One Week and Counting

As written by Jim:

We made it through our first week! Our life now revolves around three hour increments and how many ml of formula did they eat. The twins went in for their first doctor visit. They still have a little jaundice, but other than that they are doing well. Bree has gained two ounces and now weighs 5 pounds 9 ounces (2 ounces below her birth weight). Drew is holding steady at what he was when he left the hospital (5 pounds 8 ounces, 9 ounces below his birth weight). Our focus is getting him to have some weight gain going forward.

This is now a typical day for me:

5:00 AM Get up and wake up Drew, change his diaper, Tricia gets up and I hand off Drew for breast feeding. I grab Bree, change her diaper and hand off Bree so Tricia can double breast feed. Assuming they are feeding well, I go for a run with Riley. I come back fifteen minutes later, take Drew burp him, feed him some supplement and put him back to bed. I take Bree burp her, feed her some supplement, and put her to bed. We have managed to get this down to 45 minutes to an hour, from start to finish. That is the best case scenario, and often times is much longer, or they are hungry again in an hour.

During the day/night our parents have been helping. We could not get by without them. The errands they run, the food, the feedings, and the feedings that they take all on their own so we can get more than two hours of sleep in a row are God sends. Thank you for all of your help! We love you guys.

Thank you to everyone for your prayers, gifts, and food. We appreciate everything you have done as well!

Riley has acclimated well to the kids and visitors. I think she actually gets more attention now than pre kids and she gets extra walks each day as well. There are more people around which means more people to play with, and someone is awake pretty much all day, so she rarely has to go in her kennel. She seems to be protective of the family and will sit near Tricia as she is feeding, otherwise she hangs out on her blanket until someone arrives. Then she is crazy for ten minutes and will go back to her blanket.

Tricia is doing a great job breast feeding, Bree is doing a great job feeding, but Drew takes a little more work. He seems to enjoy motor boating and sleeping at the breast more than eating. I find this to be a man after my own heart, so he makes me laugh every time he does this. Tricia should be taking naps but just keeps going, so we have to keep encouraging her to take a break. Our parents have helped allow these breaks. It is amazing what a difference 4-5 hours of sleep in a row is compared to 2 hours of sleep. I am back to work full time, so thank you again to the parents for all of their help as Tricia continues the healing process and getting back on her feet.