SAHM

Come January I will have a new job title and two new bosses, I will be a stay at home mom (SAHM). Ever since going back to work in late September I've been working half time and so has Tor, so that we can trade off days at home with Lars and Odin. It's been working great. Unfortunately my company wouldn't allow me to continue working part time, at least right now, so I made the choice to resign. I'm working part time through the end of the year so that I can get my bonus for 2010 and get the holiday shutdown pay, not to mention wrapping things up. January 4th will be the last day of my 9.5 year career with my company.

There are some downsides, the biggest one being that Tor won't have as much time with the boys and I won't be able to get out of the house and do "adult" things by myself on a regular basis, but all in all I'm excited about it. And who wouldn't be with these guys to spend my days with?

Solid Food!

On Saturday the boys experienced their first solid food, avocado mashed up with breastmilk. They seemed to like it! Odin ate well, lunging forward for more. More ended up on Lars' face than in his tummy, but he still seemed to like it. The only difficulty now is trying to fit solid food in around their 6 milk/ formula feedings and 3+ naps a day. It's a good thing that solids are only for practice right now...we've only been able to fit in solid meals for 2 of the last 4 days. They will be having yams mixed with breastmilk for Thanksgiving.

Odin says "Yum!"

Lars likes avocado too

Happy Birthday Grandma Jean!

We want to wish you a very happy birthday Grandma! Sorry we slept through your visit this afternoon, watching all that snow come down made us tired. We love you!

6 month check up

The boys had their 6 month check up yesterday and all looks great with them!

Here are the stats (all are unadjusted for pre-maturity):

Odin

length: 25.25", 9.44%
weight: 14 lbs, 2.39%
head circumference: 16.46", 6.36%

Lars

length: 26", 30.01%
weight: 15lb 9 oz, 14.13%
head circumference: 16.85", 21.67%

They each got 4 shots and it was miserable for them both during the shots and for the rest of the day. Tor was home with them and he did a lot of bouncing on the exercise ball with both boys in carriers. Odin felt pretty crummy for most of today as well and needed 2 doses of tylenol for his fever, but he is all better now. Lars seemed to feel great all day today.

Here are some recent pictures:


Odin likes the jolly jumper



So does Lars



Snug as 2 bugs in a crib

Giggling Lars

Grandpa Lee made Lars giggle for the first time ever this weekend, and I happened to get it on video. Enjoy!

6 Months!

Dear Lars and Odin-

You are 6 months old today! It is truly amazing to get to know you as you grow into your individual selves. You are growing like crazy! Just look at how you've changed in the 1.5 months shown in the photos below.

Lars at 4.5 months, then at almost 6 months


Odin at 4.5 months, then at almost 6 months

Sleep! You are great sleepers and your parents are SO grateful! The last time we wrote you a letter on your 3 month birthday, we were really struggling with naps, the pictures below show what nap time used to be like...I had to hold you both. Though I miss all that snuggle time with you, we don't need to do that any longer. I think you even sleep better in your own crib. It was a real process to get you sleeping on your own, but you learned so well. It all started when Mama was exhausted and just took you to our bed in the middle of the day for a nap all together...and you slept! We moved onto lying down with you as you fell asleep on our bed, then just putting you in our bed and you fell asleep on your own, finally we could put you in your crib and you would fall asleep and stay asleep on your own. It has been great for you and for your parents to have some time to ourselves and to get some chores done! We've settled into a nice routine of you boys sleeping for about 12 hours at night, from about 7pm to 7am with one feeding somewhere around 3-5am, you usually have two 1.5 hour naps and a 45 minute one later in the day. You get enough sleep that your sunny dispositions shine through almost all the time. One month ago we moved you to your crib in your own room for naps and bedtime sleep. The next step is to ditch the swaddles. We probably should work on getting a second crib, but you sure seem to enjoy sleeping together--no matter how far apart we put you in the crib, you are always snuggled up next to each other when you wake up, even though your mobility is severely limited by being swaddled!


