March 11, 2018

1 Month of Wrennox

** Written on time again 2-28-18, but posted late. I don't have a lot of time with free hands these days...**




Dear girls, 

Your first month has flown by. Life with two babies has been busy and wonderful and stressful and pretty much all of the feelings that you can imagine. We are all still getting to know each other, but what I know of you two so far is pretty sweet and awesome. 


You look very different so we are pretty confident you are fraternal, but you were born 1 pound apart. Tyler still thinks there's a chance that you could be identical even though you look so different. Part of me sees it too because sometimes, especially from profile, you two do look very similar. But you have different skin tones, and at this moment your eyes are different colors. Lennox's are changing faster. Your head shapes are very different too, but many of those differences could be attributed to your size and position in utero, so we don't know 100% yet. 


You're both still wearing newborn diapers and wearing your newborn sized clothes. Mostly you wear onesies and Zutanos, and we add pants if we're taking you out of the house. 


I have been soaking up all of your newborn snuggles as much as possible. I love the newborn stage so so much and having both of you laying on my chest is a very surreal and intimate experience. It makes me sad that already you're starting to not fit as good because you're stretching out and growing so fast. 


Taking care of two babies has been an interesting task. It's easier than I expected, but it's certainly harder than it was with one. The hardest part is when you both need me at the same time, but I can only take care of one of your needs at a time. Because of this, you have to cry more than Hazel had to cry as a baby because I can't always physically get to you right away when I'm taking care of the other. Sometimes your dad gets home from work and I am just holding two cranky babies - holding both of you sometimes prevents me from really being able to make either of you happy, but prevents either of you being upset by yourself. I think that's the hardest part of being your momma so far, but I think it will make you strong, independent girls and you will have the bonus of always having a best friend by your side. 


So far things have been easier than others parents of multiples had prepared me for. Although we're not getting as much sleep as we'd like, we're doing okay. This sleep is pretty hit-or-miss with you girls. The first few nights were horrible. We were trying to have you eat every 3 hours but since there's two of you, there was a lot of crying. Since then you've been doing better, but there are still some nights that are very rough. You sleep together in a little bassinet, and you look so sweet while doing it.

You are both breastfeeding and nursing well and I feel like that is what I do all day, every day... just feed you growing babies. At the very beginning before my milk came in you both lost about 12% of your birthweight, so we did give you each .5-1 oz of formula to supplement. But then my supply picked up, and I've been lucky to produce enough so far. We track nursing sessions on an app and in your first month I spent over 5 days (over 120 hours) nursing you!


Your dad is pretty funny and mixes you up a lot. One day he'll get it straightened out (maybe when you stop depriving him of sleep), but until then it's very entertaining for me when he thinks he knows which baby he has, and I have to inform him differently. You also like to pee on him while he changes your diaper (and occasionally poo too)... especially you, Wren! I'm not sure what it is about his diaper changing style, but whatever it is, you are prone to do it to him more than anyone else.


Hazel has been an excellent big sister to you both. She comes in the door from school and asks, "Where are the babies?" and then looks at you and says,  "They're so cute" or "They're so sweet" or "They're so funny." She likes to give you hugs, touch your heads, and help out when we need her to. She will often give you binkies or sing you a song or when you're crying.


You both like to be swaddled and snuggled. If I'm not holding you during the day, you're probably hanging out in one of the bouncers. I put you on your play mat some too, but you're not quite into it yet. 

Though I do really love this stage, I am of course, looking forward to you starting to interact with us. Hopefully, your first smiles are just around the corner!





My Wren Bird,  

Yes, that's what I call you. And your dad calls you Betty mostly, so I hope you don't get too confused. 


You are Baby A. You were the first born of the twins and you are the bigger baby born at 7 lbs 1 oz. You've grown since then and you feel so much heavier in my arms even though you're just a month old. Currently you weigh 8.4lbs.  


