Leading the Double Life

Life's a Beach

Tonight is the eve of my LO's 3 month birthday, and we are in sunny Avalon, NJ, with my hubby's family for vacation. A few fun things happened this month that are worth mentioning.

First, Emma broke the 8 pound mark! She's finally a REAL BABY! Jane is not far behind at around 7 lbs. Since they are gaining weight and the momentum of their weight gain has increased, we also got the OK to do away with one feeding a night! So instead of waking the girls up at midnight, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., they wake us up when they are hungry. Our new feeding schedule is 9 p.m. and then around 1 a.m., 5 a.m. and then I get the girls up for the day at 9 a.m. Woohoo! Three hour sleep sessions every night!

Peacefully sleeping in the Big Girl Bed.

Last week, the heat in NJ broke and I have been able to start bringing the girls out for walks. Hershey patiently built my Baby Jogger City Select and we were OFF! We took walks every morning last week and have begun making walks a part of our daily routine. The girls really enjoy the fresh air, even though they usually sleep through the walks. And I love bragging about them ("Yes, they are twins, yes I take them out all by myself, yes they are the cutest things EVER!").

Walking at the Duck Pond in B'Field

Strolling at the Marina in Avalon

We also are now allowed to SOCIALIZE! With that great news, we planned our trip to Avalon, packed up the car, and got on the road to attend my sister-in-law's bridal shower, where the ladies got their first look at the bay!

Janey gazing out at the water.

Aunt Heather with Emmy.

Janey saying 'hi' to her Godfather (aka the Groom), Uncle Brett.

Jane with Grandma, looking out at the boats.

Emma loves her Aunt Heather (aka her Godmother, aka the Bride).

In addition to all of this excitement, the girls have met several milestones. Being that they were 8 weeks premature, they have what is called an "adjusted age". Their original due date was July 6th, which makes their "adjusted age" actually four weeks. That being said, they should be meeting the same milestones as a 4 week old baby. However, they are developmentally very far ahead! They have begun smiling, holding up their own heads, chewing on and being entertained by things other than their choopies (aka pacifiers), and practicing sitting up! They also track Hershey and I around the room when they hear our voices, recognize our faces, and coo in an attempt to communicate. It is SO COOL!

Noms, Sophie, you taste NUMMY!

Good morning, Mama! I know you! Thanks for the Big Girl bed slumber party this morning!

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Every breath you take...every move you make.......

I'll be back later this week with more pictures and stories, because I have many! If you have questions about anything or are curious about the products that I am using, feel free to leave me a comment.

Hope that you have a great week! Happy twinning!

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Cute baby feets to brighten your week!

11:42 PM
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#babycation

family

Tomorrow (today, since it is 2:30 a.m.), we will depart for our very first family vacation. Hershey, the girls, and I will be spending 12 glorious days at Hershey's family's beach house in Avalon, NJ.

First and foremost, thank God or whoever is out there for vacations! I have been cooped up in our apartment since May. MAY. Do you know how stir crazy that can make a person? Needless to say, my shopping apps have become my credit card's enemy (WHYYY did you come up with online shopping H&M???).

Second, packing for myself has always been a total Pain in the Ass, but packing for two babies is probably the second hardest thing I've ever done in my life (giving birth to two babies being the first). I spent an hour in the nursery being chided by my husband as I put away all of the laundry so that I could walk through my day and pack as I went ("Yeah that makes total sense, put everything away and then take it back out to put it into a suitcase!" Know what? Shut it!). I know I'm forgetting at least 13 things, which I'm not sure how because I pretty much packed everything in the nursery, besides the cribs.

On top of laundry and packing, I also cooked dinner for my parents and bathed the girls and got them ready for bed. I was feeling like Super Mom until I realized that it was 1:30 a.m. and I hadn't gone to bed yet. I was then kicking myself because every hour Jane has woken up howling in pain with her first diaper rash (of course, because we leave for vacation today), at which point I peeled myself out of bed, tripped over my own 73 suitcases, and swept Jane off to the nursery so that she could scream some more as I smeared Baby Anti Monkey Butt paste all over everything from her ears down, hoping to beat the diaper rash at its own game.

