4 Months!!

The girls were 4 months on February 6th so I'm only a few days late with this post. =)

4 Months!

Close up Evy & Char

Brian and I took the girls for their 4 month checkup on Friday the 17th.  I had the day off work already so thats why it was a little later than the exact four month mark.  Here are their stats:

Evelyn

Height: 24 1/2 inches 55th percentile

Weight: 15lbs 14oz 92nd percentile

Head 44.9cm  >97th percentile

Charlotte:

Height: 24 1/4 inches 50th percentile

Weight 15lbs 0oz 80th percentile

Head: 42.8cm 92nd percentile

They have really started to catch up in the weight category and their heads are off the chart!!  The Nurse Practitioner (Our doc is still on maternity leave) seemed actually a little concerned about the HUGE jump that the girls' heads have made.  She asked one of the docs for their opinion too!  They came to the conclusion that their daddy has a big head and so its probably a genetic thing.  They are going to keep an eye on them though just to make sure they don't need any further testing or anything like that. 

This month the girls have started ROLLING!!!! It has been so fun to watch them try and try and try to roll and then finally do it!  Charlotte rolled from her back to tummy on 2/14 and Evy on 2/19.  I can tell this is going to make life a little crazier once they really start rolling around the house.  Baby proofing is going to have to happen very very soon.

The girls also started eating solids this week!  The first thing they had was baby oatmeal.  I tasted it and it was awful!!  Charlotte was not so sure at first if she liked it or not but once she figured out she liked it she just gobbled it up.  Evy seemed to like it right away! 

For their second food I made them some sweet potatoes.  You should have seen the look on their faces when they tried it.  They pushed it out of their mouths with their tongues and made this look like, "What the heck is this stuff you are putting in my mouth!??!?"  They were just so shocked... it was super funny.  But, after a couple of spoonfuls they ate it willingly.  We only fed them a little bit because we don't want them to be constipated but I think they could have eaten more.  We are going to try and make as much of their baby food as we can.  We have a baby food maker that steams and purees the food so that will be handy.  Also, my mom got us some nifty ice cube trays with lids on them especially made for baby food- BPA free!  The kit also came with a recipe book, some tips on cooking food and a DVD on how to make food!  It took a while to figure out how the baby food maker worked.... and I cut my thumb on the blade but next time it should be a lot easier.  I should be able to make enough on the weekends to last throughout the week.  Then we can just take some food cubes out of the freezer and thaw them out!

Other than that, nothing much new around here.  Just trying to keep up with everything.  It has been getting harder and harder to get up and go to work in the morning.  I just hate leaving the girls and going to work to deal with other people's kids all day.  I feel so guilty leaving them.  They are being taken care of just fine but I just miss them SO much.  I am trying to find some way to stay home but nothing is really panning out.  It pretty much boils down to money and health insurance- both of which this family needs.  I know we could live on less (cut the cable, use more coupons, etc.) but I don't think we could deal without my entire paycheck and then have to buy private insurance on top of that.  I am so sad every morning when I have to say goodbye to my precious little girls and I hope I can find a solution soon.  I even actually broke down and cried about that at work the other day. I try to contain my tears to the ride to and from work but I just couldn't hold it in. 

Ok, enough about that.  I have a lot of photos to share!!

Evy

Charlotte- hanging out on her side

Mama's big girls! Char & Evy

My little Diva- Charlotte

Evy- A mini diva too!

My beautiful baby Evy

Charlotte- such a happy girl!!

Getting ready for some food!! Evy & Char

Charlotte with a puzzled look on her face

Evy is more interested in her thumb than the food!

We all made it through the first feeding without food on our clothes!! Yippee!

Char & Evy

Evy rolled about 90% of the way over with her thumb in her mouth! LOL

Evy- she was so proud of herself when she finally rolled over!!!

Charlotte and sweet potatoes... need I say more?

Evy- getting ready to take a bite!!

Ok... now for the shocker! The girls have grown so much in only 4 months!!!

Charlotte & Evelyn- 1 week old

Evelyn & Charlotte- 4 months old!!

The Things People Say...

People say/ask the strangest things!  Brian and I have been taking the girls everywhere with us since they were probably about a week to ten days old.  I'm not sure what it is, but total strangers find babies to be an invitation to come up to you and ask whatever they feel like!  I thought it would be fun to write these things down before I forget!

"Are they twins?"  What else would they be????

"Are they a boy and a girl? Two girls?" (While they are all dressed in PINK and are wearing pink bunny hats!)  If you can't tell.... don't ask!!!

"Are they from the same parents?"  No..... I just borrowed one of them and got a double stroller for my friend's kid...

"Do you do it alone?" (Asking if I am a single mom.)  My mom and I took the girls to Home Depot to buy a toilet and I guess only single moms do this....? Seriously?

