First Tooth

We found Foster's 1st tooth at 21 weeks! So sweet.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Jason’s birthday was on June 13^th. Yes I know I am so behind on post but I am doing my best to catch up.  Below are pictures of his small birthday celebration!

Foster trying out Daddy's new boat seats

Welcome Baby Shelby

On July 24^th Baby Shelby entered the world at 36 weeks. She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and is perfect!! Mommy and baby are both doing great but Shelby is going to stay in the NICU for a while for lung development. 

1st Doctor Visit

Monday, July 23, 2012

Anna Kate has been pulling on her ear for a few weeks now. She hasn’t had a fever and really hasn’t been fussy. I’m not sure why exactly I decided to take her to the doctor to get checked out but I did. I guess it was the motherly instinct :0). We were able to get an appointment with our pediatrician on short notice (meaning I called at 11:00am and was able to see him at 3:00pm). Thankfully my mother works with his wife. 

So just Anna Kate and I went to the doctor, boy is it easy with one baby.  Jason’s mom kept Foster for us which was VERY helpful. The first thing the doctor said was I seriously doubt it is an ear infection- at this age ear infections are really rare. In the back of my mind I was thinking the same thing. I was thinking hopefully it is nothing- I’m just being overly cautious. But after he examined her he said that her ear was really inflamed and red. He didn’t think there was much fluid but he was concerned if he didn’t treat it that it would get progressively worse. After much discussion between he and I, the decision was made to put her on Amoxicillin antibiotic.  We go back in 1 week to make sure everything is better. I told the doctor about Jason’s major issues with sinus and ear infections. Poor guy as an adult has even had tubes in his years. The doctor said that yes it is unfortunately hereditary.  I hope the medicine works and takes care of the issue before it progresses to something more serious.

Update on Thursday, July 26

I worked last night on night shift. Jason called me and told me that Anna Kate was sounding congested and coughing.  I guess the poor baby is sick. I am so happy now that the doctor made the decision to put her on antibiotics. I started sterilizing the bottles just in case she has a cold that is contagious.  I’m not sure how she caught this bug- I can’t imagine in the babies were in a daycare. We are so fortunate to have someone in our house keeping the babies. 

Shift work no longer horrific

After returning to work from maternity leave, I started on swing shift. I was surprised that of all times in my career this was when the opportunity arose. But I was not going to pass it up. I really haven’t been a fan of this horrible day/night 12 hour flip flop until last week.  Last week I worked 10 hours/days for 5 days in a row. I would leave the house around 6:15am and get home around 4:00.  By the time I got home and cleaned a little it was time to put the babies to sleep. I felt like I didn’t have any time at all with them. It was so hard on me. I quickly realized that shift work was an actual blessing.  This week I was home with the babies all day Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, I spent most of the morning with them before taking a nap in preparation for night shift. I worked Wednesday and Thursday night and then off the weekend. Until now I didn’t realize that this horrific shift work actually allows me to spend more time with the babies.  The only negative point is that Jason and I have less time together but at this point in our life we can handle that.  We have been trying to have alone time/date night every other week even if we have to pay for a baby sitter. So far that is working out great. Everything just seems to be working out perfectly!

Sleep @ 21 weeks

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to feed Foster. Over the entire night, I think we were up about 6 times with him.  At 4:30 we noticed his diaper had leaked and we had to change his pjs. We quickly realized that he would not stop crying without this bottle so he ate early. While feeding him, I asked Jason if Anna Kate had cried during the night and he said no.  We were so excited! She did start crying around 5am but went right back to sleep with her passi.  She woke up to ate at 6:15.  We are so excited!! Hopefully we have one baby sleeping through the night now.  As for the big man we will have to continue to work on him!

Naked Flying Monkey

I call Anna Kate a little monkey because she makes little noises that sound just like a monkey LOL.  Well tonight we had a NAKED FLYING MONKEY on the loose!