Odin and Lars sleeping on Mama at about 3.5 months old


Sunny boys in the morning!

On October 24th you were baptised at Bethany. Your sponsors are Auntie Karla, Uncle Jared and your cousins Einar and Soren. You wouldn't believe how much family came to support you, there were at least 4 pews full of family! You are lucky little boys who have lots of people that love you. Despite all of the stimulation and lack of naps, you boys did SO well. You are such happy babies and everyone got to see that. You didn't fuss at all during the baptism, even when Pastor Andersen put the water on your head...way to go!

Handsome boys all dressed up for your baptism!

Fun! We have so much fun with you guys, from watching you learning about your world, to seeing you reach each milestone, to laughing with you and giving you zerberts on your tummies, and getting out an about as a whole family.

A picture that could only happen with twins..."Here Lars, let me stick my fingers in your mouth while you puke on me"

Lars says..."Yummy giraffe foot!"

Halloween redux in Wenatchee...Grandma and Grandpa needed to see our little Vikings

On our way to Trick-or-Treating with our PEPS friends in Ballard

You both love it when we sing to you, especially "head, shoulders, knees and toes." Then again, that is about the only song that isn't filled with la la la in place of the real lyrics.

Odin, you are more verbal than physical. You constantly talk to us and tell GREAT stories with all sorts of drama...we are looking forward to hearing the stories continue as you learn English! You also can be talked out of being crabby, all it takes is a good smile and laugh and soon you are smiling and giggling back...it has saved us a couple of times on long car rides! You are so observant with your big wide open eyes and seem very content to hang out and watch and learn. You LOVE to smile at your brother when he is still long enough for you to catch his eye!

Lars, you are more physical than verbal. You are spending a lot of time on your tummy these days moving your body around and it seems that you may be mobile very soon. You are starting to realize that you can move around the room by rolling from back to front, then front to back again. We plan to figure out a baby proofing strategy for the fireplace this weekend! You smile ALL the time with a huge gummy smile and you are starting to laugh, but at this point it sounds more like a sneeze than a laugh...it's really quite cute. You LOVE to put everything in your mouth including your brother's hands or head.

We marvel at you both every day--we are the luckiest parents in the world.

With All Our Love,

Mama and Papa

Happy Halloween!

Forget trick or treating...we're going pillaging!

Breastfeeding update

I am a member of an online forum for people with twins who breastfeed, I rarely post, but I do read it all the time (thank goodness for my iphone when I'm nursing the boys!). I made a special point to actually pull out the computer to write out a response to a woman who was frustrated and confused about poor weight gain in her 4 month old twins who are breastfeeding after a LOT of work to get them exclusively breastfeeding...it was a VERY familiar problem for us. I realized that I never updated the blog with what has happened in the last few months with breastfeeding, so here is the post in response to that woman's question. Besides that, finding time to post to the blog is so hard that since I spent time to write to this woman I figured I would leverage the work!

