We started with solids a little after 4 months. Their first food was rice cereal, which they very quickly got bored off. There was a time when they were "happy" with the food being repeated (butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot etc)... and all these things more or less tasted sweet! There came a point where they just refused to eat this same old baby food. Cereal was a big no no! That's when we started introducing stage 2 food and also started mixing and matching items. A couple of weeks ago when I was speaking with the Ped, he said it was okay to start introducing them with any ethnic/traditional foods that we might be eating. We use quite a bit of spices and herbs in our food... so we have recently started introducing various things and they are loving it. Their food has started tasting so much like ours (only milder). We have so far introduced black pepper, cumin, garlic, turmeric (in that order). They are also munching on some of our foods since they are so interested in what we are eating and they seem to be doing fine!
November 15, 2010
November 13, 2010
BM and Zzz...
Lots happening around here. We are leaving on Wednesday and we are still packing. Our house seems like a tornado ripped through... with all the stuff laying all around... I wonder when we will finish packing. I have already shipped 3 bags full stuff for babies and we will be taking 6 more bags with us!
Half - is where I am as far as pumping is concerned. I was pumping 4 times a day and producing 60+ oz of milk for all these months. In the last 3 weeks or so, I have come down to around 34 oz and approximately 2 pump sessions. It has not been easy... but it has not been as rough as I had imagined. I am definitely not going to be weaning myself off of the pump before we leave... it just isn't happening in the next 4 days! I will be pumping in the PLANE! Yes... exciting... my mom is flying with the babies and I... so I have to some how sneak in to the "toilets" and pump around half a litre of milk and hope that the babies sleep while I am gone! And I hope there are no delays and our bags arrive on time... I hope I am not speaking too soon! Because, if not... I really would not like to pump more than once in the whole journey! We shall see. As far as reducing the volume is concerned... increasing the time between pump sessions from 6 hrs to 8 hrs and then to 10 hrs is what has helped. Yes, I am engorged at times... but it has been manageable. I try not to empty myself out completely... but I am not keeping completely full either... because then I have to pump sooner and that has not helped in reducing the volume. Some how this whole thing seems to be working. On a hindsight this seems to be good, because I didn't really want to get the babes off of breastmilk so soon. This way they will continue to get at least 50% breastmilk for few more months.
Sleep Monster - Has been going around our house! Is it the 7 month sleep regression or separation anxiety or teething or reflux?!? I am lost! RT has always been a poor sleeper. She barely naps (30 min napper) and I have come to terms with it... but for the past 1 week she has been getting up very very frequently! Like every hour! Like every time you put her down in her crib! There have been time when she has ended up in our bed, because she just wouldn't settle down at all and would wake her brother up! I have not wanted to do CIO... but I feel like we are inching towards that. She needs the sleep - waking up every hour crying is not healthy for her! Though, I am scared to try anything new now. With the whole travel situation, jet lag and moving places... whatever "training" we try... it is going to get blown off every time a new parameter kicks in! So I am just hoping we reach some equilibrium again soon, and if not CIO will be our option when we settle back in after our 2 month long trip! Besides CIO, I have also considered co-sleeping, but then why should she co-sleep and not her brother. And, can you imagine how hard it will be to co-sleep with twins. I mean forget our personal space (DH and I)... but they will probably fall asleep only when we will... will get up when we will. If dealing with a single baby is tough, how hard will twins be? When, oh when will I take care of all the stuff that needs to be taken care of... not household chores, but all that has to be done for the babes too!
Half - is where I am as far as pumping is concerned. I was pumping 4 times a day and producing 60+ oz of milk for all these months. In the last 3 weeks or so, I have come down to around 34 oz and approximately 2 pump sessions. It has not been easy... but it has not been as rough as I had imagined. I am definitely not going to be weaning myself off of the pump before we leave... it just isn't happening in the next 4 days! I will be pumping in the PLANE! Yes... exciting... my mom is flying with the babies and I... so I have to some how sneak in to the "toilets" and pump around half a litre of milk and hope that the babies sleep while I am gone! And I hope there are no delays and our bags arrive on time... I hope I am not speaking too soon! Because, if not... I really would not like to pump more than once in the whole journey! We shall see. As far as reducing the volume is concerned... increasing the time between pump sessions from 6 hrs to 8 hrs and then to 10 hrs is what has helped. Yes, I am engorged at times... but it has been manageable. I try not to empty myself out completely... but I am not keeping completely full either... because then I have to pump sooner and that has not helped in reducing the volume. Some how this whole thing seems to be working. On a hindsight this seems to be good, because I didn't really want to get the babes off of breastmilk so soon. This way they will continue to get at least 50% breastmilk for few more months.
