Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Day in the Life of Adrian and Sebastian

I've been wanting to write this post for a while now, since people always seem to be curious as to what a typical day looks like.  Weekends are different because Carlos is home, but essentially the days are all exactly the same.  It just depends on whether I'm going through the steps alone or with company.  Also, yesterday was pretty cold and we didn't have any visitors or appointments.  So it was actually slower than a typical day has been for us.  For example, today we had an appointment with the GI doctor at Children's Hospital in Waltham at 8:30.  It takes some planning to get us out of the house to make such an early appointment!

So, the day starts for me at 6:30 when I get up to make sure that the bottles are heating.  Unfortunately, the boys got used to warm milk in the NICU.  Sebastian will take milk any way you put it in front of him, but Adrian is fussier.  So I heat the milk.  I need to phase that out...


There is ALWAYS a pile of bottles and parts to wash.  It seems to fill up again even as I wash things...I  love the Dr. Brown bottles because Adrian doesn't choke with them, but gosh!  What a pain to wash them!

Then, while the boys are still asleep, I make my way to the nursery and pick out outfits for the boys.  Their drawers are full too...So many cute things!  I LOVE dressing them in the morning--even if we're not going anywhere I have fun picking out things, right down to the socks.  I haven't bought a single new outfit.  Everything was either a gift or was purchased used from my friend Michelle or from the Keeping Pace with Multiples store in West Bridgewater.  What a great place that is!!!

Then, I have to make sure everything is laid out and ready before I go get the boys because they will be HUNGRY and impatient when I finally do go get them.  We all get a bottle...I make time to brew coffee for myself every day as I'm prepping bottles.  It's the small stuff that gets me through the day!
Two bottles for Adrian: one with breast milk and the other is thickened formula.  You can't thicken breast milk.  Sebastian just gets formula and breast milk mixed since he doesn't have swallow issues and need thickened formula.  It's kind of a pain to prepare the bottles like this, but at least now the boys are on the same formula!  The syringe is Adrian's Prilosec for reflux.
 I picked out coordinating, but not matching outfits.  These came from Michelle.

Two bugs in a rug, ready to be unswaddled so they can eat!!

I still feed Adrian side lying since he eats well this way and doesn't choke.  He goes in the Boppy pillow.

Sebastian goes in the nap nanny.  I feed them both at once.  Much faster and it keeps them on schedule.

Forget the Halloween bib!  I use whatever I can find at 6:45AM!

Sebastian amuses himself with the ceiling fan as I burp Adrian.

Just wait until he discovers there's more to life than ceiling fans!!! He'll be so delighted!

Taking a break between bottles for a burp. 


Each feeding takes around 20-30 minutes.  It depends how hungry they are and how easily they burp.  I usually change both of their diapers AFTER they eat since their bums are like musical instruments while they eat.  Who knew such little guys could fart so much and so loud!?  Then again, they are their father's sons...Apple doesn't fall far!  :)

The boys will love that I discuss their pooping habits on the blog.  I'll do it anyway.  Sebastian always seems to have a treat waiting for me.  It's no fun, but he's easier to clean since he goes more often.  Adrian, on the other hand, goes once a day, and WATCH OUT.  When he goes you can smell it across the room, and most likely he'll need a change of outfits.  He usually goes in the afternoon, so he was clean after this feeding.

Flashing his dimples at mamma

He wiggles A LOT on the changing table. Have to watch him like a hawk.

The obligatory naked baby on the changing table shot that every parent seems to have.  Or was it just mine?  At least his diaper is still on!


Dressed and ready for the day.  Now it's Sebastian's turn!



After the ceiling fan, this mobile is Sebastian's next favorite thing in the world. 

After feeding them and changing their diaper, I usually put them down for a nap.  I would do tummy time, but they would throw up so soon after eating.  Especially Adrian.  He spits a lot as it is because of his reflux.  I have to keep him upright for a while after he eats.

So, in the morning, I put the boys in the bouncy seats for a nap, so they have a change of scenery.  Sometimes I put music on for them.  Other times I watch TV.  The noise doesn't seem to bother them.

Yes, those are my feet.  I rock the seats with my feet.

