Post Pregnancy Update

My blogger friend Meredith did this and I thought it was a fun idea.  Rather than the repeat talk of babies, we can take a moment to recognize this momma, post labor and delivery.

How Far Along? We made it to 37 weeks and one day.  I cannot believe I actually made it to 'term' with the twins- by God's sweet grace he kept them snug in my belly.  For the last 6 weeks of my pregnancy, Jordan and I would load the car up with all of our hospital bags every time we went to the doctor.  We were always going to be 'prepared' for them to tell us it was time to be admitted or it was time to deliver.  Never did that ever happen, and we would come home and unpack our bags.. just to repack and reload them a week later before our next appointment.  I suppose traveling this way has prepared us for toting all the 'stuff' we need now with the babies in tow..  it is unreal how long it takes.  Leaving the house solo is unfathomable to me at this time. 

Size of Baby(ies)?  At birth Jolie was a petite 4 pounds 8 ounces and Parker weighed 5 pounds 14 oz.  The doctors and nurses in the OR were set that at least Jolie would be making her stay in the NICU, but she was completely stable and no one saw any need.  I was so thankful for my little bit to come back with me to my room!  Both girls lost weight at the hospital--but only about 7% of their birth weight (up to 10% is normal).  At their two week appointment both had surpassed their birth weight (Jolie was 5 lbs, and Parker was 6 pounds 5 oz) so our pediatrician was more than happy with their growth.

Maternity Clothes?  I'm officially out of them!  But.. to be truthful:  I cannot (will not?) stop wearing a pair of maternity under the belly leggings.  I have worn them every single time we have left the house (I can't believe I've admitted this.. but in my defense, we haven't left the house but a handful of times.) I'm semi-fearful of the zippers and buttons on my non-maternity pants and jeans, and these don't irritate my healing c-section scar.  I also LOVE the length of my maternity tops now that there isn't a gigantic belly to fill them.  I am wearing most of the maternity tanks I have for ease of breastfeeding the babes.

Weight Loss?   By my scale at home I gained 39 pounds while I was pregnant (Doctor's office scale confirmed only 36 pounds).  On the day I left the hospital I was down 10 pounds and at my two-week appointment I'd lost 30 pounds.  As of this morning I am officially down to my pre-pregnancy weight- and just for grins I tried on my favorite pre-pregnancy jeans.  They fit!  Now, before I'm bombarded with the "How did you do it" and "What's your secret" questions I lost a TON of muscle mass while I was pregnant and on bed rest for 4 months.  Yes, I've lost quite a bit of weight, but I still have a gross amount of loose skin on my belly that I will be working my butt off to tighten up over the next couple months before swim suit season.  You better believe me and my girls plan to spend plenty of time poolside- so I have got to get ready.  The Victoria's Secret Swim Catalog came in the mail this week.  They obviously know I've just had (two) babies and that this catalog was plain mean for me to torture myself looking through.  I now understand the complaint that your body is never the same after having kids.  But, who's complaining?  Not this momma- I've got two beautiful little girls to show for it.

Breastfeeding?  All day.  

No, I'm kidding.. 
Right after the girls were born I did 'skin to skin' in hopes that they would be able to be successful in finding their way for the first time to feed.  As I was doing this, the nurse in the room was explaining to me that babies this small usually don't latch well, wont be able to nurse right away, and tandem feeding them is unrealistic, my girls latched perfectly and nursed for the first time just minutes after being born. From their very first minutes these girls were impressing people and that continued throughout our stay in the hospital.  I had a fantastic lactation consultant that understood my determination to breast feed the two girls and made the commitment to spending hours with me, and came to visit on a daily basis to make sure I was successful.  My milk didn't come in until day 5 (the day we were leaving the hospital) and since the girls' weights were of concern we supplemented with formula for the first couple weeks until my supply became regular.  I am happy to say that we no longer have to supplement as I have been fortunate enough to be able to feed them both with the supply I have.  I feed them at the same time (quick and easiest way, for sure!) and can finish the feeding process in about 40 minutes, give or take a few.  I am OCD/Type A and have been reading and researching like a crazy person about milk supply and how to keep it up and adequate especially with my unintentional rapid weight loss (who ever in their right mind complains about this?  Me, apparently..) and the fact that I have to feed not one, but two babies.  I hopped onto the herbal remedy crazy train and purchased Fenugreek yesterday afternoon.  I'll let you know if I see a difference.

