(taken in part from a recent email)Stats:
Shoghi has hit the 6 pound mark, and Maxwell should be reaching EIGHT pounds today or tomorrow! Both are maintaining their individual growth curves, so the weight difference is only reflective of their unique physiologies.
Shoghi is doing better. The apnea monitor, which I only use at night, has gone off twice for low heart rate, but I was actually already helping him through a choke at the time. It really does help me sleep, knowing that if anything happens, it will wake me. His reflux seems a bit better now that he's on the zantac - he's not making that sour "mister yuck" face anymore, and maybe it's his bigger size that is helping him handle incidents of spitting up better. Even though I have to help him sometimes by clearing his nose and mouth, he also resolves more on his own.
Max is leading the way in longer sleep stretches - he is sometimes extending the time between feedings to 4 hours at night. It's a miraculous thing. He's so chatty - making noises all the time, especially in his sleep! He spent a night with Auntie Korin and then 2 nights with Auntie Laurie, and both of them commented (lamented) on his vociferous ways. He's also starting to coo, which is super cute.
Nursing is coming along! Shoghi is nursing at least 20 minutes for each "meal" and supplementing with bottle for the rest, and Max isn't far behind. I'm still waiting for my supply to keep up with their needs, but I've had to drop a lot of the pumping, for the sake of my sanity and so that I could actually meet the boys' other needs. Both of them seem to have a tongue tie, so I will have them checked by and ENT doc soon. That apparently has a big impact on nursing. We abandoned using the nipple shield several days ago and never looked back. Now I'm experimenting with using a lact-aid, which involves using a small tube to allow the baby to take in formula while nursing at the breast. This transition to breast can be a long one, but our dramatic progress over the past week is really encouraging. I'm not going to make any decisions about long-term strategy until we've tried to increase nursing sessions and supply for at least another month.
They boys are both so beautiful, it just melts me. After all the years of longing, loss, and pushing through, I'm astonished to find myself the mother of these two perfect babies.
what a lovely family!
ReplyDeleteYay! Sounds fabulous :)
ReplyDeletecute family :D
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad things are going well. Thinking lots of nice, full boobie, milky vibes ;)
Your boys are ADORABLE! What a great picture.
ReplyDeleteWe've been muddling our way through the nursing adventure, too. Currently supplementing with bottles, after ditching the SNS (too much work.) I'm still pumping at least 5-6 times per day and it's wearing on me, but until I've built up my supply, I'll stick with it. I'm with you on determining long term plans. We'll see.
Stay sane about the nursing, but know that it is totally possible even under dire circumstances. My daughter has an undiagnosed till recently still untrested toungue tie. So we had issues from the get go, but no one could tell us waht it was. And the reflux was awful. Then my mother committed suicide when she was 9 weeks old. My milk all but stopped. But with a lot of work, help, and faith, we got back to all breastmilk. She is two and still nursing. The important part is to stay sane, and enjoy them, it only works if mom is not stressed out too. Hang in there!
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