Here is my response with some clarifying edits:
Oh I'm so sorry you are dealing with this! I was there about 1.5 months ago, my guys had fallen off the weight curve at their 4 month visit, particularly baby B [Odin]. My pediatrician didn't immediately suggest supplementing [with formula], but he did want us to try and get an additional feeding in [at the breast]. I, like you, was so confused because my guys always seemed so satisfied and happy, they slept 7-9 hours in a stretch at night, napped well, and all in all we were feeling like life was going really well, particularly after all of the problems we had with establishing exclusive breastfeeding. I decided to get data (I'm a chemist and DH [online forum speak for dear husband] is an oceanographer...we like data). I rented a breastfeeding scale and for 2 days fed as usual with trying to get an extra breastfeeding session per day in while weighing before and after each feeding. Baby B [Odin] was only getting 17 ounces and Baby A [Lars] was getting 20-22 ounces, Kelly mom [a fantastic online breastfeeding information site] says the average is 25 ounces for a breastfed baby and the range is 19-30. Looking at the data throughout the day, it was obvious that I had enough milk for them in the first 2 feedings of the day because they would take 5-6 ounces each from the breast, but then after that they were only getting 1-3 ounces in the subsquent feedings. It became obvious that I had a supply issue. Only after we had that data and I had talked to an LC [lactation consultant] did we start offering a bottle after feeding (at first it was EBM [expressed breast milk] from my small stash for going back to work) and they were obviously ravenous (the LC warned that they would probably be bottomless pits with the bottles afterwards for a few days, and she was right!). We used preemie flow nipples and held the bottles almost horizontal so that the bottle wasn't significantly easier than the breast in order to try and avoid them developing a bottle preference. I've done everything I can to increase my supply (domperidone, pumping after each feeding, oatmeal and lots of water) and through continued use of the scale, I saw no increase in what they were getting from the breast...and they are still very happy to eat at the breast, it's not like they were just waiting for the bottle. It took some time, but we have settled into a routine where they tandem feed at the breast for the two first feedings of the day, they alternate for each feeding since lefty just doesn't produce as much as righty, then for the next feedings I feed one from the breast and give him both breasts and the other baby I give a bottle (I do this in tandem using the EZ to nurse pillow, the baby with the bottle sits with his back against me and I give him the bottle). The boys both get about 10 ounces of formula a day and it works out that they get about 2/3 of their intake from the breast (or EBM if I'm at work, I work 3 days a week).

I still don't understand how they could have been so happy if they were not getting enough to eat, it completely baffles me. I struggled and struggled with giving my boys formula and still hate that I have to do it, but I do. It is really gratifying to see them growing and gaining weight before my eyes, it takes some of the sting out when I look at it from their point of view...not as a personal failing. I think I've mostly accepted that they aren't getting breastmilk exclusively, but it has been a process. They came at 34 weeks and I had to bring my milk in with a pump since I couldn't get them to the breast for about 3 weeks, and I think that my body just didn't get the message that there are 2 babies to feed. I keep telling myself that there were many things about their conception and birth that didn't happen as I wanted, but in the end I have the ultimate prize--2 healthy babies who I still do have that breastfeeding relationship with. I intend to do extended breastfeeding and I think my guys will do it...they like the boob. Their weight gain is right on track now, there is just a dip at 4 months.

I hope that you have a case of just needing to up your supply and that your body will respond...by no means do I think that you have the same issues as I do, but I wanted to share my story in case it helps. I've been there and it is SO hard, I can't tell you how many tears I shed. Since your babes are happy, I would suggest you take a couple of days to determine your plan of action so that you can act logically and not too emotionally, that was important for me. I wish you the best of luck and please PM [personal message] me if you want to talk more offline. Take care.
[end of forum post]

So you can see that things were pretty rocky, but we have figured out what works best for all 4 of us. The boys are gaining weight and growing like crazy! I weighed them this morning and Odin was 12 lbs 14.25 oz and Lars was 14 lbs 5 oz. I'm sure the pediatrician will be happy with what he sees at their 6 month appointment in 3 weeks! For reference, Odin weighed 10 lbs 1 oz and Lars weighed 11 lbs 2 oz at their 4 month visit 6 weeks ago.

Back to Front

Last Saturday, 10/16 (over a week ago already, gulp!) Lars rolled over from back to tummy for the first time! He got pretty frustrated about his arm being stuck that first time, but he has since learned the finer points of rolling, and now does it all the time with great finesse. Diaper and clothing changes are getting a little more challenging!

Here is crummy cell phone photographic proof of his first back to front roll:

Giggling!

Odin giggled for the first time this morning when Papa was playing with him. Too fun!

Over the last day or so he has also discovered just how loud his voice can be, he may put his cousin Soren's velociraptor screech to shame. Only time will tell. Is it too early for him to understand the concept of 'indoor voices?'

Happy Birthday Grandma Lynn!

