So much milk!

Cutting down on breastfeeding is making me realise just how much milk I was producing! I'm now down to two expressings during the day (used to be four) plus the 10pm and 6am feeds. The girls are doing fine on the formula.

All four of us just had a little outing to Northland shopping centre, where lots of other shoppers giggled at our babies. I don't know why twins make people laugh. It seems to be laughing with not at.

Trudi has a cold and I had food poisoning. I have never been ill so often as of late! Maybe it's the lack of sleep.

Speaking of which... the girls have been sleeping well during the night. However, Hazel still wants to start her day at 4.30 am. This morning she sort of napped from then until 5.15 am, then she was up and excited about it. I patted and shushed her until 6 am, then I fed her. Then we started our day.

THEORETICALLY if I do this for long enough she will get the message that the day does not start until 6 am. HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE!

Giving up slowly

Talked to my LC this morning, and I have just started on my journey away from breastfeeding. After the girls had their morning feed I expressed as usual. But after their next feed I did not. Will continue NOT expressing after their second feed for a few days. Once that feels comfortable (it doesn't right now) I will pick another feed to NOT express after. And so on.

Wish me luck.

Thinking of Giving Up Breastfeeding

I express and give that in a bottle during the day, and sometimes I use formula if there's not enough expressed, plus I breastfeed for the 10pm and the 6am feeds.

It's taking so much time do do all three methods! Feels like the worst of all worlds.

I've been feeling less and less keen on breastfeeding, and the other day I read this (very provocative) article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200904/case-against-breastfeeding

I linked to this in a previous post as well. It totally sums up how I feel.

Right now I also have a cold and a bad back so I am grumpy. Trudi and I will decide together about the breastfeeding once I am no longer grumpy. I don't want to regret it later...

Kylie is visiting.

Better go.

Trudi made biscuits for the first time yesterday. They have CHOCOLATE CHIPS.

Sleep (again)

It's going pretty well. I've just started doing a rollover feed at 10pm instead of midnight. I go to bed at 8 so I set my alarm. My goodness what a party animal I am.

I did this for the last two nights. Both times Hazel woke around 5am, but I resettled her and I fed them after 6am. Luxurious.

During the night I heard an occasional quiet squeak, but whoever it was went back to sleep without any help. Niiiice.

My sleep is still crap though. Right now I have a terrible sore throat and a tickly dry cough. Off to the doctor today to see if it's tonsillitis. Kind of hope it is = at least that is treatable.

In other news, my Dad has been retrenched. Tough economic times etc. He has a few irons in the job-fire, so they aren't too concerned. Mum has asked for her job back though, just in case. I think that is called un-re-retiring.

Here is a photo of Hazel "sitting" in the corner of the couch:



In other other news, I just read a colleague's blog, and she included a link to this provocative article about breastfeeding. I am guilty of thinking of breastmilk as a magical elixir. And I am guilty of feeling guilty when I feed the girls formula (my supply is always ALMOST enough for them. They keep on increasing their intakes!).

Teeth?

Soon, I think. Both Ivy and Hazel have started gnawing on stuff a lot more. Ivy is really keen on chewing on my finger covered with the rough cloth of a flannel bib. Hazel likes the teething toy that Trudi got for them.

Ivy has some white shapes in her lower gums. It looks like her fangs will be coming through first. Can't see the top gums. Haven't seen much in Hazel's mouth yet.

In other news, I've had a sore throat for nearly a week, and it's finally turning into a proper cold. I think Trudi and Ivy have it too. Hope Hazel stays clear.

Trudi and I are getting booster vaccinations against pertussis (whooping cough) tomorrow. The girls have that their first two of the three shots against it, so they aren't fully immune yet. There's a lot of whooping cough cases in Melbourne at the moment, so we thought it would be a good idea to get the jabs.

Amir and Alex are visiting

Here they are! Amir is thinking about setting up his own blog. Turns out that Wordpress is waaaay too hard to set up. He might try Blogger instead... :-)

Long Night

Hazel woke at 10.40 pm and stayed awake until 2.10 am. She was happy, just chatting and squeaking. Poor Ivy got a bit frantic about not being allowed to sleep.

Eventually Trudi moved into the back room, where she continued to not sleep. I put on the white-noise CD in the girls' room, and patted and shushed for an hour. Eventually we all got a bit of sleep.

I am glad that usually it is not like this!

On My Ownsie

for six hours!

This is the longest stretch yet. Trudi left for work at about 6 am, and Mum is coming at around midday.

It's been OK. Hazel had only a short nap this morning, and they demanded a feed at 9, exactly three hours after their breakfast. No chance of stretching them out any longer - Ivy was very definite about that.

I intended to go for a walk, but what with feeding, nappy changes (how much poo can two tiny people produce? answer = LOTS), and expressing, it didn't happen. They are napping again now. I hope they can sleep a bit longer this time.

In other news, Mum has re-retired. After Easter she will be around a lot more. We will have to work out what days we will spend together, and where. This will help a lot. Perhaps Trudi will be able to work in teh office for four days a week.

Before then, we are going up to Merimbula for two weeks, with Mum. She's flying up, and we four will drive. The cats are going to prison :-( We will all stay with Judy, in her beautiful house with views.

Hazel and Ivy in bed after their morning feed

And here is a video of the girls in a cot together after this morning's feed.

How cute are they! Ivy likes to yank Hazel's ear, and Hazel tests whether Ivy's hand is edible.

My first birthday present

Last night the girls went to sleep at 8 pm. I was asleep by 9.30 pm.

I fed them at midnight, and easily went back to sleep afterwards (this has not happened for two weeks!). Ivy squeaked once in the night, but nothing more came of it. The next I heard from them was Hazel chatting calmly at 6.45 am!

This lovely sleep was my first birthday present from our daughters. My goodness I liked it.

The Fricken Hokey Pokey

We finish the swimming lesson with a heartrending rendition of The Hokey Pokey. It's now stuck in my head.

Both grandmothers were there. The girls were very sleepy - they had been up for two hours by the start of the class. They fell heavily asleep in the car and did not mind being shifted into their beds.

Carol Visited

The day before we went back to Northpark, Carol came over.

And the Sailor Home from the Sea

Back home again. Hazel, Ivy and I returned home yesterday from our second stay at Northpark Hospital.

After our first stay their sleep patterns were heaps better, but I still didn't cope well. After this second stay I am on antidepressants and I have some new strategies for coping, including more yoga, breathing exercises, and learning to not catastrophise (imagine that a small problem will get huge and be permanent).

We got home early yesterday, and the day went well. My mum and Trudi's mum were both here, and Trudi worked at home as well. I like having four adults to care for two babies! The girls slept fairly well, with a few wake-ups during the early morning. T & I did not sleep too well, mostly because the cats were marching around on our heads all night. Also there was an earthquake.

For a while, Selby was asleep next to me and I kept thinking she was Hazel. I took a lot of care that she did not fall out of bed!

Wish me luck.

Swim lesson (doing the hokey pokey)

Time to go to hazel and Ivy's swimming lesson soon. Here is a video from last week's lesson.

All the babies wear pointless little bathers. They would not help a bit if someone did a poo.