One Month Old!

My twins are One Month old today! Since February is a short month, they were born exactly four weeks ago and came home from the hospital two weeks ago. So I guess they have spent half of their lives in the hospital... but that will change tomorrow ;-) How are we doing, you wonder? Well...

Chris and I are pretty much wiped out. When I was super pregnant I used to think, "I'm so large and uncomfortable that I'm barely sleeping at night." And then after I delivered my boys and they were in the NICU I was up pumping every three hours and I thought, "I'm awake all the time, I'm barely sleeping at night." But now my boys are home and I can honestly say "I'm barely sleeping at night." Its funny how I thought I couldn't really be that much more tired... but I was wrong. Oh so wrong.

I am exhausted.

Though these last two weeks has pretty much kicked my butt (and my brains and my body etc) we have had some amazingly tender, special times. I sure love these little boys. Waaaaaaaaay more than I could've imagined.

The twins are still eating about every three hours around the clock. It wouldn't be so bad if they were just eating and needing clean diapers, but its the burping that takes forever! And if these boys don't burp, they won't sleep. It takes Chris and I about an hour and a half to feed, change and burp these babies before we get them back in bed. Then we are up an hour and a half later to do it again! Its Crazy.

The first week the boys slept A TON! We had to wake them up to feed them, and it was still a chore to get them to eat more than a little. That was a pain, but it didn't last long. Now they are up wanting to eat every three hours like clockwork. Sometimes even more frequently than that! I am convinced that I spent almost all day Monday just nursing. Like pretty much literally the entire day.

Last Friday both boys' bilirubin levels began to creep back up so the doctor told us to feed them formula for 24 hours to try to help. What a disaster! Both boys threw up their entire bottles the first time. We switched formula and they still had problems keeping it down. Worst 24 hours by far. By the end of it Chris and I were so deliriously sleep-deprived we were walking into walls and talking gibberish. But we're doing better these days :-)

First Month Stats...

Ty
Birth: 5 lbs. 4.5 oz. 17.25 in
One Week: 4 lbs. 11 oz. 17.5 in
Two Weeks: 5 lbs. 9 oz. 18 in
Three Weeks: 6 lbs. 9 oz. 19 in
Four Weeks: 7 lbs. 8 oz. 19 3/4 in

Ty is our little sweetheart. He is smaller than his brother in weight but about the same length so he looks scrawny, but hes really just long. His feet and fingers are longer than his brothers too. Ty's head was extremely dented on one side when he was born - I mean extremely - but it has really evened itself out, almost completely. He cries like a little kitten, its so cute! Chris says I can't call him a kitty, I have to call him a Cougar. So I guess he sounds like a baby cougar :-) He is our whiner, our little protester. When he is comfy or hungry, you better not mess with him! Ty loves to suck his thumb or his fingers. Even a day old he was trying to suck his fingers. He always wants his fingers and hands up by his face, he even holds onto his own bottle! Ty also loves to lay stomach to stomach with Chris and curl his legs and feet up underneath him into a tiny ball. His lower lip quivers every time you change his diaper. He already stares right at you when you talk to him. He makes this familiar face when he's full, its the Lee Wernli face (Chris' grandfather). I'll have to find a picture of Chris and his brothers imitating this face someday. Its awesome. I think Ty looks like Lee Wernli. I think Ty is totally a Wernli.

Dax
Birth: 5 lbs. 14 oz. 19 in
One Week: 5 lbs. 7 oz. 19 in
Two Weeks: 6 lbs. 0 oz. 19 in
Three Weeks: 7 lbs. 7 oz. 19 3/4 in
Four Weeks: 8 lbs. 8 oz. 20 in

Dax so far seems more chill than Ty. Dax is bigger all around, especially in the head, neck and tummy. He just looks like a round butterball to me. He has rolls! I love it. I have always wanted an extremely fat baby - I think they are soooo cute. Hopefully, Dax will be my fat baby :-) His head is perfectly round and so are his facial features. He's quite beautiful, a little Gerber looking baby. I think he looks a lot like Jada did. He's a total Sonksen. Dax even has a dimple in one cheek just like mine! I love it. He smiles a lot. He grunts a ton. The doctor today said she thinks he has reflux. Boo. But Dax has been such a trooper about it. He holds his food down like a champ most of the time, which is really unusual for babies with reflux. After he eats he holds his breath and grunts and throws his head back and does all this weird stuff to try to keep his food from coming back out of his mouth. He freaks me out though because he is the baby with the more underdeveloped lungs and I hate when he holds his breath. He turns bright purple almost instantly. Then he wheezes and sounds all congested. This happens every time he eats. It scares me. But he also talks a lot, meaning he makes these adorable sighing sounds when he eats and sleeps. Its just precious. Dax is just super adorable!