Sleep Monster - Has been going around our house! Is it the 7 month sleep regression or separation anxiety or teething or reflux?!? I am lost! RT has always been a poor sleeper. She barely naps (30 min napper) and I have come to terms with it... but for the past 1 week she has been getting up very very frequently! Like every hour! Like every time you put her down in her crib! There have been time when she has ended up in our bed, because she just wouldn't settle down at all and would wake her brother up! I have not wanted to do CIO... but I feel like we are inching towards that. She needs the sleep - waking up every hour crying is not healthy for her! Though, I am scared to try anything new now. With the whole travel situation, jet lag and moving places... whatever "training" we try... it is going to get blown off every time a new parameter kicks in! So I am just hoping we reach some equilibrium again soon, and if not CIO will be our option when we settle back in after our 2 month long trip! Besides CIO, I have also considered co-sleeping, but then why should she co-sleep and not her brother. And, can you imagine how hard it will be to co-sleep with twins. I mean forget our personal space (DH and I)... but they will probably fall asleep only when we will... will get up when we will. If dealing with a single baby is tough, how hard will twins be? When, oh when will I take care of all the stuff that needs to be taken care of... not household chores, but all that has to be done for the babes too!
November 8, 2010
The Darn Insurance
We got a call from our RE's finance department saying that a part of our IVF was not being paid for by our insurance! According to our insurance plane "one" IVF was covered! We had a pre-approval and everything! It seems ER, fertilization and ET codes were not covered. WHAT Besides These 3 main things consist of an IVF!?! We have a freakin 7.4k bill to fight 16 months after the procedure!
October 25, 2010
7 Months ...like a Marathon!
Yes, 7 months... we are already 7 months young! This month has flown by... it has been like a marathon!
We had quite a few doctor's appointments... all is well, but certain things had to be taken care of and everything was piled up for this month!
If you remember, RM went through Apnea monitoring after the freak episode that we had in the second week after birth. During the monitoring at the hospital, a cardiologist had performed EKG and an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay with his heart. They had heard a slight murmur and had noticed a small opening during the monitoring! So we were asked to follow up in 6 months. We had the follow up appointment on October 1st. Everything seems to be fine... there is a tiny-winy hole, but as per today's medicine and technology, no action needs to be taken. It does not need to be addressed and is not technically a health concern. We were asked to follow up with our pediatrician in a couple of years to see if any new medical findings warrant for a rescan or follow up.
October 8th was our 6 months vaccination. The babes got their first flu shot as well. They had fever for a day and half and were fine there after. Weight wise, we are staying steady... we got no 100 percentile babies here, but healthy chubby babies between 10-30% (reflux!). We will be going in again on November 8th for the 2nd flu shot.
RM had an undescended testicle during birth! We had hoped that it would descend during the first six months... but it didn't! It is recommended that it should be fixed before the baby turns 1.5 years old (in order to avoid any interference with fertility and for other such reasons) - earlier the better! We had the surgery (orchidopexy) performed on October 12th. The surgery went well and RM was a trooper! He was brave during the procedure and few hours of the hospital stay (between 0630 am to 1030am'ish). He was on tylenol for 2 days (just in case for pain) and has been as active as he possibly could be ever since then. We had a follow up appointment on October 25th and things seem to be fine post-op!
October 14th was RT's ear piercing at the pediatrician. She has these cute lil earrings (gold balls). She cried her eyes out! :) Poor child... she already has stranger anxiety (big time) and was not happy with people messing with her ears!
So in short... we have been crazy busy keeping appointments and making sure that the babes are comfortable!
