6 Months!

How can it be? I remember them 6 hours old, 6 days old, 6 weeks old... and they are already 6 months old - their 1/2 birthday! I can't seem to recollect my life without them. I hardly remember the bedrest and the worrisome period during the pregnancy! 6 months ago... they were still in my belly kicking away and chilling out! In spite of the new challenges that they throw at me oh so frequently along with their ever changing routines... I truly feel content! I wan't to hold back time because they seem to be growing so fast, yet I am looking forward to them growing up and experiencing all the fun things with them!

We celebrated their 1/2 birthday with a cheesecake from cheesecake factory (chocolate mousse cheesecake - yum)!

Here is a 6 month update...

-RT and RM have been eating solids regularly (once a day). They have tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, avocado and banana so far. They have never been truly interested in rice cereal, so we aren't really giving it to them.
-RM can entertain himself with one toy for ever. He will giggle and wiggle and talk with it without being disturbed by anything around him. He has figured out peek-a-boo and will take any thing around him and cover his eyes and get a kick out of it. If we take the cloth/toy out... he will start giggling. He is normally happy with any toy he can lay his hands on. Though, he is not as big a fan of the jumperoo as his sister.
-RM loves to stand (assisted)... and he has recently figured out squatting... he will stand and then bend his knees and go down and stand up again! He prefers to stand over sitting.
-If RM is on his belly, he can push on his feet and raise his butt and push himself around. Though it will all depend on his mood, if he is up for it he will roll over back to front or front to back... but otherwise he will sit there and cry and wants to be turned over.
-RM is a free bird, he loves to be held but is equally comfortable just being by himself. Though if he is held for too long (especially by anyone other than Mommy, Daddy or Grandma)... he can get pretty uncomfortable. It is not really a stranger anxiety... because if he is in his stroller, rocker or just laying down... he will instantaneously smile and interact with any stranger.
-RT loves the jumperoo... if we let her be... she can be in there for ever, but we try not to get her exhausted. Other than jumperoo, she can get bored of toys pretty quickly... and constantly needs something new to entertain herself.
-RT loves to sit (assisted). She will actually hold one finger of ours and pull herself up (if she is on a little bit of an incline). She raises her feet and lifts up her head/neck and keeps working towards pulling herself up. She prefers to sit over standing.
-When RT is on her belly, she prefers to lay down and relax than make the efforts to flip over (which she very well can).
-RT is a party gal! She will take some time to warm up... but she is so excited to be with people, she loves being held and will laugh and play and pose for pictures with everybody.

-RT loves to suck on her toes, RM still hasn't figured it out.
-RM absolutely loves to play with RT... he will start giggling and caressing and talking with RT whenever she comes close to him. He will try to grab her arm/leg and put it in his mouth. RT on the other hand is moody, there are times when she will be eager to talk with RM or caresse him... but then there will be times when she won't even look at him. I am sure this will change once they start getting even more interactive.
-They both love... bottles, kettle, laptop, cell phones, hair (to pull). They prefer toys which make sounds and light up. RT favorite is a frog which plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..." and lights up in the cheeks. RM absolutely loves his octopus.
-They have started to play with the same toy, but don't yet realize that one or the other has pulled it away and will very easily move on to the next toy. I am sure our days are numbered where they will be content with their toy being pulled away from them.
-They both love going out. If they are cranky... and are put in the car seat, they will instantaneously calm down and wait to go out.

Now, the Reflux! RM is still on Zantac (1.5 ml 3x day). It has been over 3 weeks since we went and saw the GI and substantially increased the dosage. He seems to be relatively fine. He seems to be giving out all his burps (his classic reflux symptom) while he is being active. I hope it continues that way. However, we had to switch RT to Prilosec today (2 ml 2x day). She seemed to be getting miserable! I am hoping that we see some changes in her in the next few days.

As mentioned before RT's sleep issues continue and her big night time feeds continue as well. And yes, we "did not" CIO. I just don't think we are a CIO kind of couple... at least not at this age. Taking care of twins is not easy... it's not double the work, but more like exponential work. Situations like this (frequent night time feeding) can really throw you off and some times mess up your twin schedule! Which made me want to consider CIO, but I guess we won't be doing that... at least not now (and hopefully not in the future either).

We are still on breastmilk but are trying to transition to formula slowly. I would love to provide for them for ever! I feel blessed to be able to provide for them for this long. Though, we think it is time for me to separate from my breast pump (which is kind of my life right now). Does any one have any tips on how to wean myself off of pumping?

We go in for our 6 month vaccination on Friday, October 8th.

Similac Recall!

Similac powder formula being recalled! We are just doing formula once a day, and unfortunately ours is listed in the recall too! It was purchased 2-3 months back... so I guess this thing goes back a while!