Both boys have gained ridiculous amounts of weight. They are doing amazingly well. Just today the doctor told us that these boys had everything going against them at birth. Apparently, white males progress the slowest and have the most complications when born premature, especially multiples. Our boys have surpassed all medical expectations by leaps and bounds, both developmentally and physically. Their doctor specifically said that "God must be smiling down on these boys. They have been truly blessed." We feel the same way and we are so grateful for their health and growth.

(Dax is on the left side this time. Oops.)

Q & A...

I do feel like I keep getting asked the same questions a bunch so I'm going to start firing some answers to the masses since I pretty much never respond to anyone's emails, fbooks messages, texts or phone calls.

-Our boys are fraternal twins. I do not think they look anything alike. Dax has light hair and fair skin, a round forehead, a large mouth and a cute little button nose. Ty has lots of dark hair and darker skin, a flatter head with tiny lips and a pointy nose. Plus they are a full pound different in size so it is incredibly easy to tell them apart. Only in some close-up, sleeping pictures when they are bundled up tightly do I get them mixed-up. (thank goodness we never had to resort to painting one of their fingernails!!)

-I am breastfeeding the twins. For now anyways. I am blessed because both boys actually love to nurse and are pretty self-sufficient at it. I am also blessed to have a great breast pump which I still use every day, that way Chris can help out in the feeding department too. Sometimes I nurse the boys individually. But I am happy to report that I have successfully managed to nurse both babies at the same time! I was nervous to attempt it but the first day the boys were home they were both starving at the exact same time so I thought, I might as well give it a shot. It worked. This is actually the fastest, easiest way to nurse the babies.-I counted about how many diapers we went through in just the first week (7 days). It was somewhere around 120. I changed 4, my mom changed 2. Chris changed the rest of them. That's right. In one week, Chris changed over 100 diapers. What a stud.-Ty was born vaginally head first, followed 30 minutes later by Dax feet first or breech. It was pretty crazy.

-Jada is finally over her RSV (chest cold) but she and Kalle have still been very limited in seeing their little brothers. Jada has held them each two times and both have been for less than 3 minutes, when she is fresh out of a bath and wearing clean clothes. She is just DYING to hold and play with these babies! Poor kid. But I am just being overly cautious about the twins' health.

Jada & Ty
Jada & Dax
Jada & Dax
Jada & Ty
Jada & Ty

-Chris did not get any paternity leave from his job. Totally ridiculous. He actually went to work the very same day that I delivered the twins. He did take vacation days and sick days to stay home for the entire first week the babies were home from the hospital. His boss is super cool but its upper management that is being sticklers. I think we should protest but we're just too tired to think straight really.

-My mother actually left me. I guess I knew the day would come, but still I'm so sad. She was the BEST. She was in charge of basically everything around my house so that Chris and I could devote our full attention to our new boys. It was exactly what we needed because these boys require unbelievable amounts of attention! I just can't say enough good things about my mother. Some day I'll dedicate an entire post to her and her greatness. She is coming back though, thank goodness!! Here she is with her little lucky charms on St. Patrick's Day...-We are going to change the spelling of Ty's name. It currently is Tyson - but its going to be Tycen. I just haven't felt right when I look at Tyson. It sounds right, but it is just not spelled right. I love the name Tyce and I think we might call him Tyce sometimes too. Dax and Tyce sound cool, don't they? I'm keeping the 'n' on the end just because I wanted our twins to have somewhat matchy names - Daxon & Tycen. I like it.

-Dax and Ty are currently sharing a crib in out bedroom. We turned our bedroom into a mini NICU and have their bed, changing table and rocking chair in our room too. Kind of silly since I spent so much time setting up an actual nursery for the boys and they haven't even been inside it yet - not even once! Ha! But eventually they'll sleep in there... or so I'm telling myself.

-We originally were putting the boys to bed in the same crib, on opposite sides. Then when I had that professional photographer come, she was practically stacking the boys on top of each other and they were sleeping amazingly well. They were cuddled together so happily that even their breathing was in sync. Since then, we have started putting the boys to sleep side by side or heads touching. They seem much happier. Even though they may poke each other in the eye once in awhile, I think they really enjoy finally being together after being separated in the NICU for so long :-)We have been blessed with amazing love and support from so many people even though we still are maintaining a strict "No Visitor" policy until the babies are considered "full-term" which is April 2nd. We are so grateful for the wonderful friends and family who have provided meals, phone calls, cleaning services and child care for Jada and Kalle. Your thoughts, prayers and actions have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated! Thank You!!!!

They are just seriously cute. Seriously.Happy First Month Birthday Boys!!!