"Are they your babies too?"  During the same trip to Home Depot another lady asked if they were my mom's babies too! Geez people!
"Are they identical?"  This one I can see.... but if you look at them they look nothing alike.

"Are you nursing?"  I really don't know why people ask this question....  But, I usually get it from old ladies who want to tell me stories about how their kids never got sick because they nursed them........ its true I suppose.

"What are their names?"  Sometimes I think people ask this so that they don't have to ask if they are girls or not.  The response when I tell them is always, "Beautiful names!"  Then I wonder.. what were you expecting??

"Do twins run in the family?"  They do now!

"Did you have a c-section or vaginal delivery? Why?"  C-section.... Little Miss Charlotte wouldn't turn around!  But why do you want to know anyways?? Wanna see my scar? ha ha

"How old are they?"  When we first started going out people couldn't believe that we were taking 2 week old babies out of the house.  But I always said, "I need to get out of the house too!!"

"How big were they when they were born?"  People seem so shocked to hear that they were 7lbs and 6lbs 3oz.  Yes, that's 13lbs of babies people!!

"Can I touch them?"  A lady asked this as we were walking out of the Kohl's parking lot on Black Friday.  My response was, "Are your hands clean?" She said no.... haha then told me that her twins were 45 years old!

"Can I pet the babies?"  A little girl asked this yesterday while I was walking into the GAP.  LOL.  It was pretty cute.

"I'm a twin!"  Cool!

"Don't worry, it gets easier!"  They are great babies now so I can't imagine it getting any easier... I just hope it doesn't get any harder! ha ha

Yesterday Brian and I went to Target and to the mall for a little while.  I think about five twin moms came up and talked to me!  They are always so sweet!  Also, I think every twin mom has had the same double snap and go stroller.  LOL

People will also just look and oooh and ahhh as we are walking around the mall or a store.  They will be talking to their friends about how cute they are and not even say anything to me sometimes. Its awkward!

People will also talk about them in Spanish not knowing that I know what they are saying!  Yesterday a woman actually had her daughter translate for her because she wanted to tell me that they were beautiful.  It was very sweet.

That is all I can think of for now.  I'm going to the mall later today so maybe I will have some things to add to the list when I get home! LOL

In other news, the girls are 4 months old!!  They are getting so big its hard to believe.  They go for their 4 month appointment next Friday so I will update with their weights, etc. and their 4 month bear picture that I took last week.  They are starting to do amazing things lately.  Both of the girls can almost roll from their back to their tummy!  They get about 75% and then can't roll the rest of the way.  They are both also very chatty!  Evy has been "talking" for a while now and Charlotte just this week decided that she wanted to talk too.  Its just so darn cute!

Conflicted

I am conflicted on the whole breastfeeding thing.  At first I was all gung ho and thought I could successfully breastfeed both girls but when Evy wouldn't latch that whole idea went out the window.  Then, I thought I could just BF Charlotte and pump for Evy..... and I did do that for a while.  I'm not sure how it exactly happened but I pretty much stopped BFing Char and just pumped for both girls (which worked okay since I could split what I did have evenly between them.)  I knew I would have to go back to work when they were three months so I guess I did know that I wouldn't be able to BF them for that long. 

When I went back to work I continued to pump while at work and I ended up pumping at 5:30am, 11:30am, 4:00pm and 8:00ish.  At first I was getting the same amount of milk that I had before I went back to work (approx. 24 oz in 24 hrs.) but slowly it has been going downhill.  Instead of making 10-12oz in the morning I am only making 6-7oz.   Instead of making 10oz between the two sessions at work I am getting maybe 6oz.  At night I get maybe another 4oz to equal a whopping 16oz/day if that.  They are drinking 6oz each feeding so they don't even get two full bottles of breastmilk each day. 

I really do want them to drink the BM for many reasons but I'm not sure that one bottle per day really makes it worth it.  Instead of getting up in the morning and taking care of the girls I wake up, pump, and then wake Brian up so that he can take care of them and I can get ready for work.  You may ask, "Well why don't you nurse in the morning instead of pumping?"  Well the answer is that neither of them really will nurse anymore.  Like I said before, Evy never did really nurse and now Charlotte doesn't really want to either.  Also, even if I did nurse them in the morning I would still have to pump and probably give them a bottle to supplement as well.  AND I would have to get up even earlier since that all takes time. 

I guess right now I have a couple of choices. 
1.) I can keep pumping and wait for the milk to dry up (which may be sooner rather than later)
2.) Call my OBGYN and see if I can get back on the Reglan to up my supply (the pills make me feel super super tired and very anxious)

I will probably have to stop BFing by April anyways which doesn't make the current decision any easier.  The reasoning for that will have to be in another post.... I am not ready to talk about it yet. =)

On a happy note, the girls will be 4 months old on Monday!!  They go for their 4 month checkup on Feb. 17th.