Its a Wrap!

Swaddleme

Wrapping or swaddling has been a major part of my life through this last year!  And I am a massive advocate of swaddling babies, it helps them feel secure and safe, though I barely wrapped Callum and Jack, but the twins just love it, or they did!  Maybe its because they were so very squashed in the womb that they liked that feeling of being firmly wrapped up, but from day 1 we had them in a "Swaddleme" wrap and they loved it.  The only problem with it is the bloody velcro - it is just so noisy, especially the piece that attaches to the lower foot pocket!  Other than that it works really well, as long as the baby is big enough to fill it out so that you can get the wrap nice and firm.  We had the smaller ones and upgraded to the larger ones as they were still working well for us, unless the boys got worked up and they could break out.  When breastfeeding in the night though, I found a wrap to be a total pain!!  Obviously you have to unwrap them to get them close enough to feed and then re-wrap after the feed without disturbing them and with the velcro issue, this wasn't easy!

Wrap me up

So at around 4 mths I tried them in the "Wrap Me Up" swaddle.  This is a very strange looking wrap where the arms are wrapped by the baby's head, which is apparently a baby's most natural position and allows them to get to their hands.  The problem being though that it does nothing for the startle reflex and doesn't help them feel the security they would feel in a more traditional wrap.  They were the biggest waste of money as the twins didn't use them for long.  On a plus though I didn't need to unwrap them to feed in the night!

Ergo Swaddle

Following that I tried the "Ergo Swaddle" which is like a sleeping bag without arms, so their arms go inside the bag but are free to move around.  I thought the boys would like this one as they were always trying to get their arms out of the wrap so I thought maybe they just liked to move them, but I found that they just tried to get their hands to their faces and in doing so pulled  the wrap's material up to their mouth.  This redeemed itself by being able to convert to a summer sleeping bag as it has press studs on the arm holes, so we did get some use out it in the end, just not as a wrap we had hoped for initially!

For newborns and smaller babies I have heard a lot of good things about the "Miracle Wrap" and I would have tried that at the time if it was made in a bigger size.

So I continued wrapping on and off until about 6 mths or so, then didn't try again until they were 7 mths, just to try and help with their day sleeps.  By now they had outgrown all wraps so I decided to try a very large traditional wrap, in other words, a cot sheet, wrapping their arms and legs up firmly like you would a newborn.  And you know what?  It worked!  They both went from 45 mins sleep twice a day to around 1 1/2 hrs twice a day!  It was remarkable!  That is how I have been able to get them into a sleep pattern through the day because before I wrapped them, I just couldn't get them to sleep.  They don't like it at night though for some reason.  Maybe because Harry likes to feel his comforter and fiddle with his dummy or because Connor likes to side sleep and can't move in the wrap, or maybe because they are so busy through the day and it just helps to calm them, I don't know for sure.

I made the wraps myself in the end as the cot sheets were making them a bit too hot and had no stretch to them.  So I took myself down to Spotlight and without trying to look too out of my comfort zone in this strange environment or too confused about how to purchase material, I managed to buy 2 metres of stretch cotton jersey.  It is 140cm in width, but had to be very wide to get a firm wrap, though I didn't want a lot of loose material around their feet as I had stopped wrapping their legs, so I cut each wrap at 1 metre.  And that was it!  With that material it doesn't fray, just folds in at the edges, so my wraps were made and at a fraction of the cost of buying "proper" baby wraps!  So easy and a lot more difficult for them to break out of than the fitted wraps.

At 9 months the boys are now rarely being wrapped, just through the day if they get overtired or on cooler nights I wrap them over their sleeping bags with their arms out, which they seem to quite like.  So for now it seems...  its a wrap!!

We might have a life!

OMG I can't believe it has been sooooo long since the last blog - the twins turn 9 months old this week!!  Life is just too busy!  After the last blog the sleeping issue peaked and became worse than ever - as in they were both waking several times every evening and every hour through the night and then Harry would wake around 4am and wouldn't really settle again.  We were at breaking point!  So we used a sleep consultant to help us out and also separated them into different bedrooms so we didn't have to run straight into them and they are sleeping much better now ;)

So with some sleep we remembered we had a life and have managed to get out together and I even managed to go out with the girls one night, minus Connor, who bless him had been coming out with me for friends' birthday dinners and the like!  We have been enjoying the little things in life since not running into bedrooms every 2 minutes, like a glass of wine on an evening, a meal actually sitting down, taking time to read Callum and Jack bedtime stories without having to rush out to see to a baby, a shower on a evening, not having to tiptoe round our own bedroom....  and the list goes on!

