Happy Wednesday!
Once again, this has been a crazy month and I haven’t been able to get up a blog post since the girls’ last monthly update. Time flies when you’re having fun and we have been busy around here! I can’t believe another month has already passed and the girls are now seven months old! I desperately need time to slow down! My babies are growing up too fast.
If you missed the girls’ previous monthly updates, you can read them here:
Our Girls Are Here! Identical Twin C-Section Birth Story
Identical Twins: One Month Update
Identical Twins: Two Month Update
Identical Twins: Three Month Update
Identical Twins: Four Month Update
Identical Twins: Five Month Update
Identical Twins: Six Month Update
Meredith
Weight/Length: Meredith weighs 15 pounds, 14 ounces but we’re not sure how long she is.
Clothing Size: She is just barely in 6 month clothes but 6-9 month and 9 month clothing fits her best, depending on the brand.
Likes: Rolling and sleeping on her stomach! Meredith is our little roly poly. She also loves baths, mirrors, her doggie siblings, and going for walks.
Dislikes: Green beans.
Milestones: Meredith rolled from back to tummy this month and now she is rolling all over the place! She also prefers to sleep on her stomach and is sitting up for a few seconds at a time. She celebrated her first Halloween this month too!
Natalie
Weight/Length: She weights 17 pounds, 4 ounces but we aren’t sure how long she is.
Clothing Size: She is in 6-9 month and 9 month clothing.
Likes: Natalie loves playing with her feet and pulling her socks off and putting her feet in her mouth. She is our little gymnast. She also loves bath time, playing in her jumper, and trying to pet her doggie siblings!
Dislikes: Green beans.
Milestones: Natalie rolled from back to belly this month too! She is sitting up for a few seconds at a time and she also celebrated her first Halloween!
Both Girls
Sleep: Oh boy, where do I start with this one? It’s been rough around here in the sleep department. The girls seem to have been going through a sleep regression and all of a sudden they wanted to be rocked to sleep, which is a habit we have tried to avoid. It’s just not possible when you have two babies, especially on the 3-4 nights a week I put the babies to sleep by myself. I only have two hands! After a visit to the doctor which confirmed they are healthy and there was no obvious reason for their lack of sleep, we started some gentle sleep training and we seem to be making progress. We let the girls fuss and lightly cry for about 5 minutes before intervening. Sometimes they put themselves back to sleep in that time and we consider that a success. It’s slow going and we are still trying to figure out what the best plan of action is, but for now that’s what we’re doing! I’ll report back next month on how everyone is sleeping around here.
Food/Eating: Our adventures in solids continue! The girls are great at eating and they open up their mouths when the spoon is coming their way. They get so excited to eat! So far they have tried sweet potato, banana, apples, pears, butternut squash, green beans and peas. Their favorites are pears and butternut squash and they were not fans of green beans. It has been so fun to watch them experience new foods.
Schedule: The schedule is a work in progress.We are currently on a 3 nap schedule, but the girls don’t take their last catnap probably half of the time, so we are kind of transitioning to 2 naps a day. This is what we shoot for and it may or may not happen, depending on the day:
7AM: Wake up and bottle.
7:15-8AM: Playtime
8AM: Solids/Breakfast
8:15-8:45: Playtime
9-10:30/11AM: Nap
11AM: Bottle
11:15-12PM: Playtime
12PM: Solids/Lunch
12:15-12:45: Playtime
1-2:30/3PM: Nap
3PM: Bottle
3:15-4PM: Playtime
4PM: Solids/Dinner
4:15-4:30PM/Playtime
4:45-5:15PM: Possible catnap. If they don’t nap, we have playtime instead.
6:00-6:30PM: Bath and Bottle. We start bedtime routine somewhere between 6 and 6:30 depending on how the day went and whether they took their last nap.
7PM: Bedtime.
Mom and Dad: We are doing well overall! There has definitely been a lack of sleep around here the last few weeks but we try out best to communicate and not take our tiredness out on each other. It’s hard sometimes! We have a date night coming up next month that we are both excited about! This will only be the third time we’ve left the babies since they were born but we know it’s important to make our marriage a priority. And we are doing just that!
As for me specifically, I am doing great! My workouts have been put on pause for the time being because I’ve been so tired and it’s been hard to motivate myself to wake up early in the mornings. But I’m happy to report I’m down to 8 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! It’s been slow and steady progress but I’m ok with that. I am losing the baby weight the healthy way and that’s what matters to me. Once I hit my pre-pregnancy weight, my next goal is to get down to my pre-IVF weight. Not that it’s all about weight and the number on the scale, but I am working towards feeling more confident in my body. And having some of my pre-pregnancy clothes fitting again definitely helps that.
And now for some more pictures of the babies!
Meredith and Natalie are such happy babies and I can’t believe I’m their mom. Every time they smile at me, it just melts my heart and I am so thankful to have them! They are growing and developing so much right now and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us this next month. It’s their first holiday season and it is going to be so much fun celebrating with them! There is so much to look forward to!
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