It is so cute to see their little personalities developing. Jade was all smiles this morning while she was with her brothers...too cute not to share:)
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On full bath nights everyone is happy-Brooklynn especially! I think they are all going to love the water...they instantly relax as soon as their feet hit the water. We also had a mini-photo shoot this morning since the girls were all in matching clothes (Thanks for the cute outfits Grandma Alferio!!) The first two photos were taken while I was getting ready this morning. Jacob had already left for work and of course they started waking up one-by-one before it was time to eat. They have been doing a great job sleeping for longer stretches at night but since they have started doing that it makes the morning a little less predictable as to when they will start waking up. Typically they eat their last bottle around 9:00 PM and then go upstairs to bed. They sleep about 6 hours, waking up between 3 and 4:00 AM. We try to get them to 9:00 AM after that feed but they have been waking up around 8:00. They aren't cranky and wanting to eat then-just awake. They all "played" and cuddled until I was ready and it was closer to 9:00...not only have we been blessed with healthy babies but also well behaved babies--at least for now! haha;) Its been a crazy week as usual with very little free time!! They are all growing so fast and changing almost over night so I hope you enjoy the newest pictures! Today an in home care company came to give the quints their shots for RSV. It is so nice not having to take them all out in this weather to get their shots! I had to snap a couple pictures of their tears too--It was short lived and before we knew it they were swaddled up and sleeping! My aunt Pam came up to stay this week with my mom and it has been amazing having an extra set of hands around all the time! She found that the babies are mezmorized by the black and white picture books right now. They love gazing at the different pictures and even coo and grab at the pictures in front of them. The new feeding schedule at night has been great as well...the babies all eat at 9:00 PM before going downstairs to bed for the night. They don't eat again until 3:00 AM!!!! It may not sound that great to everyone else but only having to get up once during the night is wonderful! After the 3:00 AM feeding they don't eat again until morning at 9:00 AM when we bring them upstairs to start their day. There are nights where the babies do stir inbetween feedings and need to be pacified in order to make it to 3:00 but this is a huge improvement from when they first came home and ate every 3 hours throughout the night! This weekend we are also getting our house back to normal. The cribs are being moved back upstairs to the nursery where they started out originally. The latest professional volunteer we had left today so we'd like to start taking care of the nighttime routine in order to develop some consistency and do things for ourselves. We obviously still need a great deal of help but will be using our volunteers during the daytime while we are both working. Unfortunately I only have a few months left in which I can work part time. Around April I have to return to work on a full time basis everyday. At least it won't be long though til summer break by then! We had a huge surprise from Similac that showed up on our doorstep a few days ago---over 90 ready-made bottles of formula!!! (Thank You Tara for hooking us up with that connection.) The company sent a letter congratulating us on the birth of our multiples and was very generous is helping us out--it is just a little shy of what we will need for them for about a months worth of feedings. I love walking into the laundry room and seeing an entire shelf filled with just formula! New Weights: Giovanni: 11 lbs. 15 oz. Brooklynn: 10 lbs. 2 oz. Jade: 8 lbs. 1 oz. Kensley: 10 lbs. Leighton: 10 lbs. 1 oz. Since the quints were born I have been dying for my grandparents to get to see them--two of them are named after them afterall! This past weekend my aunt Pam was able to get them to make the long trip up to my house! It was great to get to spend time with them...I haven't seen them since my baby shower all they way back in July! I miss them so much it was hard for me to see them leave but I was so grateful to at least get a picture of them holding their namesakes:) We also spent an evening with Kathy and Dave--our VIP volunteers:). They made us unstuffed cabbage and pierogies for supper and ended up staying to help us with bathtime. This experience has brought so many great people into our lives that we just can't thank enough! They are some of those people that even though you have only met a couple times it feels like you've known them forever! Now that the boys fit in 0-3 months clothing I couldn't wait to dress them and take pictures in their little bow tie shirts:) We have moved night time feedings from every 3 hours to every 4 hours-you wouldn't believe what a difference it makes in how rested you feel in the morning!! We are still in that zombie parenting stage where you wonder how your body functions on such little sleep but everytime I start to complain about it I remember how much worse it could be if we didn't have the professional newborn care specialists helping us at night!! They stay through the night and settle the babies inbetween feedings so Jacob and I can at least rest then. We set our alarm to help with feedings and then gratefully are able to go back to bed until the next feeding. They all are gaining weight and growing so quickly! In the past week or so they have started to become more interactive and reactive to people talking to them...we have even gotten several social smiles--not just gassy smiles;). The time they spend awake has also increased quite a bit in the past week or so. They spend about an hour or so awake and alert after their daytime feedings before we swaddle them back up and put them down for a nap. I love watching their little personalities come to life! I included a couple pictures of the bottle making process for everyone to enjoy--its quite the procedure! We go through 7 feedings everyday and at 5 bottles per feed thats 35 bottles everyday! They take inbetween 3.5 ounces and 4.5 ounces per feed right now. Brooklynn is on a formula to help reduce the amount that she spits up as well so thats another thing to keep track of. All of them are currently on Prevacid to help control thier reflux however they have outgrown their dosage so hopefully I can get in touch with their pediatrican today to get new doses for them. Our routine is also to change their diaper right before every feed (helps keep track of who has been changed and who hasn't) so thats a minimum of 35 diapers every day as well--not counting all the stinky changes inbetween! Needless to say we all stay very busy around the house lately! Thank God for grandma being back too--I swear we wouldn't have clean laundry somedays if she wasn't there to help out:) Thank you to everyone who has visited us over the break...especially those that convienently showed up during feeding times:)!! |
-Unknown Archives
September 2016
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