating and it was Dr. C's office... I immediately sighed. She said she got the weight checks and apologized for calling 2 days late. She wasn't thrilled with Lola's weight gain and asked about her feeding habits. I told her she take 2-2.5oz every 2.5hrs but that I had upped it to 2hrs. She said at this age most babies take 2.5-3oz, but since they were 4w early and twins, they are on track. She said it seemed maybe Lola was doing better since Weds and I agreed. I told her she's having wet/dirty diapers at almost every feed. She's a slow eater, but she eats. She's going to push our 1m appt up so monitor Lola a little more. She said to keep up with formula in addition to breastmilk like I've been doing and if I think she's not keeping up food wise with Mila, that I need to bring her in. Mila obviously has no concern because she had such a large increase in weight in 8days. So we feed, we wait and we see what happens! I can tell she's eating more and even starting to fill out her wrinkly old man skin too!

When it was time for bed Friday I asked Hubs how he wanted to do the sleeping arrangements. He said he would take the girls & Ava's monitor and handle the feedings and I can sleep in the other room... ALONE. I immediately felt guilty and said... No, we can sleep together. He said he could handle it and if he needed me he'd come wake me up. Ok... I can do this, I can let him be the care giver so I can sleep. I pumped one more time and I could hear the girls in the other room fussing a little. I cleaned up the parts, put the milk away and went back up. His room was silent. So I went to my bed and laid there... waiting for hell to break loose, the next thing I know... it's 8:30am Saturday Morning! We did the same thing last night... once again, after I finished my last pump session, I didn't wake up until I heard Ava on the monitor shriek out at 6:50am (I insisted on keeping her monitor). I waited a few mins and not another peep so I went in her room and covered her up. I went back to bed until she woke up for good at 8:30am... I feel like a whole new woman.

Men can handle this... you just have to show them what to do. We don't always have to be super mom. Marc does a great job. I helped him get the bottles together and told him what time to feed them. He set his alarm (the babies sleep... well! We have to wake them to feed) and he handled it. The babies were fine, he was fine and I was rested. I take the babies back to "my room" tonight, but I feel so refreshed that I know I can do the next 5 nights alone :)

btw... for anyone reading this that is pregnant. Always listen to your body. Google isn't the best place for advice, but it can educate you on what you're going through. I had the "itchy" stuff from ICP for a few weeks before I mentioned it. I thought it was just dry skin. Had I listened to my body more I would have delivered them sooner and I just thank god that we were all ok. If something doesn't seem right... just tell your doctor. Worse case scenario they explain why you feel like the way you do, either or, you can't lose... also, tell your husbands/ significant others what you need and expect of them. If they think you've got it handled, they'll let you handle it without realizing you need help.

xo