The first week together...

Well the journey has definitely began at the Shay household. We are actually doing really good. I am trying to manage my time and get things done while the boys sleep and also try to squeeze in a nap for myself in the afternoon. This week my mom has been staying with me and helping get things under control with both boys. It has been really nice especially since Ronnie has been out of town working all week.

Monday we ventured to College Station with both boys for Westyn's first check up with his pediatrician. He weighs 6lbs 11oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. So I would say I am definitely doing something right with him gaining weight like he is!! She said he looks great and was happy with his progress. I had written down some questions that I wanted to ask her while I was there that had came up being at home. I asked her about the RSV preventative for them and she said they are definitely a candidate for it so they would send in the necessary paperwork to insurance to see if approved and then would order the vaccine. If approved this would be a monthly shot for the boys beginning in October and going to March of 2013. This helps put antibodies in their system to fight off the cold and flu since they are unable to do that at their young age and maturity level of being a preemie. She said that with the boys their will be about a 2-3 month delay in maturity so that if a normal 4 month old if cooing and smiling it might take the boys an extra 2-3 months to do that. Even though we are already experiencing the smiles from each so hopefully they will be ahead of the game. I also asked her about how long I would have to continue the 3 hour feedings. She said that with their weight gains we could bump them up to 4 hours and see how they do. If they are up and fussy before to go ahead and feed them. We have started doing that and they are lasting around 3 1/2 to 4 hours which makes a huge difference for me and it doesn't feel like I am just constantly feeding and that is all I am doing. So we are grateful for that and we hope it continues.
 
I am also attempting to multitask and feed the boys at the same time. I am continuing to pump, but the breastfeeding isn't going as good as I had planned. With preemies it takes a lot more work trying to get them to latch. I haven't given up and I continue to try to nurse twice a day, but it is definitely much easier to bottle feed them the breastmilk and just pump to get my supply for them.

We have been letting the boys sleep in their own room in their cribs at night this week and they have been doing great. The reason I decided to do this was because my sister in law text me this past week and told me how they thought it was going to be a challenge to have Jack convert to his crib since he was used to being in their room and she suggested that since the boys were used to being in cribs to take advantage of it. So I took her word and I have been putting them in their cribs at night and they have been doing great. I have noticed that after Westyn's 2-3am feed he doesn't always go back to sleep as well in his room so I do bring him into our room and put him in the bassinet so I can rock him to sleep that way and he normally goes right to sleep.

One of my new projects that I have started this week is trying to figure out how to make the cute burp cloths you see people selling. Well I believe me and my mom have figured it out and I am on my way to start selling them to make a little extra profit for the boys and their extra expenses we are incurring. So if you are interested in burp cloths let me know!! I will be posting more information about them once I get it mastered and figure out some prices. I figured it gives me something to do while the boys are sleeping so that I wont have to encounter getting the 'baby blues' sitting in the house all day. Especially since we aren't having visitors right now until the boys get a little stronger.

Also, we have grown out of preemie clothes!! I have emptied that closet of all the preemie outfits.. and we are now in newborns. They are a little big, but it gives them so room to stretch so they can continue to grow!!

 

I believe that is all that we have for right now. I am predicting for Wesley's stats that he is well over 6lbs now since his last visit on Wednesday 9-5-12 he was 5lbs 14oz. We go for their first sets of vaccines on the 27th so I am curious to see how chunky the boys will be at that point.

As always, we still ask for prayers so that God will continue to watch over us.