 While the boys are sleeping, I prep the next round of bottles, wash dirty bottles, and see if I can get anything else around the house done.  I do a load of laundry pretty much every day these days.  Sometimes two...I hated having the washer and dryer in the kitchen until I had kids.  Now I LOVE that it's so convenient!

I also threw some beef stroganoff ingredients into the crock pot.  I love my crock pot right now--easiest way to have a hot meal!


Here's a look at my messy kitchen table.  It's COVERED (as if I need to tell you that) with bottle stuff and vitamins/medications.  I have yet to devise a better system or find a better place to put everything.

Then, before the next feeding at 11AM, it's tummy time!  The boys love it some days and HATE it with a passion others.  I really like this floor mat with the things hanging over it.  I think it's fun.  The boys are just overstimulated by it.  But I use it anyway.  Eventually they will realize how cool it is!

Adrian.  I couldn't resist.  Look how cute his little bum looks? 

Sebastian snoozing in the nap nanny in the background

ooops...


I did some tummy time with Sebastian while Adrian was eating.  Adrian eats slower and was fussy, so I was able to let him eat while I played with Sebastian for a few minutes.

Sebastian's bum is equally as cute as Adrian's!

Just look at his head control!  Ok, so not so good right now, but he can really lift his head up when he wants to!


After the 11 o'clock feeding the boys get ANOTHER nap.  They sleep a lot!  But I guess there's not much else they can do at this point.  We take a walk after the 11 o'clock feeding some days, but most often I take one in the late afternoon.  If I walk them now, I miss lunch, and now that I have time to eat again (most of the time), I don't want to miss a meal!

Adrian was NOT happy.  I discovered (thankfully) that he was still hungry and gave him another ounce of formula.  He went out like a light after that.  Both boys slept until the ncxt feeding at 3pm!
 While the boys are napping, I eat lunch.  Today, it was a feast!  Soup (from a carton, but it's "gourmet" and pretty good.) and my favorite salad these days: mezclun with cranberries, dates, goat cheese, candied pecans, and a homemade dressing.  It's so damn good!  I can eat massive quantities of it.


Sometimes,  if the boys aren't fussing, I'll watch Days of Our Lives on TV at 1pm.  I haven't seen that show in YEARS.  I was a kid the last time I watched it (at my babysitter's).  I must admit it's a guilty pleasure for me now.  I'm hooked.

It's 3pm already!!!?!  Time for another feeding.  And some more cute pictures.



Notice the change of Adrian's outfit--post poop.  Gross.
 We keep track of the feeding amounts, whether they peed and pooped, and any medicines we are giving them in this notebook.

To mix it up, after the 3pm feeding, I put Adrian in the swing for a bit.  As you can see, he wasn't all that happy about it.  He usually loves the swing.  I have to put on annoying white noise with birds chirping to get him to sleep in it...

While Adrian was in the swing, Sebastian got the bouncy chair again.

From 5pm until their bath and 7pm feeding is the witching hour.  They are often fussy at this time.  It's not colic.  They are just restless.  We try to calm them down by holding them, playing musical bouncy seat/swings, and tummy time.

At 6:30pm, EVERY DAY, it's bath time.  It relaxes them and also signals to them that it's time to go to bed for the night.  We bathe whichever one is fussiest first. On this particular day, it was Adrian.  I forgot to take photos of Adrian's bath on this particular day, so I took them another day and am putting them here.  Just so Adrian doesn't feel left out later that there are only photos of Sebastian!  ;)






 Here he is in his PJs after the bath.



Both boys really enjoy bath time--who knew?!  So do I, actually.  It's a good bonding experience!
Undressing Sebastian for bath





Adrian patiently waiting (still) while Sebastian gets his turn



The neighbors get a great view of that rear end through the kitchen window!















Last step--hair washing!
 After the bath, guess what!  Another feeding.  This one Carlos and I do together.  Then they go to bed.


Carlos feeds the boys again at 11, changes their diapers, and puts them to bed again.  I get up at 3AM and do a dream feed where they aren't even unswaddled and I don't change their diapers unless they stink.  Then back to the 7AM feeding and the day starts again.




Finally, just 3 other random shots that were taken at some point.  I just love the expressions these guys make!!!
Sebastian


Adrian