The Boys Are 19 Weeks (and I'm 32)

To say that this has been the craziest year of my life would be the understatement of the century. I don't even know where to start. So maybe I won't. I guess I've already shared most of the last year anyways. Let me just wrap up year 31 by saying that I've learned a lot about a lot of things I never knew I would need (or want) to know. And I met 3 amazing little boys who have changed my life forever.

Today was a mostly "normal" day. We got up at 6 for the 6 am feed. Then I had my coffee and got ready for work. Yummmm . . . Coffee. I love coffee. Guess who knows that? Brian and Addison. Here's my gifts from the morning:

That's right. Coffee, coffee cups, lemonheads, assorted candy (in the bag), and pictures of the boys for my office. They know me so well. Confession: I'm slightly addicted to lemonheads. I discovered them in the dollar section at Target a few months ago and now I always have a box in my purse (except for the day last week when I traded Addison a box of lemonheads for her healthy school snack when I forgot my breakfast. Mom of the year over here I know). I actually ate almost an entire box today. The flowers are from our sweet nanny!

For my birthday I got to feed James his bottle this morning and I got to visit him this afternoon. Then Brian took me out to dinner at Acadia (if you're ever in little rock you should try it!). It was so good! Then back home for 9 pm feeds and bedtime. Now I'm pumping before the midnight feeds and my bedtime. 

And now for a weekly update on the boys:

We took Mason and Logan on a field trip Sunday morning to see James (and Audra, one of our favorite nurses). This trip went much smoother than last time. 

Here's a few pictures of our trip:

Mason in his carseat ready to go (I know the chest clip isn't in the right place before anyone tries to correct me. I fixed it before we left)

Logan in his carseat ready to go

Mason checking out James (he looks confused about yet another baby!)

Logan checking out James

Audra weighed Mason and Logan for us too so we know how much they weigh again! Thanks Audra!

Current weights:

Mason - 8 lbs. 15 oz. 

Logan - 7 lbs. 13 oz. 

James - 9 lbs. 1 oz. 

James:

Mr. James is making progress this week. We changed formula again. The last 2 formulas helped with reflux but James had a hard time digesting them (and he pooped all the time). We tried adding rice to the last formula but it made him gain too much weight too fast (1 lb. in 1 week!) Now he's on neocate, which is an amino acid based formula that is completely broken down. All James has to do is absorb it. So not much. Oh and he has to drink his bottle! James doesn't really like to do that unfortunately! 

Most people don't understand why James isn't home yet. We constantly hear "he's so big why isn't he home?" And "wasn't he the healthiest?" And "he looks fine to me!" Well those are valid points I guess. But it doesn't change the fact that James doesn't know how to eat still. He's taking maybe 30 mls 3 times a day. He needs to take 70 mls 8 times a day. So needless to say he's got a ways to go still. OT is working with him though so we'll get there (on James time though). 

Here's a few pictures from the past week:

My first time feeding James a bottle!

Mason:

Mason had a good week. He isn't quite as angry and he's calming down a lot easier. And he's sleeping through feeds at night lots of nights too (like last night he slept through the midnight and 6 am feeds). We may start working on sleeping longer periods at night soon. For now we just take the long periods when we get them because Logan really needs all of his feeds still. 

Mason also did this the other night:

I was breastfeeding Logan and Mason was throwing a fit in his crib. If course I couldn't get to him so I had to let him CIO. This is usually unsuccessful and Mason usually only gets madder. But this time he calmed himself down and went to sleep. When I went to check on him I found him like this, cannula next to his face instead of on it. Good news: he was hooked up to his monitor the whole time and his stats stayed the same. Maybe he doesn't need the oxygen. Keeping my fingers crossed!  

Here's a few pictures of Mason:

Mason loves this bouncy seat and the hoot owls. 

Logan:

Logan has become a lot more alert over the past week. He will sit in his swing or bouncy seat and just look around for a long time! Logan has gotten a little fussier the last few days. But it's mostly at night so I'm thinking that's just his fussy time. 

Here's a few pictures of Logan from the last week:

Logan doesn't really like the new tummy time mat we bought! Ha!

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday today. I hope 32 is a much less hectic year with fewer big surprises!