The last week has been a bit tough on the sleep front with all 4 boys having chicken pox 1 by 1 and the twins not being vaccinated yet has meant that they have had a really hard time with it.  That coupled with teething bubs is a recipe for very little sleep for us - but what's new!  Harry has 5 teeth now so the 6th one is due any time and seems to be taking forever.  Connor only has the 2 bottom ones but the top gums have looked swollen for ages, so I don't expect they will be far away.

We have had 2 very mobile babies now for the last couple of weeks - Connor Commando and Speedy Harry!  Mind you, Connor despite the commando crawl is pretty fast now too, though he looks hilarious - like a little slug shooting around the floor!  Harry has started trying to climb up the step from the family room into the kitchen and pulling up on things - he is Jack all over, trying to get on his feet asap!  The problem is when they get into mischief and who to grab first.  Like tonight I had Harry taking off to the cat litter and Connor looking like he was going to push the bedroom door over his fingers, so I ran to Connor and moved him on and then to Harry, by which time Connor was shooting after the cat and I looked behind to see Harry motoring it out the back door after Jack.  Run to close the door before he gets out and look behind to see Connor opening and closing the TV unit doors (which are glass)!  No wonder I'm still bloody knackered despite getting some sleep now!

All in all, the last few months have been mega busy, all we seem to do some days, all day, is something kid-related, but dare I say we may be coming out of the other side.  I think we might just be gradually clawing a little bit of life back after these manic last few months!

Superheroes, Solids and Sleep!

Well since the last post I must have had a total of about 5 hours sleep!  So much for the sleeping seeming to be getting better!  Day sleeps are on and off still but apart from last night where they slept fantastically, both twins have been up and down like a couple of yo-yo's from about 11pm onwards.  Most nights I have seen every hour on the clock.  A typical night goes like this.....  Harry asleep at 6.30pm, Connor takes 1 1/2hrs to settle, asleep by 8.30pm.  Connor wakes at 11pm, feeds, back to sleep.  12.30, Harry wakes and feeds. 1.15 Connor awake, 2.30 Harry, 3.30 both of them, call Steven for help.  I fall asleep feeding them, sitting up, don't wake up till 4.30 (and with a sore neck).  Put them into cot.  5am, Harry wakes with wind (cos I fell asleep feeding him and didn't wind him!) and won't settle, Connor wakes so Steven takes Harry.  Connor back to sleep, so settle Harry who falls back asleep at 6am.  6.30 Connor awake... and by now Callum and Jack are too... and so it goes on!  And actually that description would probably be one of the better nights!


It is truly amazing how much the human body can take, cos I never would have believed I could be functional after so little sleep!  Some days I am even perky enough to remember the words to nursery rhymes that Jack likes to sing, or to even sing with him, though I must admit that some days (well actually most), I can barely speak before midday.  And they would of course be the days that every man and his dog decide to ask me questions about the twins (don't get me started on this oh my goodness - maybe the next blog!), ones I usually can't even answer cos I can't engage my brain, so more often than not I have just smiled at them and kept walking!  They probably think I am mad but I'm sure the dog didn't mind ;)


So given the minimal sleep and the endless need to feed, I decided they were going to be offered solids as soon as they turned 4 months.  I'm sure that its not that I don't have enough milk for them, cos even when I was topping them up with a bottle to see if it was that, they still didn't sleep!  So on the day they turned 4 mths the baby rice came out and it went surprisingly well.  I expected they would refuse it or be upset by the spoon with them being so young, but no they wolfed it down like they'd been eating from a spoon all their little lives!  It was rather messy though as Harry was very excited and every time the spoon went near his mouth his hands would fly in there at the same time and so he proceeded to gradually spread the rice via his hands all over himself and the chair!  All went well with him until he got some in his eye and it was the end of his world and the end of that meal!  Connor initially spat it out, so I thought he wasn't ready, but I think it was just too runny and was coming back out with all his drool - nice!  So I made it a bit thicker and down it went.  The 2nd time he had it, he had 3 bowls so I'm starting to think he has a worm!  He has very quickly learned to pull his hand out of his mouth as soon as the spoon is in view, he takes his eating very seriously!  There is just no filling him - no wonder he is turning into a little Buddha, and to think how skinny he was just a few months ago! 