We dressed up in our finest gear to wish you a happy birthday Grandma! We love you!

Odin Too!

Odin rolled over for the first time today!
Tiring of tummy time, he declared it over with a triumphant humph, and settled victoriously on his back.

Yay Odin!!!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

This just in...
Lars rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time today, and he did it 3 times in a row! Wowza!!

3 Months

Dear Lars and Odin-

The past month has been one of great accomplishment...both of you are exclusively breastfeeding! It has been a LONG road and a lot of work for all four of us, but we succeeded! If it weren't for the support of your Papa, sheer determination from your Mama, and you both being such good eaters, we wouldn't have made it happen. Now that you are both exclusively breastfeeding it makes for some real freedom since we don't have to wash bottles, keep milk cold when we leave the house, pump breast milk or wash pump parts. All we need to do is grab some diapers, the nursing pillow and away we go! I'm SO proud of you boys, we had a really poor breastfeeding start, but now there is no stopping us!

With all of the freedom afforded by breastfeeding, we took a sailing vacation to celebrate Mama and Papa's 10th (!) anniversary. We went sailing when you were six weeks old, but there were som rough parts to that trip since Mama and Papa weren't getting much sleep and we had to deal with the dreaded triple feedings (breastfeed, bottle feed, pump). This trip was MUCH different. There weren't any really rough parts since you are both sleeping well at night and breast feeding is established. We had a great time visiting Port Townsend where we got married 10 years ago. We ate Waterfront pizza and Elevated ice cream, walked around town and visited friends. It was a great trip. We also visited some anchorages we've never experienced like Port Ludlow...anchoring behind the twins, and Mats Mats. It was fun to experience them as a family. In a week we stopped twice for laundry so we could wash diapers. It all worked out Great!

Sailing on Yare! (actually motoring)

Lars steering

Lashed down tight for sailing

In the past month both of you are starting to smile. It warms our hearts. Papa laughs at me when I thank you for smiling at me, but I am very grateful every time you do it.

Beautiful smiles!

We started a PEPS group where we meet with other families who have twins. The meetings are fun. We get support from, and share laughs with other parents who are in the same place we are, and we get to see lots of babies. The meetings do get a little loud with all those babies!

You sleep beautifully at night. Typically we all go to bed around 9 o'clock and you wake up around 2 am or 3 am (sometimes 4 am) to eat and then we all go back to bed and you boys wake up around 8-9 am. It makes for a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, now that Papa is back to work, he doesn't get much sleep since he has to wake up at 4:45 am. By the end of the week, your Papa is very tired. I think the next step is getting you boys to bed earlier so that the whole schedule shifts earlier.

During the day you don't sleep very well, and when it is just me home with you, I feel like all I do is feed you and try to get you to sleep. It makes getting anything done difficult, but daytime sleep is important so that you don't get overtired and have a hard time falling asleep at night. We'll keep working on it and it will get better. We got some good tips on daytime sleep from a sleep doula at the last PEPS meeting. We'll try instituting her suggestions and hopefully things will be different by the time I write you a letter when you are four months old.

This past month we have done a lot of baby wearing. During your fussy time at night we like to each wear one of you and go for a walk around the neighborhood. It is a wonderful way to enjoy the summer and it's a good chance for Papa and me to talk. You boys take a snooze so when we come home you eat and go straight to bed. Its a wonderful way to be close as a family. When I'm home alone during the day, I've even worn both of you in the Moby wrap. It's pretty heavy, since you are both getting to be BIG boys, but I love feeling that close to you. It also alows me to have my hands free to do a couple of things around the house while you take a snooze. Baby wearing also allows Mama and Papa to be social on the weekends... we just wear you and go to parties.

Baby wearing to the extreme!

Bjorklund boy buns on a Daisy sandwich (we all went to a party to celebrate Daisy's arrival)

You are both getting really strong. You spend a fair amount of time each day doing tummy time so that you can develop muscles needed for rolling over and eventually crawling. At first you just laid there, but now you push your bodies up and kick your legs.