There was another big decision that we made and have been implementing. We are weaning the babes off of breastmilk! Not something I would have liked to do in an ideal world. I still feel like if it were in my hands completely, I would nurse them till they turned 18! I have been fortunate enough to provide for them for 7 whole months! And I have been thankful enough to not face any of the supply issues I was dreading! But, it is time... we are traveling internationally next month and will be away for 2 months (would really love to hear about experiences about international travel, jet lag, flight journey). Space and privacy will be non-existent and exclusively pumping and feeding twins with all the logistics involved in storage and utilization... while trying not to get engorged (and have any infection)... and keeping two babies happy... I don't think I can handle it. I wish we could have pushed this trip... but the babes will be meeting their great-grandparents (who are aging) and we probably could not have delayed the trip very long. The transition has not been very smooth. RT is very picky with taste... we gave them formula every other day (one feed)... just to keep them used to it and then came the mega Similac recall! And boom... RT refused to drink the powder formula when it came back in the market. She was not happy with any other brand either. RM was okay with anything and everything. So eventually we had to mix formula and breastmilk and reintroduce formula to her. She is accepting formula again now and we are hoping that we can completely wean them off of breastmilk before we leave next month. Me trying to wean myself off of pumping is all together a different story. I am trying to reduce the volume, trying to use cabbage leaves as well. From 2 liters to 0 is going to be a big game! Any tips or advice will be highly appreciated.
We will be meeting the GI on November 2nd for reflux. Both of them are on Prilosec 2ml 2x day and things seem to be under control for now. We are off of Zantac! I just wish this was over and we were not worrying about reflux anymore. They have become so active now... that it would be nice for their bodies to take over control over their reflux.
And now for their activities...
-They are ACTIVE! They will flip over and roll over and flip over and turn around and on and on and on... They are not still for a moment!
-RT started sitting unassisted as of 10/12. I avoided RM from sitting unassisted because of his surgery... but we let him sit (unassisted) on 10/23! If we let them hold on to our hand while laying down... they will sit up and right away stand up! They love to stand (assisted). RM started jumping (literally) today (10/26) if we hold him at his armpits.
-Toys which light up and roll and make noises attract their attention like never before! We don't let them watch TV, but whenever they get a glimpse of it... they are glued to it!
-Their favorite song is "I am bringing home a baby bumble bee... ".
-They love car rides... they will go crazy when they figure out they are going out and will not stay still till we put them in to their car seats.
We had quite a few doctor's appointments... all is well, but certain things had to be taken care of and everything was piled up for this month!
If you remember, RM went through Apnea monitoring after the freak episode that we had in the second week after birth. During the monitoring at the hospital, a cardiologist had performed EKG and an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay with his heart. They had heard a slight murmur and had noticed a small opening during the monitoring! So we were asked to follow up in 6 months. We had the follow up appointment on October 1st. Everything seems to be fine... there is a tiny-winy hole, but as per today's medicine and technology, no action needs to be taken. It does not need to be addressed and is not technically a health concern. We were asked to follow up with our pediatrician in a couple of years to see if any new medical findings warrant for a rescan or follow up.
October 8th was our 6 months vaccination. The babes got their first flu shot as well. They had fever for a day and half and were fine there after. Weight wise, we are staying steady... we got no 100 percentile babies here, but healthy chubby babies between 10-30% (reflux!). We will be going in again on November 8th for the 2nd flu shot.
RM had an undescended testicle during birth! We had hoped that it would descend during the first six months... but it didn't! It is recommended that it should be fixed before the baby turns 1.5 years old (in order to avoid any interference with fertility and for other such reasons) - earlier the better! We had the surgery (orchidopexy) performed on October 12th. The surgery went well and RM was a trooper! He was brave during the procedure and few hours of the hospital stay (between 0630 am to 1030am'ish). He was on tylenol for 2 days (just in case for pain) and has been as active as he possibly could be ever since then. We had a follow up appointment on October 25th and things seem to be fine post-op!
October 14th was RT's ear piercing at the pediatrician. She has these cute lil earrings (gold balls). She cried her eyes out! :) Poor child... she already has stranger anxiety (big time) and was not happy with people messing with her ears!
So in short... we have been crazy busy keeping appointments and making sure that the babes are comfortable!
