My little cuties
Ben and the babies
Ben is fantastic with the twins, he sings them songs, gives them kisses, rubs them gently and tells them over and over again that he is their "big brother Benjamin" who is going to mind them and that he loves them. He calls Zachary "his boy" and Zoey "our princess". I am relieved he has taken to their arrival so well and is truly smitten with them without a hint of jealousy in sight.One thing I've noticed is that he seems to have grown up and looks like he's gotten really big but I'm not sure if that is just because I'm looking at him alongside the twins who are so small. His attitude has changed too, he is a lot more "can do" and wants to do things for himself, clearly leaving the role of "Mummy's baby" behind and taking on his new found "big brother" status.
The days and nights
I'm not going to lie, it's tough going at times and two hands really aren't enough in certain situations especially when you throw a potty training toddler into the equation but we are managing. Days and nights are busy, I spend a huge chunk of the day breastfeeding the twins who are exclusively breastfeeding on demand. Then there's changing nappies (I had forgotten just how many nappies a newborn gets through in a day), countless clothing changes due to explosive "poonamis", rocking and soothing cries which, like so many things they do, are synchronised or in quick succession of each other.I am figuring out their baby language and feel like I am getting a bit better at deciphering their crying codes. Zachary grumbles quite a lot, even when he is fast asleep and has an impressive set of lungs on him when he does cry. Zoey, on the other hand, is so quiet that when she is sleeping I often worry about how still she is and can't stop myself from tickling or nudging her just to make sure she is okay. Her expression when she cries however would have you believe that something downright horrendous was after happening, with her little scrunched up face and pitiful look.
A rare quiet moment with all three of my babies
To be honest there is seldom a quiet moment in our house these days, when one twin is quiet or asleep, the other tends to be crying or awake if they are not both kicking off together with Ben attempting to out do them on the volume levels.Checks and Monitoring
As the twins spent their first thirteen days in SCBU there has been a lot of monitoring since they left, especially for Zoey because she was so small when they were discharged. The community nurse from the hospital had been calling weekly to weigh them which I am glad to say now looks like will lessen in frequency as Zoey is finally over the 2kg mark which, as far as I know, is the desired weight a premature baby has to get to before being left home - I am so glad we didn't have to wait that long.At their weigh in last week, Zoey was 4lbs 7oz while Zachary was a chubby 7lbs 7oz. Both twins are gaining weight consistently and climbing upwards on the curve of their weight graphs so the community nurse is happy with them. I always breathe a sigh of relief after being told their weight gain and feel thankful that breastfeeding them exclusively on demand is working and as a result goes unquestioned for another week anyway. From moments after my c section my desire to breastfeed both twins exclusively was met with a very definite amount of negativity by one doctor in SCBU in particular. I remember being so gutted, post c section, without my babies who had been whisked off to SCBU being told by her, that as I had twins to feed it would be very unlikely I would be able to do so without formula top-ups if at all. She decided to reiterate that the day before we left SCBU, also expressing an opinion that Zoey was "too fragile" to go home for awhile. I am so glad we are proved her wrong on the discharge date and are continuing to do so on the breastfeeding front.
Visible changes
Zoey is what could be described as "growing into her skin", her face is changing as her cheeks are filling out and her features are becoming more prominent (if that makes sense) while her legs are losing that twig like appearance they first had. She is finally fitting into the newborn and first sized clothes as she is growing longer and filling them better.
Zoey getting bigger
Zachary, on the other hand, is our little chubbster with really cute squishy baby cheeks and he is so strong he has no problem lifting his head to have a good old look about, in fact Zoey is not far behind him on the strength front and is always pushing down on her legs and propelling herself up.
Chubby little Zachary
Both babies are really alert with big sparkly eyes, the seem really interested in what is going on about them and taking things in.In the past week we have noticed that they seem to be growing more alike facially and looking like well, twins. This is most noticeable when you look at their profiles side by side. It is amazing to watch the changes in them which seem to be occurring daily as they grow and gain weight.
Ready to face the world
A fortnight ago we had our first outing in their new pushchair, which is a bit of a beast being a Bugaboo Donkey. We decided to wait until the twins were born to order it as we wanted to get colours suitable to their gender and as a result we have a very lovely pink and blue one.
First trip to the park
Our first outing was locally, into Maidenhead and I have to say I was really taken aback by the amount of people who stopped to look and chat about them, I hadn't realised the celebrity status that twins would bring. It felt like a really big milestone making it out of the house with them and so lovely to venture out together as a family of five. The fact that they slept the entire time we were out, allowing us a very welcome coffee in Costa was a massive bonus.I am now also learning I need to be a lot more prepared going places with a double stroller as there are a lot of places where access will be a problem. This happened last Friday when I took the twins for their six week check at the doctors. The surgery has double doors but unfortunately they keep one of the doors locked and have no idea where the key is so I had real trouble getting inside. When I did get inside all the receptionists were cooing over the twins which was lovely but as a result I was late for my appointment and was put "on the bench" to wait for the next available slot. I was definitely not impressed, of all places I thought the doctor's surgery would be accessible.
Waiting in the Doctor's surgery
Got wheels, need threads
Of course as we are now out and about in public some clothes other than babygros are required and I have been loving dressing the twins up. Zachary is mostly sporting Ben's old, but very cute outfits while Zoey has finally got some pretty pink dresses and girly items. It is still hard to get things to fit her but I have managed to find a few sites which do lovely girly things suitable for her size so finally there has been a pink injection in our household.It's lovely seeing Zachary and Zoey together and they are just starting to react to each other. I leave you with an early Sunday morning chat between them.
