Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

I am lucky to have an amazing father who helped raise me and my four siblings.  I'm even luckier that I still live close to him and that my kids get to see him on a regular basis.  This morning we got to take him out for a Father's Day breakfast.

The rest of our day was spent with my wonderful husband, who works his ass off for us everyday.  Not many men can work 80 hours a week and still find time to be a wonderful, hands on dad, but he does.  

After a quick stop by the in laws, where Harrison discovered how awesome a basketball is, and an afternoon nap, we went out for some Mexican grub and ice cream. 

Harry decided to go face down into a plate of rice and beans.

The face of pure happiness.

Happy Father's Day to the most amazing man I know.  H, B and I are so lucky to call you our own.

Breastfeeding Twins

If breastfeeding, images of it, or talk about it offends you, this post is not for you.  I will be candidly talking about my experience nursing my twins and sharing a couple pictures of them nursing.  You've been warned.

Gilligan & O'Malley Nursing Tank - I have been wearing these nursing tanks basically every day since I came home from the hospital.  They are super comfortable and have held up really well over time.  They are great to wear under a t-shirt, tank or sweater.  I was a 34B pre-pregnancy and went up two sizes. Some of my mommy friends with larger chests said they didn't offer enough support. I haven't had that problem, but it may be something to consider if you're well endowed.

BeBe Au Lait Nursing Cover - This nursing cover was a godsend for the first few months while we were getting comfortable in our nursing relationship. It's lightweight and has a firm yet flexible band at the neckline which makes it easy to look down and see if your baby is latched properly or needs re-positioning.

Boppy Pillow x2 - The Boppy gets my vote for the best piece of baby gear ever invented.  It's the perfect support pillow for nursing a singleton.  We used it to prop them up while bottle feeding. It's a great aid for when they are still a little wobbly sitting up.  We, kind of by accident, found that the Boppys provided the perfect support for tandem nursing in bed. I position the Boppys on my sides and they offer enough support for my arms that I can tandem nurse both babies while lying on my back.  I know I didn't explain that well, but there's a picture further down that shows the babies positioning while nursing. While you don't need two of everything for twins, you do need two Boppys.

Medela Pump In Style Advanced - A double electric pump is a must, in my opinion, especially if you plan to go back to work at anytime.  Even before I went back to work, I used the pump on a daily basis.  I would pump once a day while giving the babies a bottle. They were never great at taking a bottle, but they would always take it.  Sometimes it just took an hour for them to finish 4 ounces.  My favorite part about this pump is that the bags attach to the flanges so you don't have to pump into a bottle and then pour it into a bag to freeze it.  There are also nipples that screw directly onto the pumping bottles.  Easy and less dishes = win.

Bella B Nipple Butter - This nipple butter is great because you don't have to wipe it off before nursing.  It's soothing, natural and safe for baby.  Enough said.

My Brest Friend Twin Nursing Pillow - We used the twin pillow for just about every feeding until 2 or 3 months.  It was really great with helping us tandem feed in the beginning.  It's made of a firm foam which is perfect for supporting little, floppy babies. It was especially great when I needed to burp one baby and keep the other happily nursing. Added bonus, it has a pocket on the side where you can put your phone and a burp rag.

Lansinoh Soothies - Your nipples will be sore in the beginning even if your babies have a great latch.  Keep a few of these in the fridge and pop them on whenever your nipples are sore, instant soothing.

And now for our breastfeeding story.

Long before we even started trying to get pregnant I was sure I was going to breastfeed my children.  When we found out we were having twins, I knew that it might be more of a challenge to exclusively breastfeed, but I was still determined.  I ordered the My Brest Friend Twin Nursing Pillow, read Mothering Multiples and started researching twin nursing success stories. 

I knew that each week I was still pregnant gave us a better chance of successfully nursing. When we wound up in the hospital at 32 weeks, I adjusted my expectations.  When the NICU nurses come in and talk to you about feeding tubes, any preconceived notions of how you plan to feed your babies go out the window.  I remained hopeful, and thankfully we made it to 37 weeks before delivering.

Immediately after delivery, the babies' blood sugar dropped and they were taken to the nursery to be given formula. The nurses fed them with a syringe since they knew we hoped to breastfeed.  Brooke joined me in recovery first and she latched immediately. When Harrison joined us, he latched right away as well but had some issues with latching properly.

