Sunday, August 17, 2008

We will see how much I can get into this post. I am feeling a little down tonight and trying to shake it off. We are calling the doctor tomorrow to see if we need to switch formulas again...again. I am carrying a tremendous amount of guilt over the whole formula thing because I stopped breast feeding. Would they be having these problems if I was still breast feeding them? Who knows, but I still feel like I let them down by stopping. I just couldn't do it anymore. I felt like all I was doing all day was feeding or pumping. Plus, I couldn't pick them up or anything while I was pumping so every time they would cry I would have to unhook and then re-hook after I tended to them. It just led to me being stressed.

I don't want to be one of those parents. You know, the ones that take their baby to the Dr for every little cry or squeak. But by golly, there has got to be something wrong!! They cry and cry with gas and who knows what else. I am worried that there is nothing wrong and this is just how our lives are going to be until they outgrow it. And with school starting...Ugh! I am worried because I am going to have to take him to school every day. Last year I walked him in all the way to his classroom every day of the year. Even when I was huge pregnant I would walk him all the way down to his room. This year I am hoping he will walk in by himself after the first week or so, because holy crap. If they are like they have been every day I can look forward to them crying all the way there and back. Lovely... He actually wants to ride the bus so we will see...

Another thing is...Z was SUCH a great baby I got spoiled. I knew he was good, but not until these girls did I realize how good he was. He was just super easy. Every time he cried, I knew exactly what to do. I am at a loss with these girls sometimes and they just look at me when they are screaming as if to say "Do something!!" and I don't know how to help them feel better and it just breaks my heart. Ok, I gotta stop there because this is certainly not helping to shake off my mood.


Ok, on to some product raves

Bumpy Name

These bands fit around bottles or cups to identify whose bottle is whose. These have been great!! I am going to get a few more I think. When the girls only drink a little of their bottle, we just slip one of these around it and we know whose it whose. I think they will really be great when they have cups to tell them apart. We are not hugely careful about germs between the two of them, but when Olivia was sick, we really had to be careful about them sharing.

The Moby Wrap

A blessing from above! Olivia will go to sleep in it. And Abigail the other day laid in it and drank her bottle while I was able to get things done around the house hands free. It is great and I highly recommend it for all new mommies. I got mine on ebay, but you can get them here. Just a side note-I know she looks unhappy but she really does love it. And the glowing stripes behind me are from a backpack, not a flying jet pack as it appears.

The Boppy

I questioned whether or not to get these for the girls because I never used Zacharys. Well they have improved them in the last 6 years and they are not as stiff. They love them and they are the best for them to hang out in and look around. We use them to feed them, hold them, they sleep on them. They are great!! We wish we had two more. We have to bring them down and take them back up every morning and night. We got them at Targe.t.

The Miracle Blanket and SwaddleMe

Abigail (left) is in a miracle blanket and Olivia is in a SwaddleMe. These are the best for getting them to settle in for the night. Abigail especially twitches all the time during her sleep and if her hands where not swaddled then she would wake herself up all through the night. Gary was a swaddling Nazi at first but he did get them used to sleeping with them and they do sleep better with them on. We got the Miracle Blanket from Ebay and the Swaddle Mes from Babies R Us.

I also love my microwave sterilizer, but I refrained from posting a picture of it :-)

AND...this made breast feeding and pumping easier. I would never have done it as long as I did without it. It makes for a comical sight, but trust me, it is a lifesaver.

These are my top picks for must haves with babies.

Sara

5 comments:

Linda said...

Oh Sara I know how tough it can be to deal with the screaming babies. It's so hard to not know what to do to soothe them. Have you tried white noise at all? Also, we did switch formula for DD and it helped her. We went right to the liquid gold...Similac Alimentum. I know it's expensive but we tried and we definitely noticed a difference with her gas issues. I hope your ped gives some good advice, but just remember you're at the peak of their fussiness right now and hopefully you'll notice a big difference in the next month. Hang in there and page me anytime if you need some support!

Kay Green said...

Thanks for the lovely link to our site. As a mom owned business we alwasy appreciate hearing from others who are blessed by our many products.

As a mom of 4 I understand your concerns.

1. My last child, adopted at birth, also had formula issues. Once I got her on nestle Goodstart she was instantly better. It does not contain the protein casein which most other formulas have, and many babies do not tolerate.

2. I would be happy to give you and your readers a coupon code for the name bands if you would like. Use coupon code # 112081208 for 10% off.

3. Swaddling was a huge plus for my daughter too. When they outgrow the one you have look at mine. It has 2 sizes so fits longer.

I am so proud of you. Having twins is a huge job. Congrats on your blessings.

The Wilsons said...

Hugs sweetie! I hope everything is okay with the girls and you get some good news at the doctor. GL!

Debz said...

Well aren't you just little miss helpful with all those reviews? Nice work Sara!

I hope you get the crying back to a more normal squal instead of the constant screaming your having now. I know how hard that must be on you and certainly cant help with your guilty feelings. Don't get down on yourself, you know your doing everything you can for them. Even if that meant stopping breast feeding because it was too much for you. Everything you do is ultimately for the kids. Now love on them for me, oh and for you ;)

Harris Boys said...

I'm sorry sweetie...those first 3-4months were really hard for me too. I just kept telling myself "this shall pass too"

hope the pedi can give you some great advice. I'll be thinking about you guys and hoping you get some answers!