So now I'm challenged with the task of remembering the past 14 weeks.... This is tough.
We stayed in the hospital from September 20th to September 24th. I didn't want to leave. While in the hosptial, we were visited by an amazing group of family and friends and were completely overwhelmed with their generosity.
We introduced the girls to their new home on Saturday, September 24th- the day after Chris' and my 5 year wedding anniversary. I can't imagine a more perfect anniversary gift!
On Sunday, September 25th, the girls went for their first walk through the neighborhood. It was BEAUTIFUL out! Sunny, warm, blue skies. Mother Nature obviously knew two amazing babies had just entered the world and wanted to impress them.
Chris stayed home with us until the following Thursday when he had to go back to work. I felt homesick when he left. My family unit was broken up and I felt completely off. Luckily my mom was there to help me for the first few days.
Andy surprised us at my front door the last weekend of Sept. My mom and I were sitting on the couch and the doorbell rang.... it was Uncle Andy!! Cue the tears...
Uncle Ryan also came to visit the same weekend. It was a complete Blandfee reunion.
At 10 days old, the girls took their first trip out of the house. We were on the hunt for baby Browns gear and traveled to two Old Navy's and Target in search of the perfect apparel.
Their first restaraunt experience was on the patio of Chipotle around 2 weeks old. They were perfect angels.
Over the course of the next several weeks, we had many visitors so excited to meet our beautiful baby girls! And we were thrilled to show them off!
I tried to get into a groove pretty early on. We'd wake up and eat in our bedroom. When they fell back to sleep, I would take a shower and pump. Eventually, we'd head down to the living room where we spent the remainder of the day.
I can't exactly remember when, but we eventually transitioned bedtime into a process of the girls sleeping in our bedroom with the monitor on while we stayed in the living room. This was tough... really tough. Before this, they would stay in the living room with us until we were all ready for bed. This way, I could sit and stare at them nearly 24/7. Moving them to the bedroom was a good idea though. It started establishing a bedtime routine. Around 9-10 weeks, the girls started sleeping longer at night and we were able to elliminate one of our middle-of-the-night feedings.
At around 12 weeks, we started transitioning them into their own room. This was WAY harder on mom than it was on babies. Our routine became eating around 8:00 and bedtime right after. They'd sleep for a long stretch in their cribs and around 4 am would wake up and come into our room with us. Baby steps for mom...
So that brings us up to now.... they are 14 weeks old and here's what they're up to:
Ellie talks. all. the. time. She laughs and coos and giggles and smiles. You cannot help but laugh.
Charlotte LOVES to stick out her tongue. She'll do it all day long. She'll give you a smile, but you have to work for it and even then it's likely more of a smirk... much like her daddy.
Both girls can now roll over from their bellies to their backs! Charlotte did it for the first time on December 21st- one day after her 3 month birthday. Ellie followed suit soon after on Christmas day!
They eat around 5.5-6 ounces every 3 hours.
They go to bed around 8:00 and sleep until 2:00 am (sometimes longer). They'll take their binkie and go right back to sleep. 4:00 am - 7:00 am is a little dicey sometimes as they reapidily lose their binkies.
They LOVE to be naked! Nakie baby time is their favorite. They'll wiggle and dance. If they are fussy (fussy time = 5 pm - 7 pm), nakie baby time calms them down nearly every time.
They love bathtime and get a bath every other day in the kitchen. We put their tub on the kitchen sink, bathe them there and use the island to dry and dress them. It's worked out perfectly so far.
They've begun grasping things and love putting their entire fists in their mouths.
About mommy:
My body has been a little less than cooperative since giving birth. My guess is that my nutrients are leaving me through my breastmilk and my defenses are a little lower than usual. At a couple weeks old, I developed mastitis for the first time. It's when a plugged milk duct becomes infected and results in breast pain and a fever. It's treated with antibiotics. I went to the doc, got some meds and felt better almost instantly. A couple weeks later... it came back. My fever spiked at 103, but quickly went away. NEXT, the top of my foot randomly became numb. It turns out that because my pelvis is trying to reposition itself, I likely have a pinched nerve. THEN I got a double ear infection and my right ear drum ruptured. O.U.C.H. THEN my Crohn's had a mini-flare and I got pouchitis. THEN my ear infection came back in my left ear. Because of my pouchitis, I was unable to feed the girls my breast milk, so I was forced to pump and dump for about 3 weeks until the meds were gone and out of my system. I'm finally able to feed them again and am super thankful to be back at it.
Phew, okay I think that's it. I'm on the mend now and am hoping my string of bad health is over!
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