The lactation consultants, LCs,  at the hospital were great at helping with Harrison's latch.  Both babies were consistently latching well and eagerly nursing by the end of day one. The babies roomed in with us and continued to nurse well overnight.  In the morning they went to the nursery for their pediatric check-in and they had lost enough weight that the doctor was slightly concerned.

The LCs brought us in a Medela Symphony pump, a great pump if you're interesting in renting a hospital grade pump, and we began pumping to help stimulate supply.  The babies continued to nurse well that day and night.  When they went into the nursery the next morning for their check-in, they had lost even more weight.  Over 10% of their body weight.  In hindsight this is partially due to inflated birth weights from my being hooked to an IV for hours before they were born.

We continued nursing and pumping that day and also began manual expression/massage while the babies nursed to help stimulate production.  By the end of the day the babies were becoming fussy and nursing constantly.  That night we got to the point where the babies were hungry and I wasn't producing enough to satisfy them.  Around 1am the babies were crying because they were hungry, and I was crying because they were hungry and I couldn't satisfy them.  During this time the nurse on call came in and told me I shouldn't expect to be able to exclusively breast feed twins.  This got me crying even more.

So there we were, the three of us crying and poor Rob is trying to say the right thing.  We decided that the babies needed more than what I could give at that time, so we had the nurse bring in some formula.  They each sucked down an ounce right away and then passed out.  While Rob fed them I was crying hysterically thinking I was a failure. By their next feeding, I had enough milk to keep them satisfied. When they went for their morning check-in they had lost a bit more weight but the drop wasn't as severe as it had been the previous two days.

Our day nurse sent us home with tons of formula samples.  It was great to have them as a back up, and there were a few time where I got frustrated and really considered using formula, but never did.  We were able to donate the samples to friends that needed them.  By their one week appointment they were back above their birth weight and they continued to gain quickly.

Tandem nursing using the My Brest Friend

Harrison had problems with spitting up/reflux for the first three months.  Our pediatrician didn't think it was serious enough to warrant any meds, so thankfully we didn't have to do that.  I was just constantly covered in baby barf for 3 months.  I tried cutting out dairy which didn't help.  It did seem like avoiding soy made a positive difference.  

I think a large part of our problem was that I had an oversupply and overactive let down.  We started going to the nursing moms support group at our hospital each week.  If your hospital offers one of these, I highly recommend going.  It was great to be able to discuss any nursing issues with a registered LC and with other moms going through similar difficulties. 

After talking to the LCs we decided to stop alternating breasts and assign each baby their own side. This made a big difference for us.  The babies each regulated their own side and the constant spitting up slowly got better.

This is how they nurse while we lie in bed.  We still nurse in this position today.

We had one bout of oral thrush around 6 months.  Since they both had their own side, only Harrison got thrush. (That was a blessing) It took us a couple months, and finally Diflucan for me, to finally get rid of it. There were a couple clogged ducts here and there as well, but thankfully no major hurdles for us.  

Here we are, just past a year and still nursing strong.  They are down to only nursing before naps, bedtime and once overnight.  I say only, but it's still 4 times a day.  They were nursing 4 times a day and 4 times at night as recent as 3 months ago.  It made for a very tired mommy, but I definitely think co-sleeping and nursing on demand throughout the night helped my supply.  I am planning to let them self wean when they are ready, or start the weaning process just before they are two, whichever comes first.

A few pieces of advice to new moms trying to establish breastfeeding: 

• Seek help if you're having issues.  The advice and knowledge of a trained LC will benefit you more than you know.
• Don't hurry to set a schedule for your baby.  Let him nurse on demand until your supply is well established.
• Drink, drink, drink! I have a Bobble which has constantly been at my side since I was pregnant. If you think you've had enough water, have another drink.
• Don't be too hard on yourself if things don't go exactly as planned.  There is nothing wrong with having to supplement, exclusively pump, or having to feed formula exclusively. Only you know what's right for you and your baby.

I feel very fortunate that our journey has been as smooth as it has. The first couple months were exhausting, but the constant nursing was so worth it. I hope I am this lucky with any future kids that we might have.  If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me through a super long post.  I probably could have written more, but wanted to keep it as brief as possible.

Tasty Tuesday - Zucchini Mini Muffins

I am by no means a cooking expert, but I really enjoy cooking for H and B.  Finding new, nutritious options for them to eat has become somewhat of a hobby. I am sure they would be happy to consume all of their vegetables in pouch form, but I'd go broke and a little variety is a good thing.

