so cute, so tired

sorry for the lack of posting, but you can blame it on the lack of sleep. H was home with me for the first month, but he went back to work this wednesday and my mom's been here to help me out. but i'm still exhausted. Mostly I wanted to thank everyone for all the emails phone calls and gifts. I will get around to answering everyone. maybe. by 2025.

let's see, quick updates while H is on baby patrol and I am supposed to have 5 free minutes to check my email and fend off the cat. (Petey hates typing)

• Babies are each over 6lbs


• Breast feeding going well (obviously based on weight gain) with shields... most of the time... we are still battling some latch issues which I hope will get better as they get bigger.


• They are eating every 3 hours or so. On roughly the same schedule with a few extra feedings here and there as they request. And by request, I mean shriek loudly.


• Petey is now a guard cat. whenever I put a baby down, he sits nearby and stares at her until I put the other one next to her or pick her up. When I am nursing them, he sits in the nearest window to keep out intruders. it's pretty funny.


• I've taken a shower almost everyday this week.


• My c-section incision has just about healed but I am still not quite up to my old freakish strength. We won't discuss my bathroom issues... it's not pretty. This is what happens when you get 90% of the way through a vaginal delivery and the babies change their minds. I wish the little darlings would have told me how wedged in there they really were. I could have been saved a lot of heartache... not to mention my ass

So that's about all I can think of to mention. I bought a baby sling (commence laughing crazy diana) to try and deal with C's intense need for being held. all. the. time. even while sleeping. I don't have the vaguest idea how to use it even though I've watched the instructional video twice and once with H. I put her in it, but i just think she looks all mashed up. The end of the video suggests going to a la leche league meeting for help. this may have to happen soon as i think I'm too sleep deprived to understand even video instructions.

anyway, here's a pic of unbearable cuteness from their one month birthday:

Try to handle all that cuteness. By the way, these little froggy sleepers have already been outgrown.

just a quick update

don't have a lot of time or brain cells these days, but here's what's note-worthy:

had weight check yesterday by visiting nurse -- chloe 5lb 4oz and zoe 5lb even. both girls are now 19 inches long and chloe's head circum is up 2cm and zoe's up 1cm. I credit these minor differences to the fact that chloe had just eaten and zoe's poor head was ginormous at birth due to huge bruise from suction (more on that later)

cloth diapering is actually going really well. we had some wicked diaper rash for a few days, which may or may not have been a result of my taking antibiotics for the world's worst UTI. I will not feel guilty if this is the case as drugs were necessary. At least I've quit the percoset (under duress :)

breast feeding is going... well, it's going. we are fully on breast milk. all feedings but two are directly nursing and the two overnight feedings are pumped breast milk supplemented with formula to boost the calories as per NICU recommendations. Apparently we should keep this up until 6mo. That's actually ok with me as I get a little break at night. H gets up and does the changing and bottle feeds and I just have to function long enough to turn the pump on. glamorous, I know

as far as the actual nursing goes, well, it ain't a comercial for the ease of breast feeding, I can tell you that. The babies have small mouths and well, we've all read about my monstrous mamaries, so there's some issues there. The lactation ladies in the hospital gave me nipple shields which seem to help as it gives them something manageable to latch onto. However, it gives them some wicked gas. At least I'm blaming the gas on the use of silicone shields and not on genetics. you be your own judge of that. I'd like to get them off the shields and we've been practicing without them a little. It's getting mixed reactions. Zoe is game and will give au natural a shot. Chloe just looks at me like, "really? you want me to put all of this in my mouth? have you gone mad, woman?!"

House is fully sided with new gutters and windows. they are coming back next week to install gutter guards and shutters. It looks like a new house. ok, not new, but like an old house that's less crappy :)

petey has stopped biting out his fur and is back on eating regular old meow mix at nights and staring at babies with curiosity and some moderate disdain. right now, I have the front windows open (for the first time ever!!!) and he is in heaven.

Petey is going to be pissed, though when I close the windows in a few as we are going to take the babies on a little walk around the block for some fresh air. Not sure if this is sanctioned, but the air outside has got to beat the old ass air in here. I mean, some of the air in here may be over a century old. spew.

so that's the news that's fit to print. no picures today as I'm too tired to seek out the cord for the camera and upload any. tough noogies for you. oh, and I'll take any suggestions on the breast feeding conundrum. how bad should I feel about the shields and how anxious should I be to get past them? I kind of feel like, if it's working for now... thoughts?

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN

we are all finally home. chloe joined us in our tiny house on wednesday just in time for fireworks, torrential rains, and seven thousand workmen installing siding and gutters.

We should be thankful to the NICU that these two sleep through anything.

now if i could just get some sleep...

Unbelieveable Cuteness

I promise to write up all the gory details of how Chloe and Zoe made their arrival about 3 weeks ahead of time, but I just haven't processed it all yet.

Both girls are doing really well. They are still up at the hospital hanging out in the NICU gaining some weight and charming the nurses. Hopefully they will come home this week!

In unrelated news, here's what H and I accomplished last week in between schlepping tothe NICU at all hours:

• new car
• new windows in the house
• new siding on the house (happening today)
• 1 million more loads of baby clothes in premie sizes
• 2 million pictures of the two cutest babies on planet earth

I made H go to work today since the girls have top quality baby sitters for the next few days and I can finally go to the bathroom on my own (I told you it was a gruesome delivery). He already used a week of leave watching me pee and driving me to the NICU at midnight because I can't sleep if I don't tuck them in. Oh, and the crying. sometimes rational, sometimes not. can't tell the difference.

But, like I said, it was worth it. I still can't believe they are mine.