Before

After I went downstairs for a load of laundry...all locomotion provided by Odin

Lars says: 'On Guard!' (this is a reflex babies have when their heads are turned)

Lars and Odin, we are so proud of you and your development. Thank you for being such great babies.

We love you a little more each day,

Mama and Papa

8 week checkup

Today the boys had their 8 week check up and all looks good!


Here are the stats:
Lars
9 lbs 3 oz
21 1/2" long
37.75" head circumference


Odin
8 lbs 12 oz
21 3/4" long
14.4" head circumference

Measurement Percentiles:
Lars
Actual Age weight: 4%, Adjusted Age (since they are preemies): ~45%
Actual Age length: 5%, Adjusted Age: ~55%
Actual Age head circumference: 8%, Adjusted Age: ~48%


Odin
Actual Age weight: 2%, Adjusted Age: ~30%
Actual Age length: 9%, Adjusted Age: ~62%
Actual Age head circumference: ~2%, Adjusted Age: ~25%


Both boys are following their own growth curves very nicely except we need to take Lars in for a weight check in 2 weeks. There is a little hiccup in his weight which may be because he recently transitioned to eating only at the breast or it may be because of scale differences between the lactation consultant and the pediatrician's office. It's nothing to worry about, but we do need to keep an eye on it.

Other than that, everything is great with the boys and they were both pronounced fit as a fiddle!


Unfortunately they had to get vaccines today so each of them got 3 shots. Poor little bugs! They are sleeping right now and hopefully it is just what they need to feel better. Hopefully they won't feel too bad over the next couple of days as their little bodies adjust. Mama also got a vaccine...she didn't cry, but we don't think they boys are old enough to learn by example yet.

Fashion Show

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Lee stopped by with treats the other day...lunch for me and cute warm weather outfits for the boys.


The boys say: Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Grandma Cheryl!

Happy Birthday Grandma, we love you!


We dressed up in our birthday suits to celebrate for you!

8 weeks

Dear Odin and Lars-

You are 8 weeks old now, and your Mama and Papa couldn't be happier that you are ours. We are incredibly lucky to have you.

Your birthday!

In the 2 months since you were born you have grown and developed so quickly! As preemies you spent your first 2 weeks in the Special Care Nursery. At first you both had problems breathing and were on a machine to help you breathe. You were both so strong that you only needed to be on that machine for 1 1/2 days for Lars and 2 1/2 days for Odin. After that we only had to make sure you could eat and gain weight. You were champs when you learned and we gladly brought you home. You eat amazingly well and Lars you weigh over 9 pounds and Odin you weigh over 8 pounds, way to go!


In the Special Care Nursery

Since you've been home we've been trying to make sure you both can breastfeed. Both of you were tongue tied and had a small procedure to remedy that in order to make breastfeeding better, and now you can both stick your tongues out. You have made amazing strides with breastfeeding and as of a week ago, Lars has been breastfeeding exclusively. Odin, you are almost there and by the time I write you a letter on your 3 month birthday, I think you will be breastfeeding exclusively. We are SO proud of you! Breastfeeding is hard work and you are amazing.

See! Tongue!

We've had lots of fun in the past 2 months too. We haven't let breastfeeding difficulties slow us down and keep us at home. You went on your first sailing trip on the boat. You also took your first road trip when we went to visit Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph for the 4th of July. It's important that we do fun things as a family and you seem to like it.

