It's been a rough few days since Thanksgiving. I don't know what is going on but something is happening that is causing a big lack of sleep in our house. Juliette started running a fever on Friday of about 102 but she didn't have any other symptoms except extreme fussiness. She slept badly and the fever continued until Saturday and then broke - but she's still very fussy and is not sleeping well. Teething comes to mind but none of the usual tricks seem to help. I've given her Highland's Teething Tablets, Tylenol, Oragel Swabs and nothing. I can't see or feel any teeth coming in so I'm not sure it's that. We took her to the doctor on Saturday and they checked her out and did bloodwork but couldn't find anything wrong.
The only other thing I can think of is that she cries when she's nursing. She'll nurse for awhile, pull off and sob and then she's inconsolable for awhile. I certainly have enough milk, in fact I think it may be too forceful for her but I don't think that has changed at all from the beginning. The only thing helping her sleep right now is the swing and I hate that because I don't want that to develop into a habit again.
Lily isn't sleeping well either. She's waking up every 40 minutes to 2 hours and needing to be soothed or nursed back to sleep. Needless to say this makes for a very exhausted mommy.
Other updates...Thanksgiving was good. We enjoyed going over to my parents house and there weren't as many people there as there usually are so it was nice not to have to worry so much about the girls. They even took a nap while they were there!
We started decorating for Christmas yesterday. We put our tree up, bought some Christmas storage and now have a huge mess around the house. But it's better than last year when we didn't put the tree up until a week before Christmas!
We also ordered our Christmas cards (again, early for us!) and we have another photo session on Saturday for the girls regular photos (since they haven't had any yet). Now I have to figure out what they're going to wear.
I am headed to bed but just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. We went to my parents house and had a nice time - the girls even napped and Maia loved playing with her cousin Annabelle. It was a great afternoon.
I'll try to update more on what's going on tomorrow. Until then, be safe and sleep well!
I don't have much to say, I just wanted to write a little bit of an update. Lily isn't sleeping well tonight so far so I'm anticipating a bad night. At least we have a comfy chair in the room!
Early Intervention came on Monday and they reaffirmed what I already knew - that the girls are doing great! It was mostly just a chance for some adult interaction for me and we had fun playing with the babies.
My friend Amanda loaned us a Jumperoo and the girls LOVE it! They go crazy just bouncing away. Thanks Amanda!
Kathryn and Annabelle came over this week and they did an art project making turkeys. It was fun and Maia adores her cousin!
My friend Heather and her two kids came over on Tuesday and it was so great to catch up with her. Maia and Isabelle (Heather's two-year-old) played and while they didn't really play together, they still had fun. Hopefully we can do it again!
So that's my super quick little update. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving next week!
Today was exhausting. I think that the rough nights are getting to me! The good news is that last night is the first night Lily spent entirely in her crib instead of coming out to the living room to go in her swing. She woke up - a lot - but it's progress, right? Tonight she went down around 7:30 and now at 9:43 she's still asleep. I am happy about that and hope she goes at least 3 hours. I remember a time when Juliette would only sleep a maximum of 40 minutes in her crib and now she can go 5 hours if I'm lucky. I also remember a time when they both slept through the night in the swing but I try not to think about that! Oh, and I can still just magically lay Juliette down and she shoves that thumb in and falls asleep. Much better than previously when I had to bounce her to sleep - it's a joy now to put her to bed!
Anyway, we did our family Christmas portrait today. I wouldn't say it went well - Maia took a LONG time to warm up to the photographer and had her own agenda. The twins were tired even though they slept the whole way there so out of the 220 some shots she took I hope we at least got a few good ones. It's difficult to get a whole family of five to look at the camera! The shoot was at a Dunn Brothers coffee house in Eden Prairie and it was HOT in there. We were in sweaters and long sleeved shirts and were boiling by the time we left. It was pretty rough and I'm glad it's over. I hope our next shoot in December goes better. Sara Lou, you asked about adjusted age versus actual age - I know I said it was the twins' six month photo and that is adjusted age (obviously). For developmental reasons we're going by adjusted and sometimes I forget their actual age because of that! So really, it's their 8.5 month photos!
Anyway, I think I'm off to bed. I'm feeling very burned out right now.
It's been a couple of weeks of milestones for the girls so it's been pretty exciting! First of all, both Lily and Juliette are now very mobile. They roll both directions and can roll across the room. They can also both twist around pretty easily so it's not a problem if a toy is just out of reach. They can both do amazing pushups (almost on their knees) and are getting better at sitting. Lily today sat up for about 30 seconds unassisted. She's very wobbly but she's strong. I think it's pretty great considering they're just 5 months adjusted age!
Speaking of which, we are slackers and haven't gotten professional photos of them done yet so we've finally scheduled a session. We'll be doing it when they're 6 months (Dec 5) so we're very excited about that. The photographer will also be taking photos of Maia and possibly us so we'll see how that turns out. We are also doing a Christmas photo session on Saturday so maybe we'll actually send out Christmas cards this year!
Today I took all three girls out for the first time by myself. We went to JC Penney's to return something so I figured it couldn't be too bad. In the beginning, Maia was great. She held onto the stroller (since she had to walk) but then she got comfortable and started running off. I don't know how to avoid that other than getting a double stroller and wearing a baby or getting a toddler attachment. I'd like to feel free to go places and do errands but now it's so unpredictable. The upside of our outing was that Lily and Juliette did awesome! I think about 12 ladies stopped me and asked me about the twins and said "you have your hands full". It was kind of funny, actually!
Stacy and Finn came over today so it was great to see her and catch up. Finn is doing so great - he's on solids now and just gobbles them up. It's pretty amazing. I'm looking forward to starting the girls on solids and while I think they think they're ready, I'd like to wait until they are 6 months adjusted age. Everything I read says that solids are really just for play up until about a year anyway and that breastmilk or formula is still the main diet.
Sleep update: it's rough. Lately Ben has been helping me at night which has been really great but it also results in both of us being exhausted. I'm so exhausted sometimes that I can't hear a baby crying when the monitor is right next to me! They are nursing a lot so I hope the scale continues to reflect that.
Speaking of weights, we got their first Synagis shot last week. It wasn't fun but I'm glad we did it. My friend Lorry came along to help with Maia and the girls and it was fabulous having her there. They made us wait for 30 minutes after the shot to monitor for reactions and there weren't any so that was positive. I'm praying that the RSV stays away this season - I'd be devastated if they got it again.
