Two Months

It is hard to believe the boys are two months old! Where did the time go? We had a pretty exciting month!

Weights
Archer:   7lb 11oz
Andrew: 7lb 7oz
Alden:    9lb 10oz

Lengths
Archer: 20.5 inches
Andrew: 20.5 inches
Alden:    21.25 inches

Food
Archer: Day 80ml, Night 100ml of half breastmilk and half high calorie formula
Andrew: Day 90ml, Night 110ml of half breastmilk and half high calorie formula
Alden: Day 100ml, Night 120ml of breastmilk

The boys eat the above amounts every 3 hours during the day (11, 2, 5, and 8) and every 4 hours (12, 4, 8). We are still pumping (a lot!), so we can bottle feed to know exact amounts and it lets other people help feed too. At their two month well visit (when the boys weren't all that well - see below) we got the go ahead to put all three boys on all breastmilk. Yay! Now let's see if mom can keep up with the boys demand. This month the boys grew out of the little tiny Medela bottles we were using from the hospital.  The lactation consultant I met with when she was pregnant gave us the great advice to buy one or two of several different types of bottles until we saw what the boys liked/needed.  As Alden grew out of the little bottles first, we tried an array of bottles with him (Dr. Brown's, Playtex, Tommee Tippee) and he hated them all. He had a hard time gripping the fancy nipples in his mouth.  Luckily, we found some Gerber bottles with similar sized nipples that come in red, blue, and clear so we can color code by baby (thanks Baba for the Valentine's Day present). We also found that you can order the reusable Similac nipples we were using from the hospital online which work with our new bottles, so we are set for a little while, at least until they grow out of the 5oz bottles. We probably saved well over a hundred dollars since Alden preferred cheap bottles/nipples ;-)

Andrew and Alden

Archer and Wrigley

Diapers
We go through a minimum of 21 a day - a diaper change at every feeding (we're down to 7 feedings a day) x3 boys. Then we usually go through a few extra. Last month Archer and Andrew were still in preemie diapers and Alden was in newborn.  This month Archer and Andrew are in newborn and Alden is in Size 1s. The boys definitely have their own individual ideas on what is "regular." Andrew is our little gas machine, but he only poops once every couple of days. While we're on the subject, I'll share that neither of us like names for bodily functions like potty or poopy, so we call a pee a UT and a poop an Auburn. It's been a pretty good system so far. Every (and I mean EVERY) single feed and diaper change is logged in our Baby Connect app. This has been a lifesaver because you change so many diapers and fill so many bottles that you lose track of who has had an Auburn and who didn't finish their bottle. Plus you can generate charts and graphs, which is helping me with my data withdrawal since I don't  have a research study going this semester.  We also enter things like weight, heights, activities (baths, tummy time, story time), and medicine.

Activities
The boys are getting more and more active and social every day. During their first month of life, we kept them up very little because we needed to keep them warm and we didn't want them expending a lot of calories. Now that they are bigger and officially "newborn" size we can play a lot more. The boys all love mirrors - Andrew and Alden especially. They all love their Wubba Nub pacis (Archer - frog, Andrew - duck, Alden - dog)

The boys had some pretty major "firsts" this month. They celebrated their first Valentine's Day and sent pics to their Valentines (Kate Shrout, Olive Sue Gage, Milly Madinger, Harper Anelli, and Sophie Mitri).

They had their first and their second snow. We took pictures in the window, but Jay wouldn't let us go outside and play.

 Alden

Archer

Andrew 

On a not so fun note, Archer had his first ride in an ambulance and Archer and Andrew both had their first hospital stay (not counting when they were born). They boys all got RSV (a respiratory virus that babies get that can be pretty severe, especially for preemies). All the boys were congested and started declining in their feeds because they were having to work too hard to breathe to spend any of their energy eating.  On Wednesday, February 25, Robin took Archer to the doctor because he was eating next to nothing and was having really labored breathing. His oxygen saturation levels were so low that they wanted him to go to the hospital, and they wanted him to go in an ambulance because they didn't want him in his car seat without oxygen.  We were prepared for the possibility of the hospital stay as we had guessed it might be RSV before the test confirmed it, but we were not prepared for the ambulance ride. It is quite taxing to see your tiny baby strapped to a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.  Thankfully, the doc said Andrew and Alden were well enough to stay home.  Archer had a rough couple of days in the hospital where he had several prolonged apnea episodes and scared us to death!  Meanwhile, the boys enjoyed their second snow which us at the hospital Wednesday night and left Baba home alone with the other two boys for a night.  All in all though, the doctors were very pleased with how healthy Archer was compared to other preemies with RSV.  On Saturday, Andrew decided he wanted to join Archer in the hospital for an overnight visit. The doctor wanted him to come in for observation because he too had stopped eating regularly and had very labored breathing. That put mom and Baba in the hospital with Archer and Andrew and dad at home alone with Alden. Needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted (and elated) once the boys were released on Sunday just in time for the boys to turn two months old.   

 Archer was one sick little baby for a little while there.

Andrew's visit to the hospital wasn't quite as scary.

In other health news, Archer and Andrew were circumcised this month (we actually think that at that appointment is where they got RSV). We are glad that is done because we have been waiting for the boys to hit 7 pounds for the urologist to do it (because they didn't weigh enough in the hospital, but Alden did). No pictures of this ;-)

New Visitors
Papa (Martin), Paula, and Pops (Steve).

Personalities
Archer: Archer is so strong. He is great at holding up his head and loves to sit in the Bumbo seat. He even flipper over a couple of times this month. Sometimes during tummy time he gets mad (ok that is an understatement), and if we don't pick him up fast enough he will just push himself over with his arms. It scares him every time. He also gets startled easily. Sometimes his poots will startle him when he is on the verge of falling asleep. He still loves his paci, but is finding other ways to soothe himself or let us soothe him without always having to be sucking. He is becoming more and more social and will stare at us and Wrigley so intently.

Andrew: Andrew makes the funniest little faces. His eyes are so expressive and he often sleeps with them partially open. He will often cut his eyes at you like you've said the dumbest thing ever. He will have his eye roll down pat when he gets older.  He also loves to smile and loves to be in his swing. We have learned that sometimes he just has to cry out a few times before he goes to sleep, but then he will go right to sleep (as long as his cries haven't woken up another sleeping brother at which point a ripple effect ensues). Andrew loves to be propped in the Boppy and look around (or at uncle Ben's painting).

Alden: Alden is still our content little baby, but he is starting to love (aka need) to be cuddled and held. He doesn't like the swing very much, but he is soothed by falling asleep on your chest or in your lap.  He doesn't like the Bumbo much either but will endure it with his paci. He will hold his head up though if you give him something to look at or put him up against you so he can hold up his head to see your face.  He also like to look around when propped in the Boppy. He is still really interested in people, so being propped in the Boppy lets him get a better view of the room than his usual napping spot - his Moses basket.

Our Two Month Pictures!