In Port Madison


At Grandma and Grandpa's house

You have an amazing group of people who love you. Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Bill came down from Alaska to get to know you when you were first born and made sure that Mama and Papa had food to eat. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Lee visit all the time and Grandma Jean even put up with the great Odin poopy diaper explosion of 2010...all over her lap. Regardless of the mess, she even still asks to hold you. Auntie Jenny and Uncle Karl have been incredibly supportive of Mama and Papa and Auntie Jenny was even there when you were born. Auntie Karla and Uncle Jared made the trip from Bellingham the day after you were born even though they couldn't hold you yet. Einar and Soren were so very excited to meet you that you were a constant topic of conversation. Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Ralph have made the trip over the mountains many times to visit us already...they are so excited to teach you all about rocks! You have Great Grandmas, a Great Grandpa, Great Aunts and Great Uncles and second cousins who adore you. Not to mention all of Mama and Papa's friends who have visited and brought food. You are both very loved and very lucky to have all of that love...your Mama and Papa are too.

The great poop explosion of 2010

Grandma Lynn adores you


Einar and Odin

Recently you have allowed us to sleep for a pretty big chunk of the night and we are SO grateful boys. We will do anything for you, even if that meant continuing getting 2.5 hour chunks of sleep for the forseeable future, but we are SO glad that you have made the transition to longer stretches of sleep at night. Good job!

None of you look too sleepy, but pictures of people sleeping are boring!

We love you bugs, more than we can ever express. Thanks for being ours.

Love,

Mama and Papa

Breastfeeding Bliss for Bjorklund Boys (and Mama)

Breastfeeding has been challenging to establish for our family, but we are getting there! We have been doing "triple feedings" which consist of tandem breastfeeding for about 20 minutes, then giving the boys a chaser bottle of expressed breast milk or formula (hopefully mostly breastmilk) and while Tor is giving the bottles, I them pump in order to have more expressed breast milk for the next feeding, as well as to give my body the signals that it needs to produce more milk. Needless to say, it is time consuming and a whole lot of work...not to mention not very sustainable for when Tor goes back to work.

We rented a scale last week so that we could determine how much milk the boys were getting during breastfeeding. We weighed them before they ate and then after and the scale is accurate enough to determine the weight difference to the gram. One gram equals one milliliter of milk and 30 milliliters equals 1 ounce. Lars was consistently getting 2 ounces in his sessions at the breast, but unfortunately Odin proved to be only getting half an ounce in the same time at the breast as his brother. Armed with this data we went to an appointment with the lactation consultant on Thursday and we got the go ahead to feed Lars from the breast only and a referral for Odin for a speech therapist (no he's not talking yet...they just know what the mouth is supposed to do).

Since Thursday Lars has only been eating from the breast and is doing great! And since Lars hasn't been needing any expressed breastmilk in a chaser bottle, Odin has been getting it all...so that means no formula except for the one time I couldn't pump since we were on the road! Once we get Odin's sucking issues figured out, triple feedings will be no more...the boys will do all the work! Yeehaw.

Yeah, you knew with data I'd have to do something with it...these graphs show the chaser bottle data for 2 weeks before our appointment with the lactation consultant. The top graph shows Lars' data and it shows that he got more and more from the breast. Odin's graph shows that the volumes in his chaser bottles haven't really changed (he's not getting any more from the breast over time), but the amount of formula needed is decreasing. All good news!

5.5

5.5 hours of sleep in one shot...it's heaven! We got the go ahead to stop waking the boys for feedings, and they have allowed us up to 5.5 hours of sleep in one go for the last few nights, THANK YOU boys! When we left the hospital we were instructed to let no more than 4 hours elapse from the start of one feeding to the start of the next, since the feedings take an hour to an hour and a half, we were sleeping in two and a half or sometimes (if we were lucky) three hour chunks. Five and a half hours feels like a good nights sleep now, especially when combined with a four hour chunk! Can we say our boys sleep through the night now? It's starting to feel that way, halleluia!

Sailing!

Now that we are parents, it is really important to us to raise our children doing the things that matter to us...even if they were more difficult to do with children. One of those things is getting out and using the boat!

