One month update

I'm a little late writing this blog, but I finally have the time and energy to write something so here it goes:

This past month has flown by. My day pretty much consist of feeding, pumping and sleeping. And when I'm not sleeping I want to eat. When the girls were in the NICU they were on a 3 hour feeding schedule, so when they came home we decided to keep them on that schedule that way they can continue to gain weight. Most of the time we had to wake them up to eat, which still baffles me. I've always known babies who would let you know if they are hungry, and would wake up to eat, but preemies are a whole different story. They loved to be swaddled, being held, and sleeping close to mom and dad. They are small enough and don't really move around that much, so they currently sleep in the same crib. I originally had the crib up against the wall, but a couple of weeks ago we moved it against the bed because they weren't sleeping well at night. It allows me to be closer to them but don't have to worry about rolling on top of them. It has been working out really good and the girls are sleeping much better. They currently still like to sleep a lot and have started to wake up on their own when they are hungry, so they are now on their own feeding schedule, although we try not to have them go more then 4 hours.

When in the NICU I wanted to try breastfeeding, but as preemies they don't develop that sucking motion until much later. And whenever I breastfed they would be too exhausted to finish their bottles because breastfeeding used up too much of their energy. We have been giving them bottles of expressed breast milk, supplementing about tablespoons worth of formula. This formula is specially made for babies who are born prematurely, because it has extra calories in it so they can gain weight.  Now that they are home and considered full term (April 28th) I have started breastfeeding them. They get a little frustrated and I have to use a nipple shield, but they actually do really well. After a little bit they fall asleep on the breast and afterwards we offer a bottle because they still don't get much from the breast. I'm hoping eventually they will get it down so we don't have to worry about bottles, and I look forward to the day that I can feed at the same time. Feeding them one after another, and then pumping right afterwards, doesn't leave me much time for sleep. I'm so thankful for Tyrel who has been so supportive and even getting up at night to help feed them so I can get sleep. He really is such a good dad

Motherhood is amazing and everything I've ever wanted. And even with the sleepless night. I was definitely born to be a mother!