Connor - 1 week, down to 2.2kgs

Connor - 4mths, 6kgs

Despite such little sleep this last month I feel like I have shut my eyes and opened them and suddenly my boys are not little babies anymore, they are fully switched on to the world and wanting to interact with everyone and everything.  Connor has been rolling for a couple of weeks and Harry is nearly there, though he is usually just chilled and likes to roll on his side and suck his hands and look about.  They both seem to be able to move around on the floor a bit one way or another, which is dangerous in this house with the 2 hoons, Callum and Jack on the loose.  I had been thinking of getting a playpen when the twins were more mobile so I could nip to the toilet or laundry, but actually I think they may need one for their own safety and protection from the big brothers!  


So it was Callum's 7th birthday at the beginning of the month and we had a superhero party for him at playgroup where we hired the "real" Batman to entertain the kids.  Callum still tells us how much he loved his party, so it was worth the effort and it was a major effort considering how tired I was and that we weren't gonna do a party this year!  My mam and me went the night before and decorated the playgroup in red and blue, as we were having a Spiderman theme, but bloody Spiderman resigned 2 days before the party and we were fortunate that another party company ( http://partieskidsremember.com.au/) had a Batman for that weekend!  It was a good party though, seemed to go off really easily and the kids looked like they had a great time.  Batman did a great job as even our Jack sat for most of the hour joining in the games!


My 4 superheroes after the party.....

Twins Are Three Months Old Already!

I have decided to take up this "art" of blogging!  I am starting to think it may be the only way to remember anything that is happening in our young boys' lives at the moment as I can barely remember my own name these days, so having any precious memories of our twins' early months to look back on is highly unlikely! Thank goodness for photos, though I will probably look back and be clueless as to what was going on ;)


Our twin boys, Harry and Connor have just turned 3 months and our 2 older boys, Callum and Jack are now unbelievably 6 and 3.  So life at our place is utterly crazy at the moment to say the least.  Jack has turned wild and reminds me of a tantrum throwing Mowgli off the Jungle Book and Callum has taken to making strange noises (copied from daddy I do believe), in the style of a demented chimp, just to be heard over the noise of wild man Jack and 2 squawking bubbas!  


I can barely remember these last few months, it feels like I haven't stopped day or night.  Oh that's right, I haven't!  The twins were induced at 37 weeks as Connor was growth restricted.  He was born at 2.5kgs and Harry a huge 3kgs, so Connor was and still is a very serious eater and would remain attached to me all day if he could.  We were so worried about Connor being born small and perhaps needing to go to special care, but he was born easily and had no breathing or sucking issues whatsoever.  In the end it was Harry who gave us some grief.  He was born a footling breech with only 1 foot down and 1 foot somewhere around his head, as well as a prolapsed cord and according to the OB did everything "wrong" on his way down!  So the poor little mite needed resus after his birth and gave us a bit of scare to say the least!


Anyway the twins are at least settling somewhat - finally!  We now have Connor on Zantac for his reflux and he is settling a lot better and actually sleeping a bit and not vomiting as much and Harry has started sleeping for a 5-6 hour chunk thru the night, so sleep-wise I think we are progressing.  Though after last night's shenanigans, maybe not!  Up until 9-10 weeks old, the twins would not settle on a night till about 10-10.30, thereafter we would run around like crazed things trying to get sorted for the following day!  From then a miracle occurred over night and they started going down about 7pm. Last week I ditched the 1 bottle of formula they were getting at bedtime, which was started cos I couldn't keep up with their unbelievable appetite and they slept just the same!  So no more formula here - well not until they both decide to have a growth spurt at the same time!  Though Connor did get a bottle today when I insisted on going back to bed, which he proceeded to throw straight back up in a stream of projectile vomit!  Clever boy - he knows the good stuff now ;)


Sleep is definitely at a premium at the moment - I have never been so tired.  Not even when I had Callum and couldn't believe what the hell had hit me!  It is totally different having two at a time, cos if its not one of them up, or needing something, its the other.  There is definitely no rest for the wicked, or at least not for me for a little while!