There was another big decision that we made and have been implementing. We are weaning the babes off of breastmilk! Not something I would have liked to do in an ideal world. I still feel like if it were in my hands completely, I would nurse them till they turned 18! I have been fortunate enough to provide for them for 7 whole months! And I have been thankful enough to not face any of the supply issues I was dreading! But, it is time... we are traveling internationally next month and will be away for 2 months (would really love to hear about experiences about international travel, jet lag, flight journey). Space and privacy will be non-existent and exclusively pumping and feeding twins with all the logistics involved in storage and utilization... while trying not to get engorged (and have any infection)... and keeping two babies happy... I don't think I can handle it. I wish we could have pushed this trip... but the babes will be meeting their great-grandparents (who are aging) and we probably could not have delayed the trip very long. The transition has not been very smooth. RT is very picky with taste... we gave them formula every other day (one feed)... just to keep them used to it and then came the mega Similac recall! And boom... RT refused to drink the powder formula when it came back in the market. She was not happy with any other brand either. RM was okay with anything and everything. So eventually we had to mix formula and breastmilk and reintroduce formula to her. She is accepting formula again now and we are hoping that we can completely wean them off of breastmilk before we leave next month. Me trying to wean myself off of pumping is all together a different story. I am trying to reduce the volume, trying to use cabbage leaves as well. From 2 liters to 0 is going to be a big game! Any tips or advice will be highly appreciated.
We will be meeting the GI on November 2nd for reflux. Both of them are on Prilosec 2ml 2x day and things seem to be under control for now. We are off of Zantac! I just wish this was over and we were not worrying about reflux anymore. They have become so active now... that it would be nice for their bodies to take over control over their reflux.
And now for their activities...
-They are ACTIVE! They will flip over and roll over and flip over and turn around and on and on and on... They are not still for a moment!
-RT started sitting unassisted as of 10/12. I avoided RM from sitting unassisted because of his surgery... but we let him sit (unassisted) on 10/23! If we let them hold on to our hand while laying down... they will sit up and right away stand up! They love to stand (assisted). RM started jumping (literally) today (10/26) if we hold him at his armpits.
-Toys which light up and roll and make noises attract their attention like never before! We don't let them watch TV, but whenever they get a glimpse of it... they are glued to it!
-Their favorite song is "I am bringing home a baby bumble bee... ".
-They love car rides... they will go crazy when they figure out they are going out and will not stay still till we put them in to their car seats.
-RT has been teething... I say so because, she has swollen gums and there is this small protrusion sticking out of her gums, but the tooth won't come out! She had a swollen cheek for few days because of that... and has been super cranky and uncomfortable. She has been chewing on anything that her little hands fall upon. I hope she gets that tooth out soon. On the other hand RM has had his first cough/sore throat. He was coughing for 2-3 days and has a little bit of hoarseness in his voice. We went and saw the pediatrician, specially since it was in a couple of days after his surgery. The pediatrician doesn't think it is related to the surgery (medication/anesthesia) and asked us to watch out for fever or ear infection et al. He seems to be fine so far... I just hope he gets his sweet little voice back soon.
-RM's normally naps twice a day with a cat nap somewhere in between. RT still has her 30-40 minute naps. They are awake longer which helps so much in getting out of the house and getting things done! They both sleep on their sides at night and are all over the crib! Night time sleep is still around 12 hours... though things have been a little wacked up with all our medical adventures!
-They have tried rice, lentil, egg yolk, chicken, avocado, carrot, butternut squash, peas, sweet potato, banana, rice and oat cereal so far. They are getting more and more attracted to fancy foods. They are very much interested in what we eat. They are starting to drink water after meals, and we are trying to introduce a sippy cup. We are still doing one meal a day... I would like to bump it up to 2/3 meals a day... but with all the medical stuff that was going on this month, I was a little hesitant to introduce another meal or two.
I love you my honey buns!
-They have tried rice, lentil, egg yolk, chicken, avocado, carrot, butternut squash, peas, sweet potato, banana, rice and oat cereal so far. They are getting more and more attracted to fancy foods. They are very much interested in what we eat. They are starting to drink water after meals, and we are trying to introduce a sippy cup. We are still doing one meal a day... I would like to bump it up to 2/3 meals a day... but with all the medical stuff that was going on this month, I was a little hesitant to introduce another meal or two.
I love you my honey buns!
September 25, 2010
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.
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.
-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.
September 23, 2010
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)
Recall Information (here)
September 10, 2010
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.
September 9, 2010
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!
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!
September 2, 2010
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!
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!
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