Three months old.

It's so hard to believe C&C are over three months old already. They are developing their distinct little personalities! Chloe is our high needs/high strung baby, while Connor is laid back and usually very easy going. They are both wearing at least three month clothes, with a few 3-6 or 6 months items being worn at times. It's very hard to believe they were preemies! I know I've said that before, but when you see their chubby baby bodies.......

We are working on increasing their feeding amounts and length between feedings. They are able to take three ounces...but not consistently. Sometimes they go three hours between feedings, sometimes more and sometimes less. Yesterday, they were both piggies....each had twelve feedings and almost a liter of breast milk or formula. Luckily, they both slept from about 8pm to midnight, giving us a nice break. After the midnight feeding, they were up about every two hours....they can improve their work in that area!

I'm still pumping breast milk, but it's wearing me out. Before delivery, I planned to exclusively breast feed and not use formula. My how plans change! With their fifteen day NICU stay, they were supplemented with formula and bottle fed. Chloe gave up on breast feeding before leaving the NICU, Connor shortly after returning home. Last night, I've given up on the hope of being able to breast feed either. I've accepted that. I've also decided to cut back on the amount I'm pumping with the breast pump. I had been pumping seven to eight times a day...but am going to cut back to five or six times a day. Last night I only pumped after the 3am feeding. Not pumping after the midnight feeding allowed me to return to bed within twenty minutes of starting both of their feedings. It was heavenly! When I do pump after feeding, it's at least an hour from getting out of bed to returning to bed. My goal is to continue to provide breast milk until the end of flu/RSV season, which would bring us to March. The amount of formula C&C receive will increase, yet they will still be receiving my antibodies through the breast milk I'm able to provide. My hope is that they will have a healthy winter and if they do get sick, it will be mild. Best case I would have loved to be able to nurse both babies....but I'm accepting of how things are turning out. Obviously, the babies are thriving!

Ok, enough of this post....
later,
Jennie