The Frenches: Our Boys First Few Weeks

After our first day
The next couple of days in the hospital were a whirlwind. Here are some random events/thoughts not in any particular order…

• Jason spent the first night and third night with us at the hospital. The first night went well, but little sleep as so many nurses came in and we worked on breastfeeding. The 3rd night Jason and I got to handle everything on our own and it went great! The second night it was just me and the boys. It went well, but having so many nurses around trying to help you breastfeed can get to be a little hard.
• Recovering from the C-Section was a lot more painful than I thought it would be. My incision is a little bigger than usual due to their size and Gavin’s position (breech and his back against my skin which is why he came out butt first. Instead of pulling out the head first, they had to pull him out doubled over making for a bigger opening necessary.) The pain was different than anything I’ve felt before. Almost like someone was burning me from the inside out. Anyways, it started to get better almost a week later. Now at 2 weeks I’m doing great! A little tender, but nothing bad at all!
• I gained a lot of water weight while pregnant and what's crazy is that I lost 50 lbs by day 10 and 70 lbs by day 13! I look like a shadow of my former self. My tummy is so tiny and I can see all my bones now! I actually lost muscle while pregnant, so my calves/legs have never been this skinny since middle school. Looks like I’ll be working to gain weight/muscle instead of trying to loose fat! A great thing now, but it was very hard on my body the first couple of weeks.
• Because of the rapid weight loss, and so many other factors like hormones and recovery I’m sure, I had a rough couple of weeks suffering from nausea and all that entails. I couldn’t eat much at all which isn’t good for healing, taking care of twin newborns and breastfeeding to say the least… I actually ended up having to go to the ER at day 8 due to violent vomiting all morning. It slowly got better and by day 14 or so, I can say I started to feel so much better!
• My mom came down the Saturday before delivery and left two Fridays afterwards. She was a great help. She went to the grocery store for us and cooked lots of great food to put in the freezer! She helped with the boys at night which allowed Jason to get some rest as well as me sometimes. It was hard seeing her go. It was also great that Jason's mom, my grandma and Selina and Josh were all here too! It was wonderful seeing them with the boys!
• This past weekend was our first weekend alone with the boys and it went real well. We even went for a walk on Sunday!
• This past Monday (2 weeks) was my first full day just the three of us. It went very well. We even went to the pediatrician just us three. I figured I’m going to have to do it eventually, I might as well see how it goes! Then on Tuesday I took them to my OB appt to show them off.
• Adjusting with twin newborns is a little more difficult that I thought it would be. I really wish they came with detailed instructions. With one, it wouldn’t be a big deal at all, but with two, there are a few situations I just don’t know what will work best yet. One is feedings… What do I do when they are both hungry at the same time and crying? The other is related to breastfeeding. They boys love to eat and already eat 3-4 oz at one sitting. That is more than I can produce breast wise. I can now produce about 2-3 oz on each side, but that’s not enough for them seeing that there are two! So we’ve continued to supplement feed with formula which I wish we didn’t have to. Pumping seems to be easier than nursing at this point in our 'schedule'. I’m thinking about contacting a lactation consultant with twin experience to help out. While I want to continue BF, I just don’t know if my body will allow me to produce enough to feed our hungry boys. I'm sure the BM I'm producing is sure better than nothing though!
• Right now their ‘schedule’ or patterns I should say is to eat 3-4 oz total every 2-4 hours. They sleep about 2-3 hour stretches give or take. They sleep best swaddled and w/o the pacifier which they tend to use sparingly. The whole feeding and changing process with boy boys takes about 1.5-2 hours; but we are becoming more efficient as time goes. We never thought this process would take so long. We’ve had a mixture of great nights, good nights and poor nights. I’m looking forward to when we have a schedule and I have a clue about what to do and how to do it all. This learning process is much harder than I thought, but oh so wonderful at the same time!
• While the learning process is harder than I thought, being Gavin and Wyatt’s mother is AMAZING! I wouldn’t trade it for anything. God is so good! I love my boys so much! They are such great boys too! Both boys are very calm and laid back. Gavin seems to be a little more laid back right now that Wyatt though, as Wyatt tends to exercise his vocal cords a little more often ;) Just starting last night (day 15) both boys started to make random ‘coos’ every now and then! They do it more each day. I love it when they smile too! I know it’s not caused by anything specific yet, but they have the most precious smiles! It melts my heart! Gavin sneezes a whole lot and always sneezes in 2s or 3s. I’m hoping he doesn’t have my allergies, but right now it looks like he might. Wyatt ended up getting a bad diaper rash that the Butt Paste and Desitin didn’t help. The pediatrician gave us some cream that has cleared it up in just a day! Their umbilical cords and circumcision ring have fallen off, so we’ve been able to give them better baths. Gavin still enjoys his bath for the most part, but Wyatt didn’t like it at first. The past few days though, he’s been enjoying them more. Guess he’s getting used to it.
• At their 2 week check up, both boys weighed 8 lbs and were 21 ½ inches. They are doing great!
• Starting just a few days ago, about day 15 or so, both boys have started to try to ‘coo’. It’s not a lot of talking, but they are becoming more aware and trying to communicate some other than crying. It’s so precious and just warms my heart.
• As I mentioned above, my milk supply is increasing. I can now make about 2-3 oz on each side which is pretty good. The boys are great eaters though, and require about 4 oz at this point each feeding. Time between feedings now ranges from 3-5 hours, with about 1.5-3 hours of sleep in there somewhere. It takes about 1.5 – 2 hours for the whole feeding, changing and snuggling process of each baby. So sleep is more than it could be, but still not abundant. We couldn’t ask for more though with two newborn boys!
• Yesterday, day 18 we tried out our Baby Hawk Mai Tai wraps and love them! It’s great being able to ‘wear’ the boys around the house and be able to have our hands free. It will come in handy for me when I’m home alone too so I can ‘wear’ one and hold the other.
• Both boys are very gassy. It sometimes hurts Wyatt a little more, but even that seems to be getting better. But I never knew two little boys could toot and burp so loud and so often. When people are over, I have to clarify it’s the boys making all that noise, because it really sounds like grown men!
• We went for our first walk last Sunday at just about 2 weeks. It was great to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. The dogs had fun joining us as well! We love our stroller and car seat getup; it really is easy to use! I call it the ‘limousine’ since it’s so long!

Below are some random pics from the past couple of weeks I wanted to share; in no particular order:

Boys with Great-Grandma Bloomer