Sleep?  From the very beginning the girls have been good sleepers.  As I said in their one month post- during the early weeks we actually woke them to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours, and were setting alarms at night to make sure we woke in time to feed them on the schedule.  Now that they are almost 5 weeks old they wake themselves up during the day and just twice a night to eat.  Last night they slept for almost 5 hours before waking us up- and it is amazing what consistent sleep will do for your mind.  There have been a couple days where I felt physically ill because I was so tired.  Jordan came home from the fire station a couple days ago and bragged that he slept all night.  I almost chunked my cup of coffee at him.. but I didn't want to waste the real effort it took to make the coffee, so I refrained.  I am ready for the nights when they sleep a little longer and momma and daddy get some good shut eye.    

Food Cravings? Just make me a dozen cookies and call it dinner.  Sweets are definitely not my thing, and FOR SURE weren't something I wanted while pregnant (salty was all I could think about).  Now that I'm sans babes all I want is cookies, cake, candy, ice cream.. it is a wonder I've actually lost any weight at all.  Since the girls were born we have been having friends and family bring us dinner a couple times a week and occasionally that dinner comes with some kind of dessert.  I usually eat the dessert for the both of us.  Poor Jordan.  Another 'craving'? Pasta!  I missed pasta so, so much while I was pregnant.  It made me miserably full, so after about month 4 of pregnancy I stopped eating it all together.  To sum it up for you: Carb and Carb.  At least I can swing the whole wheat variety whilst eating pasta on occasion.

What I Miss?  I honestly thought I'd really miss being pregnant and told Jordan on multiple occasions that I'm not sure how well I would do when I couldn't feel the girls kicking me anymore- but I must say it isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I didn't realize how uncomfortable (and swollen!!) I'd gotten in the last few weeks until I was no longer pregnant.  I was SO very slow moving and every part of my body seemed to ache there at the end.  After we got home Jordan commented on how thin my face looked and that I must have grown 2 inches after the girls were born.  It was that heavy belly slouch that I had going on!   

This past weekend USA had a Law and Order SVU marathon going and it reminded me of when I would spend my entire days on bed rest in our room watching marathons of this show over and over again.  It made me halfway miss being pregnant- but only because of that fact that I was so lazy and did nothing all day.  My how my world has changed!  

Symptoms?  Nothing to make note of really.  The first couple weeks both Jordan and I cried a lot. We cried tears of fear/anxiety/sleepiness and of joy/disbelief/happiness.  The first night home we sat on the floor of the nursery and cried because we didn't want to be home yet.  We wanted to go back to the hospital.  We had such an amazing experience with everyone that cared for us we weren't ready to leave.  Now symptoms are more along the lines of exhaustion, irritability (related to the exhaustion) and the occasional headache.  I've found myself getting so dehydrated.  I drank gallons of water while I was pregnant and that pretty much came to a screaming halt after we got home from the hospital.  Been trying to do better about this (especially to help keep my milk supply up!).  I'm still tender around my incision and my stomach is 'sore', for lack of a better word, to the touch.. like when I apply lotion or am in the shower.  Still healing and making its way back to an original state, I suppose.

Belly Button?  It is back to being an 'innie' but I'm pretty sure it will ever look the same again- definitely not the bottomless pit it once was.  Jolie lost hers the very first week- she was one week old, actually.  I don't think it was ready to come off.. it came off by accident. Kind of a funny story- I was getting ready for bed and looked down to see a belly button stuck to my shirt.  After a slight feeling of nausea and then a minor freak out and Google search to make sure it was okay that it had come off already, we stripped the girls and realized it was Jolie's.  It had come off (stuck to my shirt) while she was laying on my chest in her diaper after eating.  Parker's stayed on another week before falling off. 

Best Moment of the Week?  Most days, while tiring, are pretty fantastic to be honest- but this week was fun to take their one month pictures and watch their little personalities shine through.  I love waking up to them every morning- after their first feeding they are in the best mood and will almost smile at me!!  My parents and youngest brother are coming in town this week- they haven't seen the girls since they were born, and Sam (brother) hasn't met them yet.  I'm really looking forward to that!