Bananas @ 20 weeks

The babies seem to be a lot more hungry these days. I feel like the rice cereal and formula is just not enough.  Although the doctor told me that he recommends waiting until 6 months of age to start solids, I decided that our babies were ready for a few Level 1 baby foods. Also to help my decision, I talked with several other moms (Megan, Haley per Katlin, Britney) whose doctors suggest starting Level 1 foods at 4 months. With that being said, the babies tried Organic Gerber Bananas tonight. As you can see, the bananas were NOT a big hit.  I am going to make some baby food this weekend and hopefully it will taste much better. Below I included the recommendations for 4-6 month foods. I am using this website as a guide: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/solidfood4to6montholdbaby.htm

Our new toy

Busy day

Today Tim flew in to visit from DC. We had a great visit. The last time he was on the coast the babies were 6 weeks which was a huge change to now at 19 weeks!

We stopped by Paw Paw Jack's house for a visit

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Nana bought the babies these adorable outfits. I just love them!! The babies and Jason stayed home on the 4th because the babies were still feeling bad from their 4 month shots.  I had to work unfortunately.  

4 Months

WOW 4 months? I just realized that I didn’t take the 3 month pictures on the calendar.  I guess we skipped that month- you both keep mommy REALLY busy! It is really unbelievable to think that you have already been in the world with us for 4 months!! It is just crazy.  You are so much easier to handle alone now. Before it was overwhelming but is much more manageable now. We are having so much fun. Every day it seems a new milestone is reached and we love being parents!! I can’t imagine life without my little angels.

At 4 months:
-Both babies are wearing size 0-3 month clothes and size 2 Pampers diapers. Actually I have noticed that some of the 0-3 month clothes are getting tight especially on Foster so I pulled 3-6 out of the attic. Crazy to actually say 3-6 month when they were just in preemie! My mom and Aunt Lisa spent last night and most of today washing and organizing the clothes. I kept some 0-3 month clothes out but packed up most. We are so fortunate to have so many hand me downs especially at the rate the babies are growing.
-We are still on Emfamil Prosobee Formula (Soy) and eat about 4 oz every 3 hours. Neither baby is a very consistent eater. We now feed the babies 3 tablespoons of cereal at night before bedtime.
-We still aren't sleeping through the night YET!!! After referring to Babywise once again, we are waking them every 3 hours to eat during the day. The evening feeding is typically around 6-7pm and then if the babies are sleeping we wake them at 9:30-10pm to give cereal. They quickly go back to sleep. Both babies wake between 4:30-5:30am and are ready for 6 ounces of formula. Typically they will both go back to sleep. Anna Kate will sleep for about 30 minutes and then wake up. I normally go in and turn the mobile on. She will go back to sleep eventually or will have a conversation for an hour with the mobile. I just love listening to her. It gives me a few minutes to make coffee, let MM out, and start laundry or house chores.
-In a normal night Foster will wake about 3 times due to losing his pacifier or because of a wet diaper. Foster has been sleeping in the Fischer Price Rock & Play Sleeper on our side of the house. Anna Kate has been a much better sleeper. (Except for the last few nights!) She normally wakes once per night. She goes back to sleep with gas drops and a pacifier. Anna Kate sleeps in the nursery in a Nap Nanny. Both babies still sleep elevated and love to be swaddled. We love using the Aden and Anais blankets to swaddle the babies. I’m not sure if they will ever sleep without being swaddled.
-The babies are extremely active. They love playing on the piano activity mat and love the rainforest bouncy seat. Just this week during tummy time, Foster decided he was over tummy time and rolled from his tummy to his back. So much for tummy time! Anna Kate doesn’t enjoy tummy time at all. She throws a fit. I’m not sure if she can roll over or not because she gets so mad about it that I have to pick her up.

The 4 month check-up on Tuesday, July 3^rd

• Foster was 15.9 pounds; 26 cm long; and 42.25 cm head circum
• Anna Kate was 13.9 poundsl 25.75 cm long; and 40.75 head circum

The doctor told us that we can start offering cereal up to 3 times/day and give about a tablespoon each of the feedings. We have been giving 3 tablespoons at night so I'm not sure how we are going to do that. I guess trial and error. He also said that we can start giving the babies oatmeal.  I can't wait to see if they like it. I ask about bananas and apples- he said that it is reccomended that you not give the baby anything before 6 months besides rice cereal and oatmeal- BUT he also added that parents have been doing it for years. I'm not sure what we will do about that.  He told us that the babies should be able to sleep flat now so he prescribed meds for acid reflux. We are going to try it and see if it helps any. Hopefully it will so the babies can move to their beds full time.  Overall the visit was great! Our babies are developing right on schedule.