At their visit to the pediatrician a few weeks ago, Charlie weighed in at 15 lbs, 3 oz and was 26.5 inches long. Alex was 15 lbs, 1 oz and 26.25 long. Both the boys are in the first percentile on the growth chart. Of course, we know that they will be smaller than the average kid since they are preemies but the pediatrician was concerned because they have fallen slightly off of their curve. Part of this is due to the fact that these boys have a strong dislike to solid foods of any kind. So for the past month, we have been working really hard to get them to eat something at breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as adding a small amount of formula to their breastmilk in order to give them some extra calories. They are also on an iron supplement because their iron count is low . . . again, probably due to the fact that they won't eat any iron-fortified cereals. They are definitely getting better. They are finally eating about a container of Gerber 1st foods at every meal .. . unless you add it to any cereal! Some days we can get them to eat a little oatmeal or rice, but they do not seem to care for anything that has any texture to it. And forget anything like mashed up bananas or Puffs or even French fries -they will just spit it out. Their pediatrician also wanted me to up the amount of milk they take in each day so we've tried to do that. The boys don't seem to be interested in having any more though - sometimes they might take an extra ounce or two for the day, but that's about it. He also suggested that we move the boys feedings to about 2 1/2 hours apart rather than 3 hours! I'm not going to lie - this has been difficult. There are many days were it feels like all we do is feed the boys! It is almost impossible to do any errands because we don't have enough time! A typical day looks like this:
4:00 AM: Bottle
4:30 AM: Pump for next feeding
6:30 or 7:00 AM: Bottle
7:30 AM: Pump for next feeding
8:00 AM: Breakfast (Fruit and oatmeal)
8:30 or 9:00 AM (depending on their mood!): Naptime
10:00 or 10:30 AM: Bottle
11:00 AM: Pump for next feeding
12:00 PM: Lunch (Vegetable or Fruit)
1:00 PM: Bottle
1:30 PM: Pump for next feeding; boys' nap
3:30 PM: Bottle
4:00 PM: Pump for next feeding
5:00 PM: Dinner (Vegetable and rice cereal)
5:30 PM (Tue, Thur, and Sat): Bath time
6:00 PM: PJs and lotions/creams for excema and skin rashes
6:30 PM: Bottle
7:00 PM: Bed time
7:30 PM: Pump for next feeding
10:00 PM: Pump before I go to bed
And that's just the boys' schedule! We also have discovered that Alex and Charlie's skin rash appears to be from an allergy to dairy. So that means that I have to watch what I eat - no cheese, no milk, no cream. . . it is amazing how many processed foods have some form of milk product in them! But it's been worth it. For the most part, their skin has really cleared up. They both still have a few places on their face but those are mostly from pacifier use combined with their drool from teething. Overall, they look so much better! We will go back to the doctor on Friday for a weight/iron recheck. I know they have to have gained weight . . . I'm not sure it's going to be enough to satisfy him though. We also have an appointment with the developmental follow up team from the NICU in two weeks - I hope they will have some suggestions to help get these boys to take in more solid foods. I don't feel like they look unhealthy though and they don't seem to act as if they are not getting what they need. They are both such busy boys - ALWAYS moving!! - I think they just burn calories as fast as they take them in!
As far as moving goes, these boys only are still when they sleep! Both are so close to crawling. In fact, Alex has gotten himself forward several times today and he's very good at moving backwards. I am sure he'll be crawling by the end of the month. Charlie spins himself in a circle and scoots and rolls wherever he wants to go. Today, Charlie pulled himself up! He loves to stand, but whenever he is up, he locks his feet in place. If he wants to move towards something, his upper body moves and his feet don't move. . . oops! He'll put two and two together soon! The boys have also discovered their vocal chords and love to babble. Sometimes they will babble at each other which is so cute! They want to get their hands on anything and everything they can these days - nothing is safe! They love to untie your shoes or grab glasses, hair, jewelry, etc. It's a ponytail and t-shirts for me most days just to avoid those sweet little hands grabbing something they shouldn't. It has gotten difficult to do things like change diapers and clothes because you have to wrestle them down long enough to change them. Putting on clothes while wiggling is one thing, but changing diapers. . . ugh . . . think they could be ready for potty training any time soon?? Sigh. . .
We are enjoying the warmer weather and the opportunity to be outdoors more. The boys really like to slide. The other week when we went to the park we would let them slide (with our help, of course) and then when you would pick them up, they would bounce excitedly until you would set them back down on the slide again. :)
I know there is more I wanted to share about the boys, but my poor sleep-deprived brain just can't seem to remember it all right now. (We're still working on getting them to sleep through the night consistently! We were SOO spoiled with Lucy as a baby - she started sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months old!) Even though life seems to get more hectic, it just keeps getting better. Alex and Charlie are such sweet, happy boys and they are so much fun. Their personalities are becoming clearer and I love every minute of growing to know and understand who these little people truly are. I wouldn't change any of it though!
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