Dr. Appt

I went to the dr today because I wanted to make sure that they twins did not have thrush/yeast since I am having such a horrible time getting rid of it in me. It makes nursing incredibly painful. I have been on 5 rounds of diflucan with no results. I'm now on the 6th round and we're making it a double.

So, the dr. saw no evidence. I wanted to treat them anyways, but he did not take too kindly to my idea. So conservative.

However, the dr. did give me a prescription for zantac for Henry's reflux. Hopefully we will see an improvement in the spit up and fussiness. At least I got one problem solved and that makes me feel a little bit better since I had to pay $50 for their co-pay. I feel like I get jipped because they are two patients, but they don't take any extra time with them, just extra money.

We also have to go have an x-ray. The dr. wants to make sure that Henry's head is closing or not closing at the right speed. He is concerned that it is closing to quickly in the back of his skull. I pray all is okay.

Hungry Babies

This is what it looks like every time before I feed them.

Eight Weeks

Our babies are eight weeks!

Henry weighs 8 lbs 8 oz

Mary Catherine weighs 7 lbs 13 oz

In seven days they have gained 7 oz which is exactly what they are supposed to do. Even gaining a 1/2 oz per day is fine, but they are doing better than that with gaining one ounce a day.

I think Henry would be further ahead, but his spitting up is so terrible. We go to the dr. next week and I will address this with them. I pray we don't have to jump through a bunch of hoops. I am not normally a pro-medication person when I can just stick it out, but it is frustrating when I'm counting every gram and he's spitting up like a geyser.

They are both starting to smile more and more. Of course, they make me out to be a liar every time because they are smiling at me, but when I call Jason over, they go straight faced. They are such good babies. They melt my heart when they look up at me, especially now because they are really looking at me and tracking me around the room.

Counting It All Joy

Things are going well for the most part. The twins have been nursing exclusively for over a week now. My supply is going well. I only pump twice a day; after the last night feeding and then in the middle of the night when they get a bottle. I pump after the last night feeding because I am not going to nurse anytime soon after and it gives me extra milk to store.

I am having another issue right now that is quite painful. Actually the most painful thing I have experienced in my life. A couple of days after I stopped pumping I got a clogged milk duct. I think it's because I was somewhat engorged. I had been pumping 6-8 times a day and then I went to pumping twice a day.

The clogged milk duct was very painful. I put a hot tea bag on it, took a shower and put the hot sprayer on it and I tried pumping, but nothing worked. Finally, the next feeding Henry was able to break it free. However, as either a result of the clogged duct, or the yeast issue that I have had for the last month, I have a milk blister. Ouch.

When Henry nurses it's like having my body part in a vice and the vice is ripped from my body and thrown against the wall, over and over, while it's still attached.

As if the milk blister wasn't painful enough, I also have bleeding and cracking going on.

Seriously?

I am dreading nursing right now. It builds anxiety in me because I know the pain will be so bad. I am taking around the clock Motrin and have been for days and days. Yesterday it was so bad that I actually took some medicine I had leftover from my delivery. I only took one then, but I have already taken two doses because of this situation. This morning I actually took 1/2 of the dose because yesterday when I took it I fell asleep in like five minutes and barely made it to church.

The Lord will be glorified through this situation. It is only by His grace that I continue to move forward with nursing. I pray for healing and success with this situation. I don't know how long I will be able to provide enough milk for the babies, but as long as I have milk they will nurse.

On a side note, the twins will be 8 weeks on Wednesday! If I can find my battery charger I will take some pictures.

Weight

I weighed the twins tonight in a dry diaper before I bathed them.

Mary Catherine~ 7 lbs 6 oz

Henry~ 8 lbs 1 oz

We have had good feedings all day long today! Yay! It takes about 45 mins to nurse them, but I am not complaining. We have to switch back and forth a few times to make sure that Henry gets enough. This last feeding at 7 pm, MC got almost her whole feeding done in less than 15 mins. I just keep her going so that she's not crying.

I need to ask the LC, but maybe someone else knows so I will ask it here too. Mary Catherine's poop is sometimes green and grainy instead of mustard yellow and grainy. I've read that sometimes that means that she's getting too much foremilk and not enough hind milk. I know that she is getting hind milk because of how much she's drinking, but maybe I'm wrong.

I pray it continues to go well tonight at 10 pm and for the next 10 months! Hee-Hee.

Praise!

I just had to write that this last feeding at 10 am went perfectly.

Both babies got over 3 oz. I ended up having to switch Henry over to Mary Catherine's side at the end because that side makes more, but that's okay. I switched her over to his side just to keep her busy even though she didn't need any more.

I don't realize how much stress this causes me every three hours until something like this happens and I feel so relieved. So much of my day is consumed with their feedings and weight gain. I wouldn't trade it, but it is stressful. I cannot imagine having to deal with a more serious issue with them. I really feel for families that have that in their lives.

Update on Progress

For the last three or four days I have been nursing the twins without the SNS tubing. I am not sure at this point if it was the right decision. I just felt like based on my documentation that the twins were getting lazy with nursing with the tubing. Instead of making progress of drinking less out of the SNS bottle and more from me, they were reversing that trend. They would suck and suck and then let the tubing kind of drizzle in their mouths. And with nursing, you get the best results when they suck continuously.

Yesterday I spoke with the Lactation Consultant about how things were going. We talked through a short term plan that includes the following.

• I will stop pumping except when I give the twins a bottle instead of nursing, like in the middle of the night. We are hoping it will make it so that I'm more full at the beginning of the feeding. The body is supposed to be supply and demand but two hours may have not been enough time to replenish the supply. We're going to try it for a couple of days and see if my supply stay up.

• I will continue to weigh the twins before and after each feeding.

• I will also weigh the twins (in just a dry diaper) each day at the same time to check their weight gain.

If the twins do not get what they usually do when they nurse, I will give them a bottle (of expressed milk) after the feeding to make up the difference. The lactation consultant was not thrilled about this idea and said that 'by the book' they encourage the SNS tubing to avoid the nipple preference issue, but she said that you cannot ignore what the mother observes about her children.

So, basically if I think they are being lazy with the SNS based on my documentation of their intake then we have to work through this another way. Also, I told her that the babies will be getting bottles regardless, so it is not as if I was going to eliminate them all together. They get a bottle in the middle of the night (of expressed milk) and on Sundays at church.

When we use a bottle in the middle of the night it is so much faster because I don't have to weigh them before and after and they drink it faster. Instead of being up for over an hour, we can be back in bed in less than 30 mins. We also know how much they get and don't have to wonder if they are a little fussy if it's because they are still hungry. We can let them fuss their way to sleep without concern of hunger. Thankfully Jason still is willing to help me with their feedings so that I don't lose so much sleep.

I'm not used to having to nurse for 30-45 mins. My other three children were very efficient nursers and were done within 10-15 minutes so I never used bottles. Of course, they weren't sharing a milk supply either.

I'll let you know how it goes over the next few days. Already this morning Henry had to have an ounce in a bottle after nursing for almost an hour. He drank 2 oz, but is usually content with 3 oz, so I gave him the extra oz in a bottle. He subsequently spit up most of the extra ounce, so I don't know if it was worth it. Mary Catherine drank 2 1/2 oz within 30 minutes.

Whoever is on the 'good' side usually has no trouble getting their fill because the milk comes faster. Since Henry's suck is better I put him on the slow side. I figure he can work for it. Eventually he'll get it.

Please continue to pray for us. We are thankful for your prayers. We give the Lord the glory for any improvement we have with the twins.