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.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
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!
The boys say: Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Happy Birthday Grandma Cheryl!
Happy Birthday Grandma, we love you!
We dressed up in our birthday suits to celebrate for you!
We dressed up in our birthday suits to celebrate for you!
Monday, July 5, 2010
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
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.
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
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!
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!
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