The twins are 5 months old today (2 m 23 d corrected) so I figured we'd update the blog. There's a lot that has gotten easier - no more night time feedings, no more pumping, not much fussing with taking bottles - but still a bunch that's hard..
Being covered in projectile spit up all day every day...
Having a baby sit nicely with her dad and spew all over you as soon as you pick her up...
Graduating to wearing receiving blankets bc they were missing the burp cloths and STILL have them miss and soak your shirt, pants, floor...
Checking how much they got on themselves and gauging how wet for another outfit change..
And this is TWO babies, spitting up like the kind that just dribbles out of their mouth AND the projectile kind that gets on the floor, the couch, the rug, your back..
And, something I don't think will go away for awhile, musical babies- you pick one up bc they were crying, but the crying set off the other baby, so you put the first one down bc they stopped, go to pick up the second baby, and the first one has started again...
We're also not the best at napping in our cribs - we'll fall asleep just about everywhere else, but as soon as you put one of them in their crib and walk away, the eyes pop open. Is this a normal baby thing? We don't know what we're doing over here...
Anyway.. the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends starting to eat solid foods between 4 and 6 months. At this point, your baby should have neck control and can sit up mostly unassisted; shows an interest in food; and has better mouth control. At our last feeding specialist appointment, our therapist told us that the reason babies tend to push food out of their mouth when starting solids is because they're used to moving their tongue like a wave to get milk out of a nipple - the tip of the tongue pulls down towards the lower jaw creating suction and pulling milk into the mouth, and then the roll of the tongue moves it towards to the back of the mouth to swallow. Eating solid foods (just purees for now) requires more tongue dexterity, so our therapist recommended putting a little bit of food off to the side of their mouths to help roll their tongue sideways.
The pediatrician had recommended starting between 4-6 months actual age, and I'm an impatient person so I was totally on board with this, I just wanted to get things sorted out with the formula first (we actually haven't gotten it sorted out so I'm even more impatient). Yesterday we attempted our first solids - oatmeal mixed with formula before our bottle. I think we tried this twice and it had the kind of results I was expecting - they didn't eat much, most of it came back up or got all over their bib, and within about 10 mins they were screaming to be done and just get their bottle.
Today, I made the oatmeal a little bit thicker (again, we don't know what we're doing), and here's where we get our win - both girls ate their cereal like a champ. Delilah went first - opened her mouth, ate most of the oatmeal without pushing it all out, and finished the bowl I had for her. Madeline ate hers even quicker and was trying to hold onto the spoon to get the oatmeal into her mouth faster. I'm just impressed that they had it figured out after only a day; I don't know if it helped that I was opening my mouth and going ahhhh and then they would open theirs, but I'll tell myself it did
And if it's any indication of how raising twins is going.. I started this post at 5pm on 8/30, and it's now 10 am on 9/1 😵
Feeding them with solids AND bottles can take two hours, no joke.. It used to be that it took an hour to feed them - baby #1 would take about 15 mins to finish their bottle and then would be held upright for 15 mins to help with reflux (but does it really help?...) and then they would get laid back down and baby #2 would eat and also take 30 mins. Then they got big enough that I could put them in the twin Z pillow and I could feed them both at once, they'd be slightly elevated and I wouldn't feel bad about not holding them (ok, just a little bad). At least now with eating solids, I have them in their high chairs, but it's also harder to read their 'I'm hungry' cues because they're at the stage when their hands are starting to always be in their mouth (this used to be my go-to hunger cue).
So take last night for example. We started fussing around 6:30, so I got their bottles together, I got extra milk ready bc I never know how much they'll eat, I got their little bowls with the oatmeal flour, I grabbed bibs and burp cloths. Fussy baby #1 went into the high chair, baby #2 went into the rocker on the floor next to me to be easily accessible with their pacifier. At this point, baby #1 has moved into full hysterics. I set everything up on the dining room table, start mixing milk into the oatmeal, and baby #2 is crying now too. I had my gun range headphones downstairs so I grabbed those and popped paci into baby #2's mouth - it immediately pops back out. Baby #1 is still hysterical so I give her a bit of her bottle hoping she'll calm down enough so I can feed her; I manage to also hold a bottle for baby #2. It's quiet. Ok, now I need to feed baby #1 some oatmeal before she's too full and won't have any. As soon as the bottle comes out, she's crying. I need to let go of baby #2's bottle, she's crying. I try to feed baby #1 her oatmeal with my left hand and hold baby #2's bottle, but baby #1 has swinging arms and she's hitting the spoon, getting her fingers in her mouth (and thus, into oatmeal), swatting at her burp cloth which is covered in spit/drool/throw up/oatmeal, and has almost hit the bowl of oatmeal onto the floor. Sorry baby #2, you're doing to have to wait/cry. I realize these headphones don't completely block sound - adding that to my christmas list... I'm focused on getting the rest of this oatmeal finished so I can go back to feeding them both bottles -I can handle that at the same time, but this baby seems to have forgotten how well she was eating the previous day and it all just keeps coming back out. She's also learned how to make bubbles/vibrate her lips (I don't quite know what she's doing, it's kind of like if you were to emphasize saying 'brrrrr' when it's cold, if that makes sense..) so now she's blowing oatmeal bubbles and spewing food everywhere. The oatmeal has all just turned into spit and I feel disgusting spooning it back into her mouth over and over... I don't know how long we spent, but eventually she just spit so much out (baby #2 is still screaming) that I gave up. Every body gets their bottle and it's quiet again. Baby #1 finishes, so baby #2 is moved into her high chair and oatmeal is mixed. But baby #1 is still hungry, so she's crying again. Baby #2 is also hungry because she didn't get to finish her bottle and I'm not feeding her fast enough. Same thing with baby #1 - she's also forgotten how to eat, although she managed to eat more than her sister, and she's making oatmeal bubbles as well. Wipe her face, fill baby #1's bottle with a little extra, feed both babies their bottles at once. It's around 8:15. Between then and 9pm, everyone finishes eating, anyone still crying gets extra, and we start bed time. Screaming as usual, but that's a different story 💀
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