We were able to get away for a few days on the boat last week, when the boys were just 6 weeks old. Some things were infinitely harder, and other things were infinitely easier. It was amazingly difficult to get packed up, provisioned, to the boat and away from the dock. We started packing at about 9am, and by the time we were able to get away from the dock, it was 3:30 pm, and we couldn't actually leave until 6:00 because the bridges won't open for rush hour traffic. On the way out we stopped at Ivar's for take out dinner and the fuel dock for fuel. By the time we were at the Fremont bridge, the boys were SCREAMING because they were starving. I also think they were feeding off the stress I was feeling at the whole ordeal getting away from the dock and the stress I was feeling because Tor couldn't help out with the feeding since he was running the boat. While the boys were screaming, I had to boil water to wash bottles and make up formula (which always stresses me out...I don't like that I can't give the boys breastmilk exclusively yet). For the first time as a new mom, I cried along with the boys because I was completely overwhelmed. It was AWFUL. I got them fed on my own and Tor continued on to Port Madison where we were going to anchor for the night. We finally pulled into Port Madison around 9:45pm and set the anchor.

The next day after sleep and decompression time on the boat (which is really our floating cabin and an incredibly relaxing place to be), things got infinitely easier. Ever since we launched the boat, we have envisioned having kids aboard. Infertility took that away for 2.5 very long years and it didn't seem possible that our vision would ever come true. We now have our kids aboard and life is amazing. We are incredibly lucky people to have these beautiful little boys in our life. See, infinitely easier.

We spent two nights out and had a wonderful time. We had a good sail home and we put into action the lessons we learned on the way out. We stopped the boat at a dock for feedings as we were able and we just took things slowly, instead of trying to do too much. We can't wait for the next trip.


Laundry baskets make GREAT beds say Lars and Odin



Odin has some growing to do before his PFD is really useful, good thing the boys aren't running around yet and stayed down below!

Big Eaters

We went for an appointment with a lactation consultant today (we love Group Health!) and the boys are doing really well. Breastfeeding/ feeding the boys with expressed breast milk has been a challenge...to say the least. Since they are preemies, we couldn't start off breastfeeding like a full term baby would have been able to, they needed to develop neurologically as well as physically before breastfeeding would work. Tomorrow is their due date, so we are technically full term now, even though the boys are 5 weeks old now. Since the boys couldn't feed from the breast, my best friend and nemesis has been the breast pump in order to develop my milk supply. Since a pump just can't remove milk from a breast as well as a baby can, and milk supply is a supply and demand thing...I haven't been able to produce enough milk to feed both boys. It's been REALLY hard.

Today's appointment made all of the hard work seem worth it. We weighed the boys before and after a feeding and Odin (the one who has the most problems breastfeeding) took 22 mL (almost 1 oz) and Lars took 50 mL (almost 2 oz)! Lars weighed in at 8 lbs 2 oz (birth weight 4 lbs 14.5 oz) and Odin weighed 7 lbs 7 oz (birth weight 5 lbs 3 oz). We also learned that the boys are likely both "tongue tied" which makes breastfeeding more challenging and the transfer of milk from me to them less than optimal, on top of all the issues that come with pre-term birth. We have an appointment to have that taken care of (clipping the frenulum) on Monday (again, we love Group Health!). We still need to supplement with bottles since each boy typically takes 3 oz per feeding, but breastfeeding (even exclusively!) is eventually going to work!

Lars thought the heating pad on the scale was super comfy

Big Boys Meet Little Boys

Lars and Odin's cousins Einar and Soren are in town. Einar and Soren were VERY excited about meeting their new cousins. It's awfully cute to see our 5 and 2 year nephews hold our babies!

Chillin' at Home

Today was a home day. Papa and Odin got some good snuggles. Doesn't Papa look tired? All four of us took a good nap together and Papa doesn't look as tired now.

We also weighed the boys today, they're getting big! Lars weighed in at 7lbs 14 oz and Odin was 7 lbs 4 oz. No wonder my arms get tired!

Grandpa Bill went home today so we had a visit this morning with Grandpa, Grandma Lynn, Auntie Jenn and Uncle Karl. Later Grandma Jean and Grandpa Lee brought lunch and some snuggles. It was a good day.