It is now 6:39 a.m. and I am running on about 14 minutes of consecutive sleep (maybe 3 hours total). Thankfully Hershey is driving. I think I'll be taking naps in between rest stops to recover from my packing experience.

I'll be blogging from the beach while we are away, posting about our activities and travel essentials. I'm looking forward to Hershey and I's first grown-up-night-out-while-Grandma-babysits night!

Hope you have a great weekend! Happy twinning!

2:38 AM
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Feeding Hour at the Zoo

animals

Yesterday, my best friend of 11 years and I made plans to meet at Van Saun Park. I packed up the twins and about 47 pounds of shit and drove the 10 minutes to meet her there with my godson and nephew.

The twins were obviously not impressed by the various animal exhibits, but my nephews had a blast, and my bff and I got some much-needed mommy/girlfriend time. Sitting in my house taking care of two newborns for 3 months made me forget how much I love spending time with my GIRLFRIENDS!

Some things that I absolutely NEEDED and could not have lived without yesterday.

1. My diaper bag, along with the handy portable changing pad.

2. Portable ready to feed formula.

3. My awesome amazing stroller (I talked about this in a previous post).

4. Johnson & Johnson Hand and Face Wipes. Lots of germy kids around there!

5. The parent console that is sold separately from my stroller. Seriously.

Jayden (godson), Jayce, Jane, and Emma.
Poor Emmy, the only non-J name of the day (my bestie's name is Jenny).

Jane woke up for about 14 seconds to show off this adorable outfit.

Have a great HUMP DAY! Happy twinning!

Our 3 favorite girls on their activity mat.

12:15 AM
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Nom Nom ...Babies Need to Eat, Too!

bottle warmers

I'm on the baby circuit. You know, there are these circuits in a woman's life. The single circuit...the wedding circuit...the baby circuit...the mommy circuit...you get the idea.

Many of my friends are currently pregnant. Seriously, I have to use both hands to count how many pregnant friends I have right now! So many people ask me about different products that I use with Jane and Emma. It's like birthing twins has made me this instant mommy expert. And I'm totes fine with that!

One of the things that I'm asked about the MOST is my feeding regimen with the girls. Now, it's a little bit different because the girls were 8 weeks early, so my main focus was on pumping them as full of formula and breast milk as possible to get their weight up as quickly as possible, but the STUFF that I use is universal.

Yesterday I posted a link to this study that shows that Dr. Brown's bottles are the best bottles to use overall. I had heard that they are great for preemies, and excellent for reflux, but I had no idea just how great they are for ALL babies. Since I have twins, I have them in two different colors. Since the girls are different sizes, their volume is different, so I color-coded the bottles (Jane gets pink bottles, Emma gets blue bottles). The only total rip off is that the colored bottles are $3 more expensive than the original Dr. Brown's bottles. There is NO difference, other than the fancy color. Register for the fancy colors if you want them, but buy the original yourself. Save the money!

Notice Mommy's bottles to the left. ;)

I have the 4 ounce bottles, with size 2 standard flow nipples. The girls started on size 1 standard flow, and we just bumped them up to the number 2 this week because they were starting to show signs of frustration at the nipple (shaking head back and forth, stopping sucking and making whining noises, putting fists in mouth with nipple). Apparently this means that they aren't getting the milk fast enough (fatties), so we moved them up a size. It took them about a day to adjust and not dribble as much, so you have to be patient when you move them up.

Another word about bottles. I have been feeding the girls 8 times a day, so I have 9 of each bottle. That way, I only have to wash bottles once a day (in the dishwasher!). I also have the 4 ounce bottles, which they will be growing out of within the next month. They are currently taking 3 ounces, so they are about to need a bigger bottle! I would strongly advise against starting with a bigger bottle, though, because a bigger bottle with a little bit of formula means more air in the bottle, which can go into the nipple and into baby and cause painful gas bubbles. Also, when you have more air in the bottom of the bottle, when you tip it up, the air will force the formula faster into the nipple, causing the formula to fly into baby's mouth. Then they choke, spit up, and that's counterproductive!

I have heard a lot of push back on Dr. Brown's bottles because they are 6 pieces each (yes SIX parts that you have to clean each time!). The good news is that these bottles are dishwasher safe. After each feeding, I break the bottles apart, put the parts into dishwasher baskets, and soak the nipples in a tub of soapy water in the sink. I also use a different sponge and specific bottle cleaning paraphernalia to clean the nipples.