You are such a cute baby. You have the roundest head, your dad's beautiful more olive skin tone, and dark eyes. Your dad thinks your eyes are going to be brown, but I'm not so sure. They still just look newborn dark blue to me, with all the opportunity of changing still. Your left ear has the most adorable little divot in it that makes it look like an upside down heart or a "W," conveniently. That's the main way your dad can tell you apart if he gets confused; he just looks for your "W" ear. 


You make lots of little snort sounds. The first time Hazel heard one she said, "Hey! She sounds like Peppa Pig!"

You love to sleep, and you are horrible at using a pacifier (though you have the better latch for nursing). You like the pacifier, but you just can't keep it in your mouth. 



---


My Lennox Lu,  

You are my Baby B, my little one. You weighed only 6lbs at birth and are still the smallest weighing 7.2 lbs.


You are just adorable. You have so many expressions and the wrinkliest forehead (which I think you got from me) and I just love watching your face as you take in the world around you or as you're dreaming. My favorite face you make is when you wrinkle your forehead and purse your little lips. Your eyes are turning blue just like your big sister's did and your skin is a much lighter tone than Wren's, pale and pink. When you were born I could put my pointer fingers and thumbs all the way around your waist and my fingers would overlap to the first knuckle, now they just barely overlap, so you're definitely growing. 


You are also the queen of bodily fluids... you spit up and have blowouts seemingly constantly. I feel like I have to wash the bouncers every other day because that's your favorite place to blowout your diaper. You are trouble!


---


I was worried with two babies that I would develop a favorite or have trouble bonding the same way I was able to with one, but I am happy to say that hasn't been an issue. Even though I like saying Wrennox to refer to both of you at the same time, I  recognize that you are individuals and are already different. I do my best to give you equal attention, snuggles, and loving. I can't wait to see your relationship with each other develop parallel to your own personalities. I know you two will provide some unique parenting challenges but also some very rewarding ones. We are so excited for this new adventure you're taking us on. 


Love X 2, 

Momma


{  Lennox + Wren  }

{  Wren + Lennox  }

{  Wren + Momma + Lennox  }

{  Wren  }

{  Lennox  }

{  Wren + Lennox + Hazel  }





{  Wren + Lennox  }

{  Wren   

  Lennox  }

{  Lennox + Wren  }

{  Lennox  }

{  Wren  }

{ Pretty similar profiles, but Wren on the left and Lennox on the right.  }

{  Wren + Lennox  }

{  Wren + Lennox  }

{  Wren + Lennox  }

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March 5, 2018

Wrennox

*** Written ~2.5 weeks after the girls were born, but posted late. ***

The girls are here!! They are precious and perfect and there are TWO of them. It's still hard to believe that there are two. Wren Betty (Baby A) and Lennox Eberly (Baby B) were born January 29, 2018. We are all healthy and getting to know one another. I will post their birth story at a later time. It was very different than my experience with Hazel, but also a mostly positive experience.

For now, we are getting acquainted with this new family of 5 dynamic. For the first 2 weeks we had my parents in town helping out, but now we are on our own, outnumbered by our children. It is different for sure. Loading and unloading the car is bonkers.

I spend most of my time feeding the babies. Nursing is a big time commitment with a singleton, and with two I feel like I constantly have a baby (or two) on my boob(s). So much so, that it hardly seems worth it to wear a shirt. Most of the time since having them, I'm just wearing a nursing bra around the house because a shirt just gets in the way.

Hazel, luckily, adores the babies. She thinks they are "sooo cute" and "so funny." She likes to look at them and touch them. All around it's been a delight to watch her with them. There hasn't been any jealousy at this point, and I really hope that it continues.

This flu season is going to make us homebodies for a while, I think. We were told it's now 2 months (up from 1 month when we had Hazel) of age, where if they come down with a fever, they get the full work-up of tests including a spinal tap. No thank you! We have become the typical new parents that have 5 bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the house, and everyone must use it upon entry.

All in all though, it's easier than I was expecting... so far. I wouldn't mind more sleep, but I am soaking up the precious newborn phase, which I love so much. Put a squishy newborn or two on my chest and I'm happy. Tired, but happy.




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