Okay, now I'm ready. It looks like we've found each of the girls magic formulas. Maddie has been doing excellent on the prescription formula for a couple weeks now and Melia's tummy seems to like the Alimentum - and in keeping with the good news, even though Alimentum isn't a prescription formula, it's considered a speciality formula and is covered by my insurance! This is great news considering that it costs $27/can! So now I can get it delivered to my doorstep for about $15 for a case of 6 cans! Melia is demanding more and more formula on a regular basis now. She's up to 100ccs, which is just under 4oz and there are certain feedings that's not satisfying her, so we have to giver her an extra 20-30ccs to calm her down. Maddie is up to 90ccs, not that she's asking for that much - but to keep her weight moving in the right direction, we're forcing it on her. We increase her feedings by 10ccs at the beginning of every week and it seems to be keeping things on track.
We had our first big outing without the girls over the long weekend. Most people leave their kids for maybe 2-3 hours for the first time - maybe hit dinner and a movie - not us, we go for the gusto with a 12 hour stretch and require babysitters in shifts! We always get season tickets to the Rutgers football games and Labor Day was game 1. It was a 4pm kickoff, but we made it an all day event and began our tailgate at 9am - this means we had to leave the house by 8am. So Mike's mom was on the first shift and arrived at our house at 7:30am - then my dad and Rosie came at noon to relieve Mary Lou and they had the girls until we got home at about 8pm. It was a long day for me without the girls. I thought of them often, but resisted the urge to constantly call the house to check in. I knew they were in good hands and figured I'd get a call if something was wrong. So I checked in via text message once per shift - and of course, everything was just fine. I had a great time at the tailgate. It was a day of much needed adult time - but I missed them so much!
While we were out we got a chance to hang out with a lot of our friends - some of which we see on a regular basis and others that we haven't seen since before the girls were born. One question always comes up - "do you feel different?" - Mike always says that having children was the one thing that made him feel "different" - getting engaged didn't make him feel different, getting married didn't make him feel different, buying a house didn't make him feel different - but having kids is that one landmark of his adult life that makes him feel different. I'd have to say that I agree. Having children has made everything come full circle. Having children changes everything and of course, it's a different experience - June 5, 2009 definitely marks the day that things changed . Do I feel different? Yes, I guess I do. I'm still the same person, but my children have made me an enhanced version of myself. My children make me better.
- Mike and Amanda
- I am a 29 year old mother of identical twin girls, Madison and Melia. They were born at 29 weeks, 1 day gestation and spent 8 weeks in the NICU at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ. They hit 40 weeks gestation on August 20, 2009 and are now considered full term. Even though they are actually 11 weeks old, they are just now considered to be newborns. I started this blog as a way to keep friends and family informed on what was going on with the girls while they were in the NICU. It has turned into a keepsake and a therapuetic outlet. I hope that everyone continues to follow along and enjoys sharing this first hand experience of first-time parents of premature twin girls.
Words that I came to live by while on strict bedrest for 6 weeks during my pregnancy, 4 of which were spent in the hospital ~ Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.
