Sunday, December 20, 2009

Two months and growing strong

Our trio is making such rapid progress; it's hard to keep up with the daily changes.

Their little faces are changing by the day. About two weeks ago we noticed they suddenly had eyelashes and this past week their eyebrows started to become more prominent. Just yesterday, I noticed the girls are now crying real tears. It breaks my heart when they cry, and the addition of tears doesn't help mom's coping ability!

They are looking around much more, and able to focus much better than just a week or two ago. We have been playing "tracking" games with high contrast toys and it's very cool to try and figure out what they're staring at.

Julia has managed to roll over from her back to her side, and Ada is kicking up a storm whenever she does tummy time. Emma is my tiniest little pixie, but is catching up nicely to her sisters. They are all able to lift and support the weight of their heads, but not for very long.

I'm still pumping around the clock and we bottle feed them (the adults take turns to feed them), but I have made a concerted effort in recent days to get them all to latch. Breastfeeding has been slow and frustrating because I never seem to have the time to focus on just one baby.

We feed them on a staggered schedule, but it's a moving target as they seem to hit growth spurts just as we figure out their needs. It's incredible to note how much longer they're able to breastfeed now than when they first came home. In terms of their adjusted age they are barely a week old, so I have to keep reminding myself to be patient. As with pretty much all of their development thus far, they are doing things in birth order. Ada breastfeeds the longest (30-45 minutes) and latches best, Julia breastfeeds for about 20-30 minutes, and Emma can go for about five minutes before exhaustion sets in.

The trio has the most inquisitive little fingers. When we bottle feed them they touch the bottle and sometimes look like they want to hold it themselves. We use glass bottles with silicone sleeves and it's obvious that they love checking out the patterns on the brightly colored sleeves.

Their little bodies are so much chubbier now than they were just two weeks ago. The girls are all 7-8 lbs. We used the last preemie size diaper yesterday and couldn't be happier that they've finally graduated to the newborn size. Woot! I just adore the chubby baby creases in their arms and legs, and their cute double chins. What a difference from the scrawny, fragile little preemies they were at birth almost two months ago.

On Christmas day they will be exactly two months old. What an amazing, precious Christmas "gift" they are...

8 comments:

Amber said...

It's awesome to hear updates on your sweet little girls. I'm so glad they're coming along so well!!! Hope you all have a merry Christmas.

Carrie said...

Go girls! I am so happy you are all thriving! I hear you on the nursing. I had no idea how hard it would be!

Enjoy your sweeties and happy two months!

BB said...

So nice to hear about their progress! God Bless them all! BTW, you mentioned you are using glass bottles to feed them. That is something I would like to do, but I am a little concerned with the cleaning/sterilization part... I mean most people now a days use the "BPA-free" plastic bottles (which I don't quite completely trust) and the microwave sterilizers, and from whatever research I have done so far, nobody seems to sterilize the glass bottles in (microwave/electronic) a sterlizer. How are you managing to clean the bottles while being so caught up with your three lil miracles?

Michele said...

Yay for newborn diapers!!! I remember being so happy that they were out of preemies and now that they are in size 1, it is just amazing!

I'm so glad the girls are all doing well! Great news!

Anonymous said...

Indeed Mommy....Your first Christmas as Mom and Dad....with Grandparents by your side....and indeed the Gift of the Girls....who could ask for more. Hope you have a merry one indeed and actually get to sit down and eat some Turkey for you and the Girls! Sounds like you are getting into some kind of rhythm even with moving targets. CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS from a year ago....right?

Chelle said...

I am so happy the girls are doing so good!

Merry Christmas!

BB said...

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas as one big happy family!

Kate said...

Happy two months and I love your details on the girls. Real tears! Oh momma, that must be hard!

I am amazed at all you do, and they are so lucky to have you too.

Happy happy new year, and thank you for sharing with us!

xo
Kate