GO STEELERS!

Original Due Date

Today is the day the girls were originally to arrive. It's amazing to think that instead of today, they were born 11 weeks ago.

Yes, it's 3:30am and I'm updating the blog so that I don't fall asleep while Madelyn rocks in the swing... my last attempt at getting her into a solid sleep for a few hours. In addition to reflux, the girls have horrible gas. I have not slept more than 10 minutes since I took a quick nap around 9pm. Today is going to be extremely difficult to say the least, as we have a doctors appt in the morning and I have a doctors appointment for myself in the afternoon. That leaves no time for the three of us to sleep at the same time. My milk supply is not keeping up with the girls demands and I think I'm okay with that. It's so hard to take care of 2 and find the time to pump. I'm setting a goal of Dec 2, which will be 3 solid months of the girls getting my milk. It's essential that preemies get the most amount of breast milk that they can, but it's also essential that they have a sane mother :) We are slowly working more formula into their day.

Eye exams

The girls had their eye exams on Friday and all went well. That is, except for the procedure to check their eyes. It was horrible to watch and the girls screamed like we've never heard them before. They have to open their eyelids with a metal device and then use another one to move their eyeball around! They are right on target, so we don't have to follow up for another 6 months. At that point, they'll be checking their eyesight since preemies have a greater chance of needing glasses.

We still aren't at a point were they will sleep longer than 3 hours at night. We're hoping that approaches soon! :)

Dad, I can do this myself

Madelyn seems to be able to hold her own bottle at 2 months!

Ugh. Reflux.

Madelyn's reflux is getting worse. We can see her pain when she eats. Emma has it as well, but not quite as bad. We have a call into the doctor today to see what we can do. We added rice cereal to their milk and they didn't react well, so that preventative measure is off the list. We didn't really sleep at all last night. Madelyn was crying off and on throughout the night. I'm hoping that once we get their reflux a little more under control, they'll sleep a little better :) Wishful thinking?

and in this corner...

weighing in at 7lbs 1oz... Madelyn! and weighing in at 6lbs 4oz... Emma! They've gained about an oz a day which is right on target and the doctor is very happy with their progress. Ufortunately though, they have both been diagnosed with reflux. We are starting off with the preventative approach and if it doesn't work, we'll need to give them Zantac twice a day. The preventative measures are adding rice cereal to their breast milk and keeping them at a 45° angle as much as possible. They have another appt next week and then one at the end of the month for their RSV shot. After that, they'll be going to the Pediatrician about once a month.

Thank you so much to my parents who have been running some errands for us and bringing us food as well as giving us some breaks with the kids. Sunday, our friends Kim and Mark came over and brought us "poor man" perogies! Today, our neighbor is bringing us some pasta :)

I had my follow up doctors appt today from my D&C and all looks good!