Playtex Brushes that came with a drying rack that I no longer use.

I use a regular tupperware container to soak the nipples, and a separate sponge from the one
I use for the rest of the kitchen to clean the parts by hand when needed.
I hand wash the nipples to avoid dishwasher detergent residue and to keep the nipples young!

The baskets that saved my life!
Fun Fact: Don't wash your bottles in the dishwasher with anything covered in spaghetti sauce.
I dyed all of my bottles and bottle parts ORANGE and had to replace parts because they looked
DISGUSTING!

The hubs took about 15 of these sanitizing baggies off of a Medela table at a baby expo,
and was so proud of himself that he got us some free swag!
This is the new drying rack that I use. It takes up hardly any space, and I can pile stuff up on this like there's no tomorrow. Drives the hubs crazy, but I love it!

It took me a while to find a bottle warmer that I liked. At first, I figured I would save my money and just heat up bottles in hot water. I quickly learned that that took FOREVER, and when there is a baby screaming in my face and one screaming on the couch, I need to know that in 3 minutes and 50 seconds I will have perfectly warmed bottles. I finally went with the Dr. Brown's warmer because it seemed to have everything I was looking for, and it goes with my bottles and I have OCD and love things that match! Just make sure to clean this thing every other day or so. I smelled something disgusting the other night and looked inside of the warmer and it looked like yellow cheese had formed on the inside of it. GROSS! I had to dump the bottle and resort to hot water in a measuring cup as Jane screamed bloody murder at 3:30 a.m. Don't do what I did!

I found this warmer cheapest on Amazon, and it was delivered in two days for free with my Amazon Mom account!

Now, this warmer does not travel well, and we like to go places that we can stay in for more than 3 hours. When we go to people's houses, we can just use the water in a cup trick. But if we are on the road, or if I want to take the girls to a park for the day, I need something that will warm the bottles without having to plug in. I found a Tommee Tippee warmer on Amazon that had great reviews. It is scheduled to arrive on Monday, and I'll let you know in a follow up post how it works out. Another staple for traveling with baby is an insulated bottle carrier. I use an Ameda one that I purchased when I was breastfeeding, and I used it to transport my milk to the hospital while the girls were in the NICU. It fits four 4-ounce Dr. Brown's bottles perfectly, but once we move up to the next size I will have to invest in a larger bag. Probably this one, because I'm crazy!

I also purchased travel tops for the bottles, because I found that just plugging up the bottles or putting the tops over the nipples allowed the bottles to leak. These tops were LIFE SAVERS!

While I love taking my girls out on the town, there is nothing like staying home, rocking them and feeding them. I tried to create an area in the nursery that was dedicated to bonding in this way. Here are some pictures of our feeding area.

Shout out to my friend Staci at My 3 Monkeys Designs for the AWESOME subway art of the girls' names behind the glider.
Please visit her page, like her and consider purchasing some swag for your babe's room!

The "Babies Sleeping" sign above the glider was purchased from this shop on Etsy. She was wonderful to work with.

I won't bore you with 3,000 details. If you have questions about the things that we use in our feeding area, please leave me a comment and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have!

Finally, a lot of people ask me what kind of formula we use. Right now we are using Similac Alimentum. The girls have a milk protein allergy that causes bloody poop, so the doctors wrote us prescriptions for the special formula. Our insurance covers it 90%, so if you find yourself in a special position like this, make sure to call your insurance company and find out if they will cover it. Alimentum is $60 for a case of six 32-ounce bottles, which we go through in less than a week. Submitting the claim is a total pain in the ass, and we are still waiting on our refund checks from 6 weeks ago, but it's TOTALLY worth it!

One final word on feeding. Our babies have reflux medications that they are on, and they get very gassy, and they get belly aches frequently. Invest in gripe water (REFRIGERATE it after you open it. It says it so small on the bottle, and we had to throw a bottle away and get a new one because I didn't realize, and this stuff is NOT inexpensive!), and gas drops. Gas drops can be used at every feeding, and they HELP! I also brought home extra syringes from the hospital which I wash every day so that I can set up the reflux medication ahead of time so that I can just grab a syringe and go when it's time to administer the meds.