Recall Information (here)

To CIO or not!?

Not sure what to really call this post! We are having some issues here... both the kids pretty much get the same treatment as far as sleeping/feeding is concerned... but of course they are two different individuals and they have their own personality! And I am having trouble here with my daughter (RT)!

So RM loves to sleep... he will take naps anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours and usually sleeps pretty well at night with just 1 feeding in between (or 2 if he has had a bad day). When the reflux is bad... he burps miserable and has to be held... so he kind of has gotten in to a habit of sleeping in my arms and then being put down in to his crib (he was so good at putting himself to sleep before that). With reflux he was also a pretty bad feeder till we up'ed the dosage. He used to struggle with finishing an ounce or two at a time... though we used to some how manage to get 25-30 oz in a day (on good days). He now takes between 4 to 6 oz at a time. So he is doing pretty well.

Now... RT! She naps for just 30 to 45 minutes. I have tried several things to get her to nap longer... wake to sleep, pick up put down, holding her, patting her, swinging her... she normally doesn't even nap for longer than 45 minutes in a car ride! Though one good thing is she can kind of put herself to sleep. She sucks on her fingers to fall asleep (we don't use a paci)... hopefully she will grow out of it, but it works for now. She used to have trouble with her awake time in the beginning... she used to tire out very easily in less than an hour (the shorter naps were just not enough for her). But, as she is growing up... those 30-45 min naps seems to be working fine while she stays up for anywhere between 1.5 to 2 hours. With her such short naps and RM's long naps, we have never ever been able to put them on the same schedule, though there night time sleep pretty much coincide (~ 11 hours)! Anyhow... my main concern for her is... feeding. If she is really hungry she can finish a bottle of 4 oz in less than 2-3 minutes! But ever since the reflux... she will hardly take 1-2 oz in one go. She gets super excited and also has a strong temper. Between the two persona's of hers, its very difficult to get her to take a good feed. Which essentially means... she wakes up at night! Anywhere between 3 to 4 times. Sometimes with in 2 hours. I am okay with night feeds... but getting up every 2 hours? That is like a newborn! Just not acceptable!! She used to sleep for 5 to 8 hours straight when she was smaller. She sometimes will finish half her daily intake at night! We try not to go in and feed her or soothe her right away! If she reduces her feeds during the night, she might just be willing to take more during the day time. After she is fed, she will fall asleep by her self... so we know that she is not using the bottle to try to fall back asleep. We kind of let it be during the reflux (low medication dosage) stage... because they were really miserable and just couldn't feed enough at one time!

I am totally confused as to what to do with her? Should I let her cry it out at night! Will she really learn that night time is not for feeding and take in more during the day time?! Currently, the medication is working like a charm and I know for sure that when she gets up in the middle of the night it is not a burp (reflux related) but more for hunger! If I had to let her CIO... this would be the time... unless she just grows out of it! Should I give her a paci... will she take it with such a late introduction? I would hate for her to get completely reliant on the pacifier! I would really appreciate any advice that you may have or experience that you can share.

It still hurts!

One of my friends from high school called and told me she is Pregnant! I should have been happy and excited for her! But, the same old story - I am not! She is a part of the close knit group we had back in the days. We are still very well connected and in touch! Another reason, why I should have been really excited for her... because she was a potential candidate for being an IF!

I think the reason is because she is the second gal from that group of ours who got PG one after the other and real quick. Why is it so easy for them? I have two beautiful babies... who mean the world too me... so why do I still hurt just about the same!

I guess, just like I will always be a Mother... I will always be an Infertile!

GI Visit

We had our appointment with the GI this morning! I am glad we went and saw the specialist!

As I had mentioned in my previous post, that freakin nurse took wrong readings for weight as well at the previous Ped visit! 16.75 lbs seemed to good to be true - almost a 2.5+ lbs gain in less than 3 weeks! They both weighed 15 lbs today. RT is at around 50th percentile and RM is at 25th percentile.

We discussed how the babes are troubled by the reflux and what we have done so far etc. Our Peds office had recommended 1.1 ml 3 times a day... and then bumping up the dosage by 0.1 every 2 weeks! Which wasn't quite working. As in, the babes are not super miserable... but they will have sleepless bouts, low milk consumption episodes. And I knew things weren't as good as it should have been inspite of being on medication. The GI bumped up the dosage to 1.5 ml 3 times a day! This continues for approximately a month or untill I start seeing any mega signs of reflux! Otherwise we go back in 2 months.

As per the GI, 50% of the babies outgrow reflux by 6 months, 75% by 9 months and 99% by a year... hopefully we will see the end of reflux sooner than later! Also, it seems the Peds try to be conservative and will only recommend the average dosage required for a certain age/weight! So, now we shall see how things look! Wish us luck!