One of the best options I've found so far is making vegetable "bites." They aren't really bite size, but pretty much every recipe refers to them as bites. Vegetables mixed with a grain, eggs, cheese and a little seasoning.  We've made bites with quinoa and carrots, broccoli and cheese, and most recently zucchini, onion and cheese.  

They've all been super easy to make and have been huge hits with the kids.  I usually make a double or triple batch and put them in the freezer.  They're super easy to heat up, less than a minute in the microwave, and they taste just as good as they did when they were fresh out of the oven.  

You can use any muffin or mini muffin tin to bake them.  You can even have fun with it and bake them in shaped silicone trays.  Little hearts or stars would be so adorable. 

When these were done cooling the kids went to town on them.  They each had a couple with lunch and then 3 or 4 more each as a snack. 

Zucchini Mini Muffins

Ingredients (yields 36 mini muffins)

2 small zucchinis

2 small yellow squashes

3/4 cup diced red onion

3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

3 large eggs

Pepper for seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 400* F. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, I use Pam olive oil spray, and set aside. 

2. Shred zucchini and squash (I used the medium size on my cheese grater) soak up excess moisture using paper towels or a dish towel.  If you don't blot out enough moisture the muffins will be soggy in the middle.   There should be approximately 3 cups of zucchini and squash once shredded and blotted.  

3. Dice red onion

4. Whisk eggs in large mixing bowl and then add all the ingredients.  Stir ingredients together until we'll combined.   

5. Spoon mixture into greased muffin tin, filling each cup to the top.  

6. Bake at 400* for 18-20 minutes or until the top and edges are crisp and brown. Remove from tray and let cool before serving.  

Notes: I used a mini muffin tin, so cooking times may vary if you are using a full size muffin tin or silicone bakeware. I used ingredients I had on hand.  You can use only zucchini, use yellow onion instead or red, or mix up the seasoning depending on what you have on hand. I modified my recipe from one I found on Pinterest.  Unlike baking, cooking isn't a science, so have fun with it.  

I am hoping to do a weekly post with a new recipe I've recently tried for the kids. If you're looking for ideas, search Pinterest or the web for baby lead weaning recipes. That's how I find most of my recipes. I've had luck with the majority of the things I've found, but there have also been a couple things that didn't go over well, and one particular cooking episode that should have been put on Pinstrosity.  

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and that it gets your kids eating their veggies.  

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

I've been putting off getting the kids fitted for shoes until they were both walking the majority of the time.  As I'm sure most of you know if you've read my previous posts, Brooke is walking everywhere.  Harrison is finally starting to prefer walking over crawling, so we headed to Fred Toenges this morning to get some kicks.  

While we were waiting for our number to be called, we took advantage of the nickel horse rides.  Harrison thought it was ok.  Brooke was the happiest kid on the planet. I'm pretty sure she would have kept riding as long as I kept pumping nickels into the horse.  Unfortunately for her I only had $.15.

After talking to the sales associate about what type of shoes were the best to not prohibit walking and foot development, their feet were sized and we got to pick out some snazzy footwear, and by snazzy I mean Velcro. After viewing the options in their size, we decided on navy Stride Rites for Harry and white with pink Stride Rites for Brooke.

H was so excited about his shoes that he insisted on carrying one around with him after they were done getting fitted.  He found himself in the mirror and decided he needed to check himself out.  Meanwhile, B was headed back up to try and get back on the nickel horse.

Our sales associate had some great advice for picking out shoes for toddlers.

• Shoes should have a flexible heel and a stiff, supportive back.
• It's best not to wear hand-me-down shoes since they are molded to someone else's feet.
• Shoes should last approximately 20 weeks. Make sure to get your children's feet measured every 4-5 months.
• Don't use socks with rubber grippers on the bottom when wearing shoes.  They tend to make kids' toes curl under.

This next bit of advice is not from the sales associate, but I figure it's good to mention anyway.  It's best for foot development if kids only wear shoes when necessary.  Bare feet are ideal.

I'm sure they aren't excited about their shoes, but I am. I'll finally be able to let them get down and walk around while we're at the zoo or the park.  Glad I won't have to fight that battle anymore.  

And now my shoe obsession can be transferred from buying shoes for me to buying shoes for them. Does Von Maur have a kids clearance shoe room?

To Leash, or not to Leash, That is the Question

Brooke is now walking everywhere.  She's practically running, at least speed walking, and is determined about where she wants to go.  If she doesn't want to go where I'm leading her she will let go of my hand and run the other direction, as she made very clear while we were leaving the Y last week.  Harrison is becoming more confident in his walking everyday.  Another month and he'll be all over the place just like his sister.

Harrison can already throw a tantrum like nobody's business, and with Brooke's growing desire to have things her way, it's only a matter of time before she starts throwing tantrums too.  So do you keep them contained in the double cart, if there's even one available, or do you give them some independence and let them walk?  If you let them walk, how do you keep them close and teach them boundaries? Required hand holding? Leashes?

I know a lot of twin moms who swear by leashes and others who think they're more trouble than they're worth.  If we were going to use them, we'd use ones similar to the Gold Bug backpack harness pictured below.  So for moms out there who have used them before, what are your opinions on them? When did you start using one? Were you able to introduce the use of one successfully, and if so how?  Any input from moms who have used a leash before is greatly appreciated.

On a completely unrelated note, today is one year past H and B's due date.  Happy "adjusted birthday" Harrison and Brooke! 

Clearance Shopping

I love shopping a good sale.  I rarely buy anything unless I have a coupon code or it's on sale, especially for the kids.  I absolutely love Baby Gap, but their regular prices are a bit too much for me.  Fortunately they offer a 30% off coupon code online just about every other week, plus you get free shipping if you spend $50.  With two kids it's a miracle if I don't spend $50.  For those reasons I rarely go into the store.  

I was at the mall today, I had to pick up my ring from being redipped after forgetting about it for weeks, so I thought I'd stop in to see if there were any good clearance items. Boy am I glad I stopped in in.  I'm not sure if they just marked down a bunch of stuff or if people haven't been shopping the clearance racks as much , but there was a huge selection.  I didn't pay more that $11 for a single item!  

I almost bought the white and coral dress for Brooke a few months ago but I couldn't bring myself to spend that much.  The original price was $49.95 and even with 30% off, I thought it was still too much.  I bought it today for $9.97. SCORE! I spent $52 and change for everything.  With the exception of the dress and the checkered shirt, everything is size 2T so they'll get to wear it next year.

Few things make me happier than a good sale, which is probably why I have so many shoes. Thanks, Von Maur shoe room. Today is shaping up to be a pretty good day.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Arrested Development

For those of you that don't know, Netflix released a fourth season of Arrested Development last week.  I did not watch the show while it was in the air, but after much urging from a few good friends, Rob and I decided to watch it.  

The week that Rob was home on paternity leave was spent snuggling babies and watching Arrested Development.  We were addicted after just a few episodes and wound up finishing all three seasons that week.  

When the release date for the fourth season was finally announced we began counting down the days. Unfortunately they released the new episodes Memorial Day weekend and we already had lake plans.  We decided the weekend after, yesterday, would be our viewing party. We hoped to watch all of the new season in one day, however we didn't plan for longer episodes, 37ish minutes instead of 23, and there were 16 episodes and we were expecting 13.  No complaints here, we just weren't able to finish it all in one day.  More AD for a later date, yay!!

We started the morning with Skip's Scramble and and a mimosa bar, because booze with breakfast is how Lucille would want it. Unlike Lucille, we need more than vodka and toast. 

  

Our mimosa bar also had vodka. Because, well, you have to use it or else it will go bad. 

We knocked out a few episodes while the kids napped and then they joined us for an episode or two.  They don't get to watch TV often, so they're usually transfixed when the TV is on.

We had cornballs, and corn muffins, for a snack.  We did not use a Cornballer and no one had to go to the emergency room during the making of these.  

We had Buster's Juice Box to drink with our cornballs, and let me tell you what, this stuff is dangerous.  It's pretty much a berry sangria with vodka, so it will get you messed up before you know what happened.  

Since I didn't want to be taken away from our viewing session long enough to make dinner, we just ordered pizza.  We of course had candy beans for snacking and no AD party would be complete without chocolate bananas.  

I dipped some of the bananas in chopped pistachios and some in coconut.  There's always money in the banana stand. 

I made two half size bananas for the kids. Brooke liked it but only for a couple minutes.  Harrison loved it and cried when you would try to take it away. 

He was very upset when his chocolate came off his banana.  

We made it through 10 episodes today and I can't wait to watch the last 6.  There's already talk of Netflix doing a season 5. Yes please! Hopefully it won't be for British